i want to start a mobile business

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bigluelok

New member
well i have been reading and researching for about a year now and would like to start a weekend business.

i would like to do this out of my current car, an 08 civic coupe. i would like a basic list of supplies i would have to carry.

so far as far as supplies list goes.
im limited.
i have about
10 MF towels
eagle one car wash soap
and a turtle wax car care kit my g/f bought me last christmas.
i have some foam applicator pads.
thats what i have for my car since then i have been saving money.

i have about 400 to spend on some basic supplies or just save up another couple hundred and pick up a meguiars detail kit

what would you guys suggest?
keep in mind all this has to fit in the back seat and trunk of my car.

thank for the help
Luis
 
bigluelok said:
well i have been reading and researching for about a year now and would like to start a weekend business.

i would like to do this out of my current car, an 08 civic coupe. i would like a basic list of supplies i would have to carry.

so far as far as supplies list goes.
im limited.
i have about
10 MF towels
eagle one car wash soap
and a turtle wax car care kit my g/f bought me last christmas.
i have some foam applicator pads.
thats what i have for my car since then i have been saving money.

i have about 400 to spend on some basic supplies or just save up another couple hundred and pick up a meguiars detail kit

what would you guys suggest?
keep in mind all this has to fit in the back seat and trunk of my car.

thank for the help
Luis
Click to expand...

:cool: I started with even less than you Luis.the items you wiill need to decide if this is what you really wanna do are
1)soap/bucket/mits
2)50ft hose
3)mini shop vac
4)50ft extension cord
5)1 gallon of Purple Power (dilite 50/50) for tires/wheels jams,spot cleaning carpet.ETC...
6)You need some soft terry clothe towels 4 windows(DO NOT USE ANY KINDA FABRIC SOFTNER when washing/drying and double rinse.When cleaning windows use "WET" clean wash mit or small terry cloth.Then get DRY terry and wipe till dry for streek free windows.
7)wax
8)armor-all
9)tire gell/applicator
10)soft brush for wheels stiff brush 4 carpets
The most important advice I would offer would be to explain to customers this is a part-time job(Tell them what you do full-time,that would make me wanna give you a chance)And if you run across something you don't feel comfortable with LEAVE IT ALONE!!! If you find out this is something you would like to pursue and can make some decent$$$ than there is alot more you will need to purchase/and learn about."SEARCH FORUMS REGULARLY" Best of Luck in all Your ventures:cool::headspin:headspin:headspin:dcrules
 
I am assuning you want to do some detailing.

The only thing I would use from your list is Eagle one car wash soap, MF towels, and the pads you have.

For Cleaning pick up some Meg's APC cleaner or something similar. What I use is Purple Power that you can pick up at Lowes, Advance Auto, etc.. Dilute it 10:1 for interior cleaning. You can also use this stuff to degrease motors, clean wheels,tires, etc..

Pick up some spray bottles at Home Depot or Lowes, don't buy the cheap ones spend a few bucks you will be thankful. They will last longer, apply more product, and easier on the hands. Also pick up some brushes for the wheels/tires. I use one of their brushes that are actually for cleaning lights, but they have a round head with long bristles and work good on rims, wheel wells, etc.. Also pick up some other hand held brushes.

For the exterior I would pick up the poorboys/porter cable kit from Troy, this should take care of paint. You will be limited because you only get one of each pad, but you will just have to clean them. Sucks but can be done.
Here's the link: Porter Cable 7424 & PoorBoy's World Paint Care Package

Pick up more towels, 10 ain't going to cut it. Pepboys carry's twelve packs of MF towels for around 11 bucks. I would pick up 2 of these. On a full detail I can go through 50 - 100 towels.

Any glass cleaner will work but you will probably be happier with stoners if you can find/afford it.

For dressing I would pick up some wheel dressing Meg's makes some good ones. Don't buy the ones in aerosal cans they are typically more expensive.
For the interior I use and am happy with Armor All Natural finish.

For carpet cleaning I have had good luck with blue corrals dry carpet cleaner. Troy also has some options too.

Couple other things you will need, is a compressor with an air nozzle. Compressed air is you friend on interiors. And then a good shop vac.

With the exception of the compressor and shop vac you should be able to pick all of this up for less than $400.00

I am sure I am forgetting a few things so hopefully some of the other guys will chime in.
 
