NEED ADVICE PLEASE Staring my own detailing business

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darrinb

New member
I've been wanting to do this for a long time but i never really put my mind to it. I need some help on how to get the word out. I wanna do a mobile service or they can come to my house it doesnt matter. I dont wanna do old beat up cars mostly just high end type ****. I wouldnt mind doin a civic if it was in good shape but i dont want a car thats straight up ****** *** conditon and they want me to make it look like new..



Any one have any suggestions?? They would be greatly appreciated!!



I talked to some guy today that i just met in a parking lot. He wants me to detail his modena and diablo So i gave him my #.



What do you think i should charge for a full detail like wash, clay, wax, full interior like vacume, conditon leather and dash.. etc??



Can any one help me w/ designing a business card??



Thanks alot!!



Darrin
 
Thats like opening a bank and saying I only want customers who are worth more than $500.000.00 . Let me tell you it's easier to detail a dirty car than a clean car. No matter what you do to a dirty car , it will look much better. The high end cars are usually very well taken care of and are much harder to improve. Only a very experienced detailer is capable of doing a quality detail, using the finest products available. You have to have knowledge of paints, leathers, etc or you can ruin the vehicle.
 
sheesh I see the Professional Detailer forum can be harsh. I would suggest useing the search function. it is alot easier to detail dirty cause the high-end cars need to be done perfectly or you can swirl them easy. Also there are many graphics design and cheap studios that can design you a buisiness card no body on the forum will do one for free.
 
Auto Care USA said:
Thats like opening a bank and saying I only want customers who are worth more than $500.000.00 . Let me tell you it's easier to detail a dirty car than a clean car. No matter what you do to a dirty car , it will look much better. The high end cars are usually very well taken care of and are much harder to improve. Only a very experienced detailer is capable of doing a quality detail, using the finest products available. You have to have knowledge of paints, leathers, etc or you can ruin the vehicle.
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Amen to that. Not to mention that someone with a $100K car is likely to sue the pants off you if you mess something up. Not that a Civic owner wouldn't, but I'd rather get sued to replace a $100 fender than a $15,000 fender. I'm surprised that an owner of a high end car would even consider letting someone who didn't know anything about detailing or how much to charge. I mean, you drive a 2003 automobile so I would assume its clean. It better be clean if its brand new. The car you drive couldn't have been a very good example for them to scope your detailing skills, so I just question why they would ask you to detail anything for them.
 
Part of the business is detailing older cars. You can avoid some of this by charging more, but if someone offers you 400 to detail their old POS then you can't exactly turn them down on the fact that its old. If its dirty beyond belief, charge more, no wrong in that. You won't be getting much business if you expect to be detailing lambos all day and you're just starting out.
 
thanks for the help guys!!!



i aint bullshittin, i was just talkin to this guy and he wanted me to detail his cars...
 
darrinb said:
thanks for the help guys!!!



i aint bullshittin, i was just talkin to this guy and he wanted me to detail his cars...
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I would suggest, if you are serious here - that you do this right and make sure you have the proper licensing and insurance so you are covered if you make a mistake. I wouldn't even dream of letting some guy work on my Grand Cherokee let alone a Modena unless he could prove that he was professionally trained and knew what he was doing.
 
Wow, tough crowd... All points are valid fellas, but they probably could have been made without all the sarcasm, don't ya think?
 
I don't mean to hijack your thread, but maybe the info I seek would help you too.



I want to start this mini detailing thing on the side too... no way am I going to get a modena hahah... but I can get my hands on a couple S500's and downwards. Alot of my neighbors drive porsches and such but I do plan on starting w/ family members first and working my way out to friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc.



How much would you really charge for a full detail? I'm hoping to go after older cars... i know a couple people w/ oldschool bmws that I would love to clean up the oxidation and such and make em shine. I do plan on starting w/ dirty cars so that it would look much better for me and word could spread haha.



So you base the price on the car? can someone give me an example of what car, what work, and how much you'd charge? Please, no exotic car prices lol. Thanks alot guys... i love this forum!
 
nadir said:
I don't mean to hijack your thread, but maybe the info I seek would help you too.



I want to start this mini detailing thing on the side too... no way am I going to get a modena hahah... but I can get my hands on a couple S500's and downwards. Alot of my neighbors drive porsches and such but I do plan on starting w/ family members first and working my way out to friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc.



How much would you really charge for a full detail? I'm hoping to go after older cars... i know a couple people w/ oldschool bmws that I would love to clean up the oxidation and such and make em shine. I do plan on starting w/ dirty cars so that it would look much better for me and word could spread haha.



So you base the price on the car? can someone give me an example of what car, what work, and how much you'd charge? Please, no exotic car prices lol. Thanks alot guys... i love this forum!
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It doesn't matter what you are working on - Ferrari or Hyundai. You need to figure out what your costs will be to run your business down to the hour and then determine a fair mark up for profit and you have your hourly rate. A minimum in my opinion for someone who knows what they are doing is $40 p/hr but I charge $50+ depending on the job. If you were doing a very specific job on an exotic or the like you can charge more if it is a show quality detail as it is very labour intensive.
 
ShineShop said:
It doesn't matter what you are working on - Ferrari or Hyundai. You need to figure out what your costs will be to run your business down to the hour and then determine a fair mark up for profit and you have your hourly rate. A minimum in my opinion for someone who knows what they are doing is $40 p/hr but I charge $50+ depending on the job. If you were doing a very specific job on an exotic or the like you can charge more if it is a show quality detail as it is very labour intensive.
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I'm not trying to contradict you ShineShop, but for someone "working on the side" and just starting out, the hourly rate should proably be lower to start with. The reason being that the person will get faster (and better) with time and practice. Do you really want to charge less for the same detail because you got better?



I fell into that trap with my income tax preparation. I charged the same per hour when I started using tax software. Now, when I get new tech that speeds up my work, I figure out the hourly rate so the same service costs the same or slightly more (prices do go up with time). Helps cover my investments.
 
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