Perfect detail market?

rookie · 09-03-04, 10:13

What is the perfect market for detailing?

What places come to mind? Dallas, Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale.

I would think these places because of the economics and the weather these would be the ideal for year round detailing?

Anyone agree or disagree?

SpoiledMan · 09-03-04, 11:14

...and don't forget Southern CA! It's the land of million dollars houses and 100K cars!

rookie · 09-03-04, 12:19

That is True.

Do you have a year round business? Are there any downtimes?

What about those other places? Down times there?

Mzd3 · 09-03-04, 12:25

Quote:

Originally posted by rookie
What is the perfect market for detailing?

What places come to mind? Dallas, Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale.

I would think these places because of the economics and the weather these would be the ideal for year round detailing?

Anyone agree or disagree?

If this was a mobile business and you'd be working outside often I wouldn't want to work in any of those places. Heat + Humidity isn't my thing.

rookie · 09-03-04, 12:41

Right I am talking about a mobile business. I should have pointed that out from the get-go.

The reason why I would think those are good places is because there isn't a down-time during the winter..... In the North, you cannot detail outside during the winter.

SpoiledMan · 09-03-04, 01:13

While I don't do this for a living, I do have some long time regulars. I am just as likely to get a call in June as I am December and pretty much never have to schedule around rain. In these parts we pretty much get our last rain in early March or so and it's dry until late November. It's pretty rare to get rain all day let alone two days in a row.*

*El Niño years excluded!

Spilchy · 09-03-04, 04:08

My buddy rented a home out in the Hamptons in NY. Land of the rich and famous up here in the North East. When I have visited, there is no shortage of insane cars EVERYWHERE as if you would see a Chevy any place else. The $$$$ would be amazing.

My folks vacationed in Rancho Santa Fe and a few other Cali spots and my old man told me about the boat loads of high end cars. In fact, they were staying in such a nice spa, that my dad rented a Jaguar instead of the traditional Crown Victoria he usually gets on vacations!

Mzd3 · 09-03-04, 08:25

Quote:

Originally posted by rookie
Right I am talking about a mobile business. I should have pointed that out from the get-go.

The reason why I would think those are good places is because there isn't a down-time during the winter..... In the North, you cannot detail outside during the winter.

I figured you had winters in mind with those cities, but if you're working year round outside I'd worry about summers too. After having spent 10 years in the mid atlantic and later 5 years in western MT I'll tell you every season I actually prefer western MT for outdoor stuff, and this is coming from someone who prefer's being too hot to too cold! (eastern MT is a different story, they get the extremes). At times when I was younger I did construction and landscaping in each of those places. MT really wasn't that bad for being outside during the day and for the most part it was the nights that were cold. On the otherhand when I was doing landscaping work in the summers in MD it was pure hell at times. I remember days where the heat index and air quality were so bad they were advising people to avoid any outdoor activity...and yet we had jobs to get done.

Now I'm not suggesting MT would be close to ideal for year round outdoor detailing (1st off their economy sucks), but it would be a heck of a lot more livable in the summer. No tornados or hurricanes either. North/South isn't the only thing involved in weather (average Jan. low is the same in Portland & Dallas). I think the midwest and east coast have harshest extremes. Weather wise I'm thinking coastal California cities would be the best bet. They definately have the population and some big pockets of wealth. May be a good spot as long as they don't run out of water or electricity!

Scottwax · 09-03-04, 10:27

Dallas is pretty good although when there is an El Nino winter, it can be pretty wet. We have a couple snow/ice days a year, highs mostly in the upper 40's to mid 50's. Uncomfortable but liveable. Summers are fine for me. I grew up in Phoenix so Dallas heat doesn't faze me in the least.

Dallas is also one of those areas where your car is your personality.

mirrorfinishman · 09-04-04, 08:11

Most small business owners will tell you that they experience a business cycle where there is a busy time and a slow time. I remember someone telling me that when you are in your own business, it's either feast or famine.

Here in Southern New Jersey the market for detailing is really no different than most other places. The busy time for mobile detailing here is usually from early March thru mid December. Hey, I've actually seen sunny days in January that felt warmer than a cold day in April. It's all relative.

Jimmy Buffit · 09-04-04, 06:44

Due some Google research for the top ten or twenty zip codes, by per capita income. My shop is in one of those... Business is quite good.

Jim

rookie · 09-04-04, 07:13

Jimmy, thanks. That is a great idea. I think there was a good point made about extremes, you don't exactly want the cold extremes, but you also do not want the hot extremes.

Thanks for all the responses!!!