I Give Up! (an update)

Brenton

Brenton

aka PEI Detail
Hello all.
It may seem that I am not around as much, but I am here every day (almost), reading, adding a thought here and there, and emailing an occasional thought.

But I first talked to y'all a couple of years ago about wanting to give up (http://www.detailcity.org/forums/general-business-management-discussion/19192-i-give-up.html).

Basically, the story is that I made a bad decision going into the detailing business.
Well, our business has doubled Year 1 to Year 2. We have a handful of staff, we do good work, created a buzz around town. Our work is low from time to time (like right now), but we are moving toward profitability not long down the road. And I like detailing.

But, I still hate it (as I did before). I spend a ten minute shower every morning just praying to get out of this somehow. When we started, we had no debt, but we have about $7000 debt now, though we have about $20,000 in tools, signage & products.

We are listing the business for sale through a real estate agent. It is selling with a franchise for $39,900, and it is a bit of a bargain, but I don't care. I want out.

So why not walk away? I have a p/t teaching gig this fall, and start full time in January. It is not about a salary.

My wife and I decided to adopt a child overseas, and we need $25,000 Canadian to do that. That plus the debt from the business and a little loss in the sale of the truck I'm driving would help us get that adoption and go to $0.

It it wasn't for another child, I would walk away. I could make $40k working the time I'm here in other ways in about 3 years. I'd just give the business to someone, but I feel stuck.

Anyway, thanks for listening. It is hard to describe my frustration. I've been paying daily for two years for a bad decision: Paying emotionally, losing time with family to keep this thing going, losing some money, and losing time developing my career. I'm a loser, in the technical sense. It is just so new to me to be in a situation I can't get out of.
 
It sounds like you are being really hard on yourself. You started a business with great ambition in a very difficult market to get started in. That in and of itself is commendable. In the US it is a fact that over 30% of all small businesses fail in the first two years and a little over 50% fail within four years. It is incredibly difficult to keep a small business open and running, but you managed to do it for as long as you did in a difficult market with a very difficult 'product' to sell. Detailing as an industry doesn't fit in every community, but my hat goes off to you for trying to bring it to yours. You've at least educated some people in what fine car care looks and feels like.

I wouldn't give up the business entirely. It might be profitable to remain semi-mobile and just contract the work out. I'm sort of in the same boat you are in, just on another side of it. I can't open my business full time because I know it wouldn't succeed in my area. I would have to dramaticly lower my standards to compete with the hack shops that are already here. The only success I will find as a detailer here is as a mobile part time one. I'd starve from October till April if I did it any other way.
 
Thanx for the encouragement.
It seems like you've done the right thing. I've also made some good decisions and have done good work. I've made compromises, but I also give the customer what they want.

My issue is ... different. I am out of place, discombobulated, out of where I'm supposed to be. And I can't shake this dislocation. It is hard in a way that I've never experienced before.
 
My father only taught me 5 things of real value that I have kept with me my entire life. On those five things hang everything else that I've ever learned. One of the five is that the secret to happiness is to find what you love to do, and then find a way to make money at it. When people look for ways to make money and then try to find a way to be happy with it, it just makes them miserable. I don't know if you are looking of advice like that, but my suggestion would be to evaluate what makes you the happiest and then focus on a way to make that passion into something profitable. Good luck in whatever you choose to do. :bigups Know that you have a lot of DC friends here who are willing to help in any way that we can.
 
I can definitely feel your pain.

For me it's the mobile aspect of my detail business that frustrates me. Working around people's schedules, dealing with not always having the best environment to work in, and the usual weather set backs. Not to mention labor issues if you have helpers. Trying to quote jobs without having to go look at it first.

I'm into my 16th year of mobile detailing and it is definitely wearing on me. I'm like you, I love detailing but have grown to dis-like some of the aspects of a mobile detailing business.

Like you said in your first thread. I too am a good detailer and business manager, but the entrepreneur part is the hardest for me. Selling myself and charging according to what your service is worth and what the car needs rather than what you think they can afford or are willing to pay. That has been a major issue with my business in the past.

Your situation doesn't sound all that bad to me. You have a big account that gives you the ability to keep your schedule full. It just sounds like you aren't charging enough to keep yourself happy with it.

Am I off? What specifically has you so frustrated?
 
