A few Q`s.

[samiam513]

Could anyone give me a hand with the laws i will need to know if i detail for $$ this summer?



How much will insurance be?



How much are supplies?



How much time do you spend per caR?



Do you have any advertising?

[BradE]

How much will insurance be?



There is no solid answer to this question. There are many factors that can affect the amount it will cost. The only to get a concrete number is to call around and get some quotes.




How much are supplies?



This is very subjective as well. It will depend on what quality of products you are going to use, the services you are going to offer, how many cars you will be doing, etc.




How much time do you spend per caR?



Again, very subjective. Depends on the size of the car, your skill and how fast you operate, weather conditions can also play a factor here.

[Jngrbrdman]

The only way I got the answers to some of those questions was to just go out and do it. As you go you will figure out what you need and what you don`t need. I guess you could go out and spend $1500 on supplies for the season but unless you know what you are going to be using then you might waste half of that or just leave it till the next year. I know that your question was meant to help you avoid wasting or buying something you don`t need, but it just isn`t something that someone else can tell you. You have to look at your market and what you plan on offering. Then stock your supplies to suit that.



As for advertising, I just use word of mouth. Its not my full time job so I am fine with getting jobs when I can. I have a couple people that are being patient enough to wait for me to get moved before I do anymore cars. I`ve got 3 or 4 lined up for the first week I`m done moving. Word of mouth is the best advertising you can do. It also helps you control your volume. I don`t have the time to handle the volume I`d get if I advertised properly. If you aren`t doing this as a hobby then I would say that you should get some business cards made up and some flyers and just leave them everywhere. I know several part time detailers that do that and it seems to work fine for them.

[imported_Intel486]

How much are supplies?



Depends what you buy and how far you want to go and also what equipment you have. It also depends on what company you go with. Some chemicals cost more than others. Like I said, it depends how far you want to go. You can go out and buy a 2k trailer and 1k worth of chemicals or you can go and buy $200 worth of chemicals. Just depends what YOU want to do.




How much time do you spend per caR?



Depends what your doing. A basic wash package should take less than 1 hour. One step wax should take you 1 1/2 hours on a car. An orbital buffer for wax will really increase our speed for waxing. Get one if you don`t have one!



And I agree with ShowroomLincoln here, weather really affect your speed. I know here in the summer when its 100 degrees with 90% humidity I move reeeeeal slow.




Do you have any advertising?



Yes business cards, a full flyer, a small 1/2 page flyer, and I`m working on a pamplet now. Well, I`m not working on it right now... I`m playing Medal of Honor: Allied Assualt... but I mean to be working on it right now... Yes, I`ll get right on it.



Drive around and if you see people outside their house go up and give them a flyer if they have a nice car. Hard to go knock door to door during the day because a lot of people are at work and I really don`t like leaving flyers on doors. Catch people in parking lots as they head into places or to their cars. Grocery store parking lots are great.