Working at home

G

Got More Wax

New member
I've just bought my new home and, it has a three car garage. To date, all of my business has been mobile or at the shop. My shop is 26 miles from home and I have a number of clients that live within two to three miles of home. The problem with coming to their home vs. taking their car to the shop is; on those details that take 2+ days, they often end up driving the car before it is done. So, I'm wondering how those of you who work out of the house fare? Do you worry about customers knowing where you live, coming to your house, etc.? I have a number of client who might call for me to come to where there are if they've gotten bird bombed and want it addressed immediately. While I have always been happy to jump in the van and do it, I worry that if they know where I live and they are in the area, I may get the knock on the door.



Andy
 
Although I am not a full time detailer, I do what I can while balancing college and a job. I have people come to my house or perform the details at their house and if it is not a paint correction, I even do it at their work. Now I have never had any problems with any of my customers except for last week when I got called back for a van fleet I was recently hired to do stating there was bird bombs every where. I went back regardless even though they park under trees so I dont see how this was my fault.



I also live in a gated community so this may be a factor but I dont think you will have any problems.
 
Yeah, I do a fair number of "Bomb" clean ups. Of course, I always charge for this service. And, I've done many at restaurants, side of the road, etc. I am just worried that clients will start showing up at my door. And, I have a very strict HOA covenant community. Lots of HOA Nazis!!



Andy
PaPaHoFF said:
Although I am not a full time detailer, I do what I can while balancing college and a job. I have people come to my house or perform the details at their house and if it is not a paint correction, I even do it at their work. Now I have never had any problems with any of my customers except for last week when I got called back for a van fleet I was recently hired to do stating there was bird bombs every where. I went back regardless even though they park under trees so I dont see how this was my fault.



I also live in a gated community so this may be a factor but I dont think you will have any problems.
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i dont detail full time but i get about 5-6 cars month. its usually from word of mouth so either way, somebody knows where i live. but i think the biggest benefit for working at home for this type of business is that you have your job readily available. since there are no set hours for a detail esp when you have it for more than a day, its so nice to stop and start when ever you want. go inside, eat, sleep and then when youre ready just walk back into the garage. saves gas and mileage.



but then for those detail full time, i dont know your city business license zones are. here in my city, we can have one company vehicle but it must be parked in the driveway and must be audible. also if we have a client or customers car, they have to be parked in the street. crazy bs. lOL
 
99% of mine is at my house. I don;t really care that people know where I live. I do tend to introduce them to my 110lb Doberman though just so they get the point LOL. I actually live in a nicer area of Flint (if there is such a thing) but lots of decent houses and such around me for the income bracket. I haven't had any issues yet with people coming back or the neighbors being nosey betty's and such. And I love not having the overhead of a shop anymore. Makes like a lot less stressful in these trying times.
 
If you have the right type of clientele, then I'm sure they'd be professional enough to respect your home life and not show up unnanounced. I work from my home, and have never had any surprises or issues.



It really depends on the type of clients you have. The more high-end, typically speaking the more professional and less chances of any issues or problems.
 
That sounds good in theory. But, my exterior detail starts @ $480.0, which seems to be a tad higher than most of my competition. So, I like to think I service a higher-end clientele. That said, they, IME, seem to be higher maintenance and prone to surprises. I've had a client call me from Evergreen - about 40 miles away, in the mountains - giving me info about being bombed by a bird. He was stopping for lunch and a few cocktails with his date, to wait for me to come up and take care of the mess. Really????!!!!



So, that is one reason I worry about working from home. Aside from my HOA, the whole, "Backyard Mechanic" just keeps coming to mind. Mind you, I would love to just wake up walk in the garage and get to work!



Andy
TSC17 said:
If you have the right type of clientele, then I'm sure they'd be professional enough to respect your home life and not show up unnanounced. I work from my home, and have never had any surprises or issues.



It really depends on the type of clients you have. The more high-end, typically speaking the more professional and less chances of any issues or problems.
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I live in a gated community, so they'll have to deal my armed security guards 1st. I really like the freedom of working from home. You can take your time and not have to rush to finish, which means you can totally concentrate on doing the very best work possible. Being able to jump in the pool anytime helps too. There's been times where I'd wake up in the middle of the night and go out to the garage to do a couple more hours.
 
once I get a house, all my details entailing correction work will get dropped off at my place...



right now I use my parents about 15 min away as I do not have a garage. If someone wants to drop their car off with me because they cant detail at their place (apartment, construction, etc) I do it here no problem. I just dont really want to keep people's cars outside all the time...even though its totally safe!



hopefully soon, either my roommate is buying a house, or I will be, whichever first, the garage will be getting a huge make-over with lights and decor!
 
I just can't wait until the first time I bring a car home to work on it and get an ear full of neighbor complaining that he didn't spend $900k to have some car wash in the neighborhood.





Great!!!:sadwavey:



Andy
 
toyotaguy said:
once I get a house, all my details entailing correction work will get dropped off at my place...



right now I use my parents about 15 min away as I do not have a garage. If someone wants to drop their car off with me because they cant detail at their place (apartment, construction, etc) I do it here no problem. I just dont really want to keep people's cars outside all the time...even though its totally safe!



hopefully soon, either my roommate is buying a house, or I will be, whichever first, the garage will be getting a huge make-over with lights and decor!
Click to expand...



haha that's EXACTLY my situation as well :2thumbs:
 
Got More Wax said:
I just can't wait until the first time I bring a car home to work on it and get an ear full of neighbor complaining that he didn't spend $900k to have some car wash in the neighborhood.





Great!!!:sadwavey:



Andy
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Mine are the same way lol but no body complains and if they do, nothing can be done about it. I wouldnt worry.
 
I do all of my work at home, just pull in the garage and go to town. I don't mind people coming to get it done, and at the most it just makes it easier to find the next time they need a detail. I've had no problems with people coming back or showing up unexpectedly, so far they have always called if they needed anything. However, with that said I may be moving either into a shop or another home with a custom garage that doesn't have an HOA attached to it.



At least not a strict HOA, because we have one in my neighborhood now that restricts "businesses" but the neighbors seem to love the easy access to a detailer down the street. You might experience the same response, however don't have cars all over the driveway and appear like an all day car wash. I even wash mine in the garage, you just have to set it up accordingly plus it's much nicer in the winter
 
I also do 95% of my work out of my house. a lot of people have respect for that, since they know the overhead is low, if any. Just because I'm operating out of my house, doesn't mean im not professional or won't do a good job. There are those select people that ask where my shop is, and I explain it to them, then they are like "Ok thanks anyway" I just move on to the next.



My neighbors love when I have 80K+ cars at my house. They are walking advertisements for me, telling everyone the types of cars I do.
 
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