Hmm possibly an exciting business opportunity with an aftermarket parts company

[PerfectFinish1]

Well, hopefully this turns into one of those right place at the right time stories. My friend asked me to meet him in the parking lot of a large aftermarket car stereo and parts store before cruising out to a car show... It was past 11 and I saw there were people there so I parked next door. I didn`t know he knew the owner there, but sure enough.



So we were hanging out in their large shop... very nice and clean. I noticed an empty looking detailing bay and asked the owner if he had a detailer. He said "no" and I told him that he should. He asked if I do detailing work, and I told him about my business. I guess he is very interested in having me there, and it could turn into something very profitable for both of us. From what he says, he has only owned the place a short time (purchased off of a previous owner) and he has had many people ask if they detail cars.



I know that there were many people here that have entered into these kinds of agreements before, but could not find the threads. Buick Guy comes to mind as being one of them, but couldn`t find any posts. What general terms do you have with the business, and how are they working out?



I figure this will give me a place where my customers can drop off their car if they don`t want me to be mobile... it is in a very good location. Like I said the shop is beautiful, and a very nice environment. It will also give me steady work (his customers) since I am just starting out my company and don`t have a large customer base yet. All that would be necessary are $$$$ terms that would be good for both of us.

[soysaucial]

He`ll probably take a cut but its great for dropoffs.

[AudiOn19s]

I`ve got a similar relationship with a local tuner shop. They have a full detail bay for me to work in which is great becuase i can work when it`s raining outside. The only downside is that you don`t directly get to interact with the customer most of the time...so you never hear anything back unless they`re unhappy about something so be sure that the person selling the detials very clearly lays out what is going to be done and what is not so there`s no miscommunication. I give the shop 10% off my normal prices up to 20 cars and then 20% after that....I think I made out pretty well on the deal when you consider that I`m not spending time trying to generate business because they`re doing it for me.

[PerfectFinish1]

That comission arrangement seems very good on your end... I was thinking of offering this guy a lot more than that... maybe 10% is a good point to start negotiating at.



Do you have insurance, or are you covered under the shop owners insurance when you are at his business?

[AudiOn19s]

I`m still 100% liable for all of my work...they`re liable for the car while it`s in their shop...I usually work on some pretty high end stuff there so I generally ask them to have it in the bay ready for me and I leave it there unless I have to move it for some reason. When they brought me in I knew the owner and they were simply looking for someone to do the work for them and it was a perfect fit...they even paid me exactly what I charge outside customers then added a fee to their customers. As our relationship got better and they gave me more cars to do I started doing price breaks based on volume. They requested a bit more and this is where we settled. They were previously making $50 per car off of details and it`s more like $75+ per car now simply for arranging for me to come in to do the work. But they`ve also got the demographic that doesn`t think twice about paying good money for a detail.



Ultimately what you get and what they get out of the deal is based upon what they think that a customer will pay for the services at hand. Sit down with whoever is in charge and figure it out with them and make it work for both of you.



Andy



Andy

[AudiOn19s]

The only drawback to out setup is that if someone walks in off the street and asks who they recommend for details they will only reference that they do detailing and not me or my business specifically. This is becuase if they were to hand out cards or something and someone looks at my site and sees the price difference it could ruffle some feathers. Just part of our agreement for both of us to profit in the end.

[soysaucial]

maybe leave a biz card in the customers glove box?

[AudiOn19s]

nah...no need...I konw them well and if it`s someone they know doesnt` have big money to do the detail they will go ahead and give it to them at cost...wouldn`t want to make any bad feelings between myself and the business as not only do they feed me a good amount of business...but I also get to work on some really cool cars.

[PerfectFinish1]

Thanks for the posts... sounds like you have a good thing going. Your boss is cool with you working on your own customers cars in the detailing bay as long as you have time for his customers cars as well, right? The only problem I could see happening is time conflicts relating to my customers vs. his customers. However, I think when we are setting up a deal I should request that he leaves certain days open for my customers, etc, just to make things easier. (Ask him to schedule the majority of his customers on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, for example)

[AudiOn19s]

Actually maybe I wasn`t clear on that...I never bring customer cars into their locaiton...heck my house is only about 3 miles away so I`d rather do them at my house if I cannot do them mobilly...but april - Nov. I`m mobile and the rest of the time clients understand me needing them to drop the cars at my house.

[ScubaStevo]

I basically stopped doing the work for the company I was with. Sadly the owners of the shop were very harsh towards their employees so I didn`t feel it was right working there. I left on good terms, no hard feelings as far as I know.



Money was good when it was workin though. :up