Listen to Troy! I think he is pretty much in the same situation as you are in, as I myself am in, as many business people are in... you are good at what you do, but you are not a born salesman. I myself could reinvent the wheel, but I would still starve because I wouldn't be able to come up with a way to sell it. On the other hand - there are people out there who are BORN salesmen/women. They could sell snow at the northpole. In winter. Ask around in your family or among your friends, if they know such a person. This man/woman should have some ideas how to get your business out there and noticed, and how to make people understand that there is a NEED to get their cars detailed. In the best case scenario this person is good and willing to take over the business part of your company and you oversee the deatiling part. Worst case scenario - hey it doesn't cost to ask - he/she can give you a few advertising tips that won't rip your budget apart.
Just an idea.
 
See... that's me. I could sell anything to anybody (and I have), but what I lack is the time to do what I love. In my area I wouldn't survive no matter how well I sold it. I could sell a detail in the winter, but it is just tricky detailing a car when it is 9 degrees outside. I can't work in that environment. I second the advice that you partner with someone who can properly market your business. You need someone to sell you to dealerships and businesses who are interested in providing the service to employees. There are people who buy and sell cars for a living from auctions and such who love finding detailers who are passionate about their craft. I would be more than happy to work with you in whatever I can to help market your business. Sometimes it just takes a little push on that side of things to make a business really explode. The greatest service or product in the world is worthless without effective marketing.
 
Brenton why not go to parttime while doing the teaching? Maybe get out of the franchise and keep the building and equipment for yourself. But then getting out of a franchised outfit is not that easy i guess. I couldnt work for a franchise, Im an independent ORGANIC FARMER/detailer and have worked for business that demands certain low quality standards such as Walmart, though I did learn a lot while there. Ive also worked my butt off for a mom and pop service station, and they told me I had to do oil changes on sundays for 2 guys but couldnt do other things such as sell parts to walk in customers atthe same time. I do know a little about a lot of things, and this group of people on here will help you out as best thay can. RANDAL
 
It's funny, I would have agreed about sales when I started. It turns out that sales is a strong point--after I nearly throw up going out the front door. When people phone, I can usually make the sale, and I am gaining credibility around the car lots.

Randal might be right (as others said): change the way the business works. But I do already kind of work part-time. It is the stress of paying bills and keeping staff going and doing jobs and not wrecking stuff and and and and--all of that is what I can't handle. I almost walked away today. Of course, I wouldn't walk away, but I almost gave the keys to my shop guy and said--"have fun. call me if you need help on technical work." Who knows, I still might.

It is what Jngbrdman said: I need to be where I love. I don't love this. Well, I love waxing my car on a shady afternoon. I love seeing a polish work out, a mirror finish, tight beading, a grease mark come out of a carpet, the sheen of a low-glossed dash. But what I really love is writing and teaching, and the detail business is making that impossible, at least the writing.

I believe that I am called to live first as a family man and as a church member. My church work has suffered (unless my bass playing is really bad), and my family time is too tight, or I'm too tired to play. On top of that, I haven't had time to write, and my classes are barely ready when I get there. It is too much, and I will fall apart if I don't shed something. So I'll shed the shop and be happy and free and xxx (in the classical sense of the word, not the more recent sense!). :)

I know this doesn't make much sense, but it is where I'm at.
 
Troy@DetailCity said:
I can definitely feel your pain.

For me it's the mobile aspect of my detail business that frustrates me. Working around people's schedules, dealing with not always having the best environment to work in, and the usual weather set backs. Not to mention labor issues if you have helpers. Trying to quote jobs without having to go look at it first.

I'm into my 16th year of mobile detailing and it is definitely wearing on me. I'm like you, I love detailing but have grown to dis-like some of the aspects of a mobile detailing business.

Like you said in your first thread. I too am a good detailer and business manager, but the entrepreneur part is the hardest for me. Selling myself and charging according to what your service is worth and what the car needs rather than what you think they can afford or are willing to pay. That has been a major issue with my business in the past.

Your situation doesn't sound all that bad to me. You have a big account that gives you the ability to keep your schedule full. It just sounds like you aren't charging enough to keep yourself happy with it.