Welcome to DC from central PA. We all have to start somewhere, I wanted to only spend $400 as well but now have about $2000 invested with trying different OTC products and polishers and towels and such(I found all OTC stuff lacking) but it did get me started none the less. the more I read this forum the more I realized that all I was really doing was washing and waxing and calling it detailing until I started investing in some proffesional grade polishers and products. I wish I would have went straight to the pro grade stuff right from the start and saved myself a lot of $$$ but there was a learning process that included a few costly mistakes for me. So be careful and pay attention to what is offered here at DC in the way of advice. I learned that the people posting here at DC who have a lot of little green reputation squares are the ones I learned the most from because they have been around for a while and have learned a lot themselves. I found it very cost effective to learn from other peoples mistakes and not my own. Though we all have to make mistakes of our own I was able to eliminate a lot of them by asking lots of questions and reading the forums on DC as obsessively as I have ever obsessed over anything. Now it has been 2 years and I am just now becoming competent enough to call myself a proffesional. 2 years of learning one job at a time, reading a lot and spending lots of money on products that are lacking led me to purchase products only from either Detail City.com or Auto geek.net. As using proffesional grade products and tools are important, I learned here and fully agree that process is 90% of success and product and clean working area is the other 10%. So good luck and keep your head up cause this is no cake walk it is very hard getting started. I made up some bussiness cards and talked to 20 people daily explaining what it is that I was trying to sell them and handing out my cards and found that 2 out of 100 paid for my services. I had to do a LOT of free details to get through the initial learning curve. What money I did make I had to sink 100% of it right back into tools and products to make my efforts fruitful. Having said all of that my suggestion to you is to buy lots of 3M blue painters tape and do not skimp on the tape as it is a life saver. $5 roll of tape or $5000 paint job which will you choose? if you get a PC kit you will be pretty safe thoughn Good Luck and again Welcome to DC, TD
 
Well I’ve been tossing around the idea of starting a weekend mobile detailing business. I have narrowed down the products I want to use and I have decided to go with Poorboy's.

hows this list look for a starter that will be doing weekend details on the side?
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=rZs3T5B1tkhSNNVbaqVFfHA

Here are the reasons why I chose Poorboy's.
1) Easy to use products from what I’ve read.
2) Great customer service from what I’ve read.
3) Texastb helped me narrow down great starter products.
4) Great for learning with.

I still have some work to do before I even think of getting started.
1) ordersupplies
2) Name of business
3) Flyer’s/business cards
4) practice practice practice
5) advertise advertise advertise then advertise some more.
6)
etc......
I am open to all advice and will take everything into consideration.
 
Watch out for the detailing bug buddy!Once you catch it thats it! Thats how I started myself research and more research. I started by doing what I knew best which was airplanes. Washing them on my days off. After part-timing it for about a year. On november of last year I got hurt on my regular job unable to work at my regular job for a while :mad: :wall.I decided to take the big plunge and get into vehicles aswell and do it full-time. I took my savings and invested in a detailing trailer with a 150 gallon tank a 2000 max pressure washer and generator which cost close to $3000. It went so good for me I've been so fortunate. Since I started I was lucky 2 land 2 government contracts, an electrical utility company fleet contract, 2 aircraft dry washing contracts,and a county law enforcement contract. I work everyday! I've had to upgrade my rig. I bought a pre-owned ford f-450 that used to be a mechanics truck with a completely enclosed bed I set up a 250 gallon tank and the 150 gallon tank which gives me 400 gallons of water to play with,the pressure washer and generator inside the truck. I've got over 10,000 invested so far. lol Its well worth it i think. They say if you love what you do you'll never work a day in your life. I'm a firm believer in that now. :rockon :bigups
 
sjr trust me i believe you when you say once the bug hits it's over.

if it goes well for me i will probably keep at it till i feel comfortable enough to live off of it. i just like the full time job i have now it's a county job so i could leave for a year and always come back as long as it's before the year is up.

so what do you thin k of the supplies i have listed for a beginner?
 
so what do you thin k of the supplies i have listed for a beginner?[/QUOTE]

The supply list looks good with exception to the tire dressing, Do Not try to dress tires with wheel sealant. Keep the wheel sealant on your list, you will love it but do not get it on tires it is for wheels only. unless of course if you want pink tires. lol.. for tire dressing go with PB's bold and bright it also doubles for engine bay dressing..plan on replacing the 16 oz. sizes with gallons it is much cheaper that way per oz.
 
