Could anyone lend advice on starting a detailing shop?

joed1228 · 04-10-02, 11:29

Hey guys, I need a little help and I thought I would ask the people who have done it.

I am looking to quit my job and take on detailing full time if all factors seem to be on my side. I work in Boston, MA where there are alot of high rises who have detail shops. Over 95% of them charge around 300.00 to have a full detail to just give you an example. There are a few high rises here who have open space since they are just being built. I am looking to move into one of them and start my own little detailing shop.

I expect to do three cars a day, starting at 9 am and ending at 6 pm. I would probaly charge around 150.00 - 200.00 a car to hold a steady customer base rather than only have a few rich customers who don't always show.

I was just wondering how you guys work:

Do you normally take care of three cars in the amount of time I would have.

Do you have help

How much do you spend per month on products, on water and on electricty

I have about 30 other questions I could ramble off. Can any of you guys tell me how you started, how your doing, what you need to watch out for and all of the little things? Is there any resources on the internet you guys know of that I can read through to get a better feild of what I am thinking of jumping into?

Just let me know what you guys think, ya, nay or whatever it may be. I am going to do my research.

NY detailer · 04-10-02, 03:19

well i can answer alot of your questions and so can some other guys on the forum.
you should be able to get in 3-5 full details a day. I takes me about 3 hours to do each car.
yes, i have help. i found jason on autopia and he now works for me and he is great!!! you should not just go out an hire anyone. you need to try them out first.
Last month i spent about $900.00 in supplies. That was for a few cases of machine glaze, a few cases of final polish, 2 cases of quick detailer, 1 case of compound, 5 cases of tire dressing, 1 case of order remover. Then all the MF's, towels, water blades,
q-tips, vinyl cleaner, vinyl restore, vinyl shine, leather cleaner & conditioner, etc....... (i could go on all day)
I suggest you sit down and go over everything in detail. dont order to much up front but at the same time be sure you have enough products to detail some cars.
You will also need some forms for the customer to sign.
THESE FORMS WILL CYA! You walk around the car and right down all damages to the cars, scratches, swirls, dents, dings, faded paint, etc.. you then have the customer sign this. This covers your @$$ so the customer does not try to blame you.
Business cards cost around 100.00 for a nice one. i can give you a company and show you a sample of my card if you want.
I could go over this more in detail with you if you want over the phone. send me an email perfect.detailing@verizon.net, i will send you back my phone #.(dont want to just post it)
I could also hook you up with some vendors that will be able to provide you with all your needs at a low price. I have alot of connections in this business as i am also a full time insurance adjuster.
Good luck

Brian
NY's perfect detailing

Acuracer · 04-10-02, 05:45

Joed,

I'm not a professional detailer but in order to start a small business you really need to have this planned out. What are your expenses? Make sure you know the fixed expenses (overhead) and the variable expenses (material used and labor) Then use people like NY to understand what might be the volume of business that you would be able to attract - are you working alone or with someone? That would change the labor rate and the number of billable hours that you can charge in the year.

Given all this - and make sure that you pay yourself a salary - you can determine what the price needs to be - don't forget to figure in some profit too.

My point is run it as a real business with a real plan - don't just go at it with a "what can I charge" attitude - determine what you want to charge, make sure that customers get a good value for that $$ and then sell your services.

And take NY up on his offer. A hour on the phone understanding this will be valueful.

Intel486 · 04-10-02, 05:51

Find someone you know who has started a business. Doesn't matter what business it is. If they have started one, then they can help you. If you don't know anyone, then just walk up to someone who you see who has a small business. Most business people are nice... until you become their competitor

I just walked up to a guy that owns a small painting company here. He has a crew painting a house on my street and he was checking on his crew. I just pulled over and started to talk to him. Wish I had a business card to give him. The guy helping me to get mobile detailing setup owns a flooring company. Still business is business. He has also said he'll hire me to detail his delivery trucks

Go buy a book on setting up a business and get a book on writing a business plan.

If you plan on getting employees then I suggest you also read the book "The E Myth"

04-20-02, 06:45

Hey joed, i have been in this business for over 30 years. I have professionally polished over 70,000 vehicles. First and for most anyone who tells you that you are going toi detail a vehicle in 3 hours is crazy. Detailing is not about how quick but how well you can detail. Remember its called detail. Don't get into this business unless you personally plan on working at it. This business is very labor intense. I would be happy to answer any of your questions . E-Mail me at jk5751@aol.com. Also check out my web site at 855buff.com. best of luck joe

BradE · 04-21-02, 09:59

Make sure you have insurance, and get plenty of quotes because sometimes insurance for this type of business can be costly.

NY detailer · 04-21-02, 03:28

Quote:

Originally posted by auto care usa
Hey joed, i have been in this business for over 30 years. I have professionally polished over 70,000 vehicles. First and for most anyone who tells you that you are going toi detail a vehicle in 3 hours is crazy. Detailing is not about how quick but how well you can detail. Remember its called detail. Don't get into this business unless you personally plan on working at it. This business is very labor intense. I would be happy to answer any of your questions . E-Mail me at jk5751@aol.com. Also check out my web site at 855buff.com. best of luck joe

WE KNOW, WE KNOW, WE KNOW
30year + 70,000 cars. WE KNOW ALREADY!!

I detail a car in around 3 hours and i'm not crazy. The is a difference between working hard and working smart. I do both, but working smarter always pays off

Intermezzo · 04-29-02, 06:07

Wait a sec... How on earth did you detail over 70,000 vehicles over the course of 30 years while adhering to the philosophy that detailing a car in 3 hours is crazy? I just punched up a few numbers and your numbers don't jibe.

04-29-02, 07:08

lol we all have punched up the numbers

. I detailed 8,000 cars last year, 70,000 is no biggie

William420 · 04-29-02, 07:41

I think it's possible if you have, say 4-5 employees, and about 10 cars to detail each day... Then it sounds about right.

Runaway-boy · 05-01-02, 04:28

When we started off our business we made a terrible mistake. We tried to hit the market with a low cost quality service. Just listen to how it sounds...."low cost quality detailing service"...does that rhyme...?
Well..we´ve had a hard time of getting off that sector of beeing a low cost company but if I would start it all over again I would charge the same costs as the colleges do and put an hour extra on the car instead. I don´t think it is about how many cars we make I think it is more about how good you make the cars. We do about two cars aday per person and charge the costumar roughly 35-45 USD an hour included all taxes.

Yes we do have some extra help. We outsource as much paperwork as we can, we aint good at that. We got an acounter that take care of the receits and we got a company that takes care of the invoices and the collection of money (I can realy recommend that).

Our cost for the products, water and electricity is roughly 10% of the income.

Good Luck but think twice about what you charge.

Scottwax · 05-02-02, 06:45

Quote:

Originally posted by William420
I think it's possible if you have, say 4-5 employees, and about 10 cars to detail each day... Then it sounds about right.

Maybe, but Joe is saying "I have professionally polished over 70,000 vehicles." not "My company has professionally polished over 70,000 vehicles."

You can detail some cars in 3 hours, but not most. Probably 3.5 to 4 hours is what you should allow for each car. Some you will do faster and some will take longer, but your average should be somewhere in there.

My business is mobile, so my costs won't really compare to a fixed location, but you need to consider phone and utility costs, advertising, supplies, start-up equipment, etc and then double that amount. You should have 3-6 months of operating costs banked before you open.