Am I off? What specifically has you so frustrated?
Click to expand...
I've been working full time at detailing for going on 3 years now and my 14th month of working for myself, I already know EXACTLY what you are talking about Troy. I can't always make in-person quotes to people and sometimes I realize I made a biiiiiig mistake once I see the vehicle. And working around schedules, trying to fit this in for that person yada yada, it gets kinda old. I've kinda realized that I don't want to do this job forever, but it's a helluva way to put me through school and always bring in some extra cash if/when I do switch to a different career. I really enjoy making vehicles look great but only to a certain extent I guess :hmmm:
I come from a family that's all about money this, money that, and I don't care about money. I'd rather enjoy what I do and I know I've got the ambition to succeed, maybe I won't be crazy rich but I'm pretty confident that I'll never be worrying about money. Right now this gig I've got going ain't doing half bad, and it's pretty shweet, but I dislike routine so I'll see what happens

Sounds like you're pretty square with your decision, Brenton. Go for it man, and I wish you the best of luck with the career change :cheers::cheers::bigups

KK, I'm done rambling :crazy:
 
PEI Detail said:
It is what Jngbrdman said: I need to be where I love. I don't love this. Well, I love waxing my car on a shady afternoon. I love seeing a polish work out, a mirror finish, tight beading, a grease mark come out of a carpet, the sheen of a low-glossed dash. But what I really love is writing and teaching, and the detail business is making that impossible, at least the writing.
Click to expand...

lol We are truely two peas in a pod. I do love detailing, but in following my father's advice I went another direction. I too love teaching and that passion was stronger than my love of detailing. If I could find a career that enabled me to teach detailing then I would do it in a heartbeat. Instead I am a corporate trainer and instructional designer (acadameia didn't pay as well and was waaaaaaaay too political for my taste) and I get to do what I love on a daily basis. Trust me... Given the choice between teaching and shining paint, I would take teaching any day of the week. There is no greater feeling than to shape minds and share knowledge. :bigups I really hope you find success in that field.
 
My only advice is step back study all the options carefully,and make your decision. Some times we get in routs and make Hastie decision. I no how you feel, I have been doing it for 16 years and I am sure my body can only do it for maybe another 4 then I am done I hope you find what is best for you/ Good Luck!!
 
Yeah, my body wasn't good to begin with. Twice a year I'm out with wrist problems.

I've taken 2 years to make the decision. It is just a matter of "how" know (brown cow).
 
PEI Detail said:
... gave the keys to my shop guy and said--"have fun. call me if you need help on technical work."
Click to expand...
This might not be such a bad idea if you think he's capable of running your operation -- for it seems to me that the secret of those who are really making money in this industry (or any industry) are not the ones doing the towel pushing. Whatever you choose to do try not to forget who's really in charge :bow
 
dr_detail said:
This might not be such a bad idea if you think he's capable of running your operation -- for it seems to me that the secret of those who are really making money in this industry (or any industry) are not the ones doing the towel pushing. Whatever you choose to do try not to forget who's really in charge :bow
Click to expand...

Brenton this is a good idea if you can get someone you trust ...let them run the detailing end of the business and you can do the bookeeping in a part-time capacity while you teach. I've done the teaching gig and as rewarding as it is it comes with its share of aggravation and red tape. Working for yourself is a lot of work but the upside is you make the decisions and schedules as you see fit. Balancing them both with a family is even tougher, but like others have said, think it through, write down all the ups and downs of every scenario and then see where you stand...sometimes you might have to think outside the box to get the answers;)
 
yeah, I was actually tempted to give him the business. I find it very hard to find the right staff to do everything--sales, management, quality control & detailing. Probably the same all over. My potential staff are all driving a quad in the Great White North above 60 making $50/hour to lay down wire.
I don't have the cash flow to hire a $30k manager yet, I don't think.
 
PEI Detail said:
yeah, I was actually tempted to give him the business. I find it very hard to find the right staff to do everything--sales, management, quality control & detailing. Probably the same all over. My potential staff are all driving a quad in the Great White North above 60 making $50/hour to lay down wire.
I don't have the cash flow to hire a $30k manager yet, I don't think.
Click to expand...

you could let him run it on commission basis only ...even if you only grab 20% of the profit, it's still yours and he has great motivation at 80% to work it well :)
 
I could do that. I could also just give him the business and take a 7 year loan for him to pay it back. Have him pay back a little this fall, a little next year, and start in earnest in 2009.
We actually got a promising call on an old website ad. Nice couple looking to work together. Perhaps that might work; we'll see.
b
 
Just an update: we've run out of money and steam. We may be folding up shop by Christmas. It's a tough go, but we'll see how it goes. We may have an employee who will carry it on and at least take care of obligations (rent & contracts & yellow page ad) as well as gift certificates, etc.
We'll see.:(
 
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