Hey all. 17 Year Old Business Owner here!

mlsdetail · 07-17-09, 06:35

Hey guys.

I found this forum by googling around trying to find some advertising tips for my business. As a 17 year old I find myself pretty lucky to have had the past couple years with my dad teaching me how to detail cars and I have quite a lot of skill for my age.

I've done 3 cars now and 1 motorcycle but only started throwing ads up on Craigslist last weekend. I'm trying to get it to where I have a car or two to do everyday.

If you guys have any tips for a guy starting out, that'd be wonderful.

If anyone needs any help building a website, I'm also a part time web designer so I might be able to help out a fellow detailer.

Also, I'm going to be searching a lot more tonight for advertising tips but if you guys could give me some here that'd be great too.

What I have in mind is...

Getting a rear windshield vinyl printed up and something for the sides of my car maybe. (it's a silver 02 civic) I wish I had a colored paint job so I could make it bright and shiny to draw more attention to it, but oh well. Also, I'm going to get about 1000 business cards printed up and I'm going to start handing them out to begin building a business base in the area. What's great about the detailing business is that once you've done work for a client, they're so proud of how great their car looks they'll immediately go show all their friends, which will in turn get you tons of business.

I've heard door hangers have a pretty good response rate, what do you guys think?

Darkstar752 · 07-17-09, 06:51

Welcome to Autopia!

MobileJay · 07-17-09, 08:26

Read read read and then read some more. There is TONSSSSSS of information about everthing detailing here. Use the search function a lot and soak up as much as you can.

dheath · 07-17-09, 09:00

I'm kind of in the same boat as you, although Ive been a member here for a few years and soaked up a TON of information, I am trying to start detailing for profit. It seems starting up is the hardest part. This is a fantastic website and most everyone is willing to help a new guy out. I'll be keeping an eye n this thread... where are you located btw?

scary bill · 07-18-09, 01:02

Welcome.

Start reading, you will learn a lot fast that way. Then start doing. There is no better way to learn than to do it.

mlsdetail · 07-18-09, 01:33

lol, i'm not one to read then do

i do and read while i do.

I prefer to spend more time doing than learning. who needs to learn. if I fail i'll just keep doing more. it takes 10 hours of reading to learn what you learn in one mistake. thats the way I look at it

im in chicagoland area

AGAuto · 07-18-09, 08:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlsdetail

lol, i'm not one to read then do

i do and read while i do.

I prefer to spend more time doing than learning. who needs to learn. if I fail i'll just keep doing more. it takes 10 hours of reading to learn what you learn in one mistake. thats the way I look at it

one mistake could cost you more than what you can make in 10 hours. If I wanted to get my car detailed by you, I would quickly find someone else once I knew that you might use my car to learn from your mistakes.

I'm 19 and have been detailing my family's cars for years. This summer I decided to make a small business out of it to make some easy cash instead of searching everywhere for a job before I go back to school. I found out the hard way that its not "easy" and have learned so much from reading as much as I could from this forum. Take the time to read and learn...I would hate for you to make a mistake on the wrong persons car

Premium · 07-18-09, 08:36

Frequent the search button!

camarodriver23 · 07-19-09, 07:49

Welcome and good luck man that is awesome

bert31 · 07-20-09, 09:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlsdetail

lol, i'm not one to read then do

i do and read while i do.

I prefer to spend more time doing than learning. who needs to learn. if I fail i'll just keep doing more. it takes 10 hours of reading to learn what you learn in one mistake. thats the way I look at it

im in chicagoland area

When it comes to detailing, your reputation is ultimately what brings in business. Having the idea that you will "learn as you go" could (probably will) lead to mistakes that will do long term damage to your reputation and therefore your business.

I don't think anyone would want to know that their detailer is using their car as a learning project, they would like to think their detailer is compitent from the start. This may not be the case when doing family members cars but when you are doing someone's car who doesn't know you and they are paying you, you really need to have the knowledge up front. Leave experimentation to your own personal car.

Less · 07-20-09, 09:57

I think everyone's taking Mr Mls's "learn as I go" comment a little too literally. It seems like he already has the basics of detailing down. I'm not trying to minimize detailing as a skill, but at the same time, the basics are pretty easy for just about anyone to digest. Last weekend I gave my 19 year old sister a 20 min lesson on a dual action polisher and then let her go at it. She now has a 95% swirl free car.

I interpreted Mr. Mls's comment to mean that he isn't going to waste time reading and searching for things that might be better left to trial and error.

Do you buff off the clay lube after each panel? Or do you just clay the whole car then re-wash?

Should I use a rinseless wash like ONR to save time? Or will it be more trouble than it's worth.

Do I like mitts, sponges, or towels as a wash media?

Can product X be layered with product Y

These kind of questions need to be answered through real-world experience. I think that's what he's after. If we're talking about something more complicated like severe scratch repair, or dent removal, then obviously you don't want to be playing Dr. Frankenstein with a customer's car. But it already sounds like Mr. Mls has enough sense to know that.

camaro95 · 07-21-09, 06:32

I would recommend reading because it's helped me out a lot. There are tons of resources on here. (for a noob like me, I actually read too much and confused myself

)

Good luck with your business. I would say word of mouth is probably the best form of advertisement. Post up some flyers, maybe offer some discounts to get the ball rolling, do an amazing job and let your customers be your advertising.

I've always gravitated towards the idea that you give far more than anyone could expect in business. This is the an attitude that makes the customer feel like they're ripping you off. Go the extra mile and it will do miracles for your business.