One thing I am noticing is that you have not made mention of any of the legal aspects of running a business. Sure, it's only car detailing, but there's business licenses, liability insurance, possible water reclamation depending on where you are, etc.

You may want to talk to some small business owners in your area to see what all is required to start up. I hate to sound like a ninny, but there's a little more to it than just buying some supplies and putting an ad in the paper if you are going to be serious about it.

I know there is absolutely no way on this green earth that I would detail for complete strangers and take their money without some sort of insurance. What would you do if you burn through their paint, bust a window, scratch the paint, or have a crash while moving the vehicle? All that sort of stuff needs to be thought about.

Poorboy has a good line of products and he is great when it comes to customer service. I think you'll be happy with his products.
 
JaredPointer said:
One thing I am noticing is that you have not made mention of any of the legal aspects of running a business. Sure, it's only car detailing, but there's business licenses, liability insurance, possible water reclamation depending on where you are, etc.

You may want to talk to some small business owners in your area to see what all is required to start up. I hate to sound like a ninny, but there's a little more to it than just buying some supplies and putting an ad in the paper if you are going to be serious about it.

I know there is absolutely no way on this green earth that I would detail for complete strangers and take their money without some sort of insurance. What would you do if you burn through their paint, bust a window, scratch the paint, or have a crash while moving the vehicle? All that sort of stuff needs to be thought about.

Poorboy has a good line of products and he is great when it comes to customer service. I think you'll be happy with his products.
Click to expand...

The list looks good Blu. Jared has a very good point. accidents do happen I backed a k-9 unit into a fence post after I was done washing it a few weeks ago. It was no big deal no scratches or anything but the k-9 officer saw it and wanted to make a big deal about it but his supervisor was cool he came out saw the bumper and said to not worry about it that it was cool and forget about it. lol. I havent had to deal with the water reclamation thing yet eventually I know imma have to, but when I got the gov. contract they were completely adament about my chemicals being eco-friendly, and the utility company required a 1 million dollar liability insurance policy in place before I even set foot on their yard. O! and workers comp insurance if I was gonna have someone other than my girlfriend help me onsite.
 
i undertand you both jared and sjr about doing it legally.

i will be doing all the legal stuff when i start. for now i will be doing my cars and family cars maybe a few friends cars.

then when i get the a good routine down i will go about getting my company started. im still researching what i have to do. i live in cali as for water reclamation i will wash with ONR. so there is no run off.
 
sjr said:
The list looks good Blu. Jared has a very good point. accidents do happen I backed a k-9 unit into a fence post after I was done washing it a few weeks ago. It was no big deal no scratches or anything but the k-9 officer saw it and wanted to make a big deal about it but his supervisor was cool he came out saw the bumper and said to not worry about it that it was cool and forget about it. lol. I havent had to deal with the water reclamation thing yet eventually I know imma have to, but when I got the gov. contract they were completely adament about my chemicals being eco-friendly, and the utility company required a 1 million dollar liability insurance policy in place before I even set foot on their yard. O! and workers comp insurance if I was gonna have someone other than my girlfriend help me onsite.
Click to expand...

Why would GOV'T allow your g'friend to accompany/"WORK" without being Covered under the Workmans Comp Act ? :inspector: She must be Hot...:bigups
 
bigluelok said:
i undertand you both jared and sjr about doing it legally.

i will be doing all the legal stuff when i start. for now i will be doing my cars and family cars maybe a few friends cars.

then when i get the a good routine down i will go about getting my company started. im still researching what i have to do. i live in cali as for water reclamation i will wash with ONR. so there is no run off.
Click to expand...

:cool:Luis, You are doing it the right way.I can see youv'e been doing your Homework.I have seen dozens of people over the years spending Thousands of Dollars before they even have the first customer.:wall Only to find out the work is very hard on tha body(if your not use to it) And they come in with all kinds of Crazy ideas about how there gonna be #1 in 6 months:rofl When in reality they can't find enough work to even pay off all those loans they took out to buy all that Equiptment. I have a freind who owns "Pawnshops" He tells me at least once a Month someone comes in wanting to Ditch there Rig.
Keep doing what your doing and you will be fine. Good Luck :rockon
 
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