Starting to detail on the side. have ?'s

R

Robb

New member
Im beginning to detail on the side for a few friends of the family and such, im wanting to start advertising, and have a few questions, on my interior/exterior full details i will charge $150, interior or exterior only will be 80, does this seem fair? The products that i have are:

DACP

Scratch X

Fine Cut

Hi-Temp Light Cut

Meguiars Medallion Paint Cleaner

Meguiars show car glaze

S100

Prestone Carpet Cleaner

Woolite for leather cleaning

Meguairs Platic Cleaner

STP interior dressing

Eagle 1 wet tire

Meguairs Grape tire dressin

Klasse AIO/SG

Meguairs 26 paste

P21S Car wash soap

Stoners IG

A2Z wheel cleaner

Pc w/ lots of pads

lots of good quality microfiber



is there any other things i may need? these products have served me well, but i will add any that i need/ may be missing?



Thanks for any input, i thank all the members that have made this a great place to learn and have learned invaluable amounts of info and techniques, thanks again
 
I think it always good to have some simple green on the list too! Conisdering the products you are using, your prices seem fair. You have a vacuum? Any compressed air? Power washer? Extractor?



I am new to my own business but not to detailing and am curious as to how you are going to advertise? I was thinking about maybe carrying business cards with me and talking to people I meet with at my local cruises on the weekends. Maybe even putting an ad in the local community paper.
 
i did leave out a few products now that i think about it, i have a wet/dry vac, simple green, california duster for the interior, waffle weave for drying along w/ CWB( i know i know)

no extractor or power washer, just elbow grease and hose there, what is the compressed air for? im thinking the interior cevices? just a regular can of air be good for that?



im going to advertise w/ flyers, my community college has bulletin boards that i will utilize, possibly an add in the paper.
 
Ya I always used compressed air to blow junk from under the seat, dust in vents, and getting garbage out of the tracks under mini van seats. As far as the extractor, I never really use it anyway. More of a pain in the *** if you ask me. I use simple green and a brush to clean carpets and it works very well!
 
Robb-if your wet/dry vac converts to a blower, then you can use that to blow dust out of vents and crevices as well as blowing water out of body seems and door moldings.



Prices seem fair and you have a nice product selection to chose from. You also might want to think about getting a PC. I do everything by hand, but it took a good 6 months for me to not go home sore every night. Now, after more than 9 years full time detailing, it doesn't bother me.
 
Hardly anyone looks in the paper or the phonebook for an auto detailer. Auto detailing is the profession that gets around by word of mouth and by referrals.



For starting off save your money on mail outs, phonebook and ads in the local paper. Invest it in some nice half sheet flyers that describe your services and prices and some nice business cards. People think about auto detailers when they SEE auto detailers working on another persons car.



Anthony
 
I have to agree with Anthony. I get 6% of my new business from the yellow pages and the rest is referrals or people seeing me work.
 
Thanks everyone for your help, ill definately use your suggestions, thanks Scott for ll your help, i remember when i first started detailing and read your posts on off-topic, ive now progressed so much, im almost a pure autopian, i.e. very very anal about my car, i do have a PC which i will be using w/ these products, so i hope to achieve very good results and hopefully when im done w/ college opening a detail shop of my own, thanks again everyone
 
Robb said:
Thanks everyone for your help, ill definately use your suggestions, thanks Scott for ll your help, i remember when i first started detailing and read your posts on off-topic, ive now progressed so much, im almost a pure autopian, i.e. very very anal about my car, i do have a PC which i will be using w/ these products, so i hope to achieve very good results and hopefully when im done w/ college opening a detail shop of my own, thanks again everyone
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:cool: Glad to know that someone is reading what I post on OT and here! I'm even happier that it has helped you not only take care of your car, but make some money off your new found talent!
 
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