contract work

[I.A.S.]

anyone else here do any contract work with fleet vehicles, wholesalers, or dealerships??.....



i have a few people who are heavily interested in hiring me to do some high volume work....one guy is lookin for someone to do small details on his trucks for his electrical business, then i have a few wholesalers who need like 4-6 cars done per week, and one dealership my buddy works at is lookin for a new in house detailer....



of course if i took all this on io would i hire a few guys to do some of this work but does anyone else have experience with dealing with this.....i really wanna take on these accounts on but not sure how to work pricing, scheduling, and wasnt expecting anything like this to happen so soon for me and the business.....



also i do not wanna lose my few regular retail type customers in the meantime...





any advice or opinions is much appreciated



thanx



-JOE

[Envious Eric]

I would cancel out the washing you may do for regulars, and see if there are some people you can trust to do the same quality work for you at different locations....other will chime in with more....get about 10 rotary polishers or PCs and get them into the right peoples hands to do the work for you

[I.A.S.]

i was thinkin maybe i would personally do the normal customers cars for the full details, then hire and train a few guys if need be to do the contract work......



all of this volume of work would be small details...not full like i do with regular customers, basically a wash, vacuum, dress, and maybe a wax.....thats bout it...

[HMAD]

Im doing some contract work for a ambulance company. I do an ambulance a week, there are 32 ambulances and when i do all of them ill start on the 1st one again. I get about $600 a month on them and I think it will help me get through the winter. I wouldnt suggest taking on too much contract work yourself or your gonna get burned out. If you have allot it might be worth it too hire some people though, right now im pretty much takin whatever I can get.

[Envious Eric]

i was thinkin maybe i would personally do the normal customers cars for the full details, then hire and train a few guys if need be to do the contract work......



all of this volume of work would be small details...not full like i do with regular customers, basically a wash, vacuum, dress, and maybe a wax.....thats bout it...

so keep it simple and make it a car wash with optimum spray wax.....supposed to be 3-5 months durability from one coat.....i dont think so, but that is the claim....I love the stuff, give off a nice shine and is super easy, just not on hot paint in the sun as it dries too quickly....but awesome product



what the heck is a detail these days....to me its carpet cleaning, polish and waxing, not just a was and a wax...that is what the car wash does for 30 bucks and makes people think that I am too high priced....

[I.A.S.]

my standard detail is a wash, clay, polish, wax or sealant, then vacuum and extract carpets and seats, dress interior, dress exterior.....and of course windows and wheels..



for these fleets and wholesalers i was just gonna do a wash, glaze, dress, vaccuum interior, clean and dress interior...aint no way i am gonna go into scratch removal on these cars if i am gonna pump out 2-3 per day...basically just need it to look good and thats it

[imported_mirrorfinishman]

i really wanna take on these accounts on but not sure how to work pricing, scheduling, and wasnt expecting anything like this to happen so soon for me and the business.....

Joe,



Here is a simple solution to your problem of pricing and scheduling contracts:



Quote all fleet vehicles, wholesaler and dealership jobs at 50% above your usual hour rate.



For example, let`s say your usual hourly rate for regular retail customers is based on making $40 per hour. Just add another $20 per hour on top of that so that all contract work ends up bringing in $60 per hour.



Of course, not everyone is going to go for your higher prices. That is a good thing because it eliminates your scheduling problem of having too much work all at one time. What you are left with are contracts where you are actually making a premium of $60 per hour.



Raising your prices is always the best way to slow down demand.