Taking On Too Much Too Soon ?

**Macko** · 10-31-2006, 01:23 PM

I`m looking for some advice from the pros about starting to earn money from detailing.

I`m relatively new to the game, I only got a PC 2 weeks ago. That said, I`ve done my car & a couple of family member`s & they all came out looking 100% better, I even managed to de-swirl my mother`s Civic.

Given that I enjoy doing it & that I think I can improve just about every car I`ve seen, is it too soon to start offering my services for cash ? I lack any experience but I`ve done a ton of reading & tried out various products on my own car - I`ve got Klasse SG application down to a fine art. I figure I can use my spare time to do something I enjoy & raise a few quid to keep me in products. A lot of colleagues have commented on how good my car looks & asked if I`d do theirs.

So should I stick to doing the odd favour whilst I gain experience or should I jump right in ?

**imported_cj99si** · 10-31-2006, 05:08 PM

Practice on your family and friends cars. almost all paint is different any will require different steps. doesnt mean you shouldnt start yet, you might just want to stick with wash`s and waxes for a litle bit... Good luck!

**Envious Eric** · 10-31-2006, 05:29 PM

dont do it for high dollar amounts just yet, get more details and fine tune your skills...then choose your best products and have at it...slowly but surely, but not too slow!!!

i waited a while to start "advertising" to other people that I was going to start a detailing business...well, i want to quit my day job now and with winter coming up, i cant justify living hoping to stay busy through the winter on details alone, so I will wait til spring to quit and focus mainly on detailing....and put out a lot of word of mouth advertising and some flyers and what not

**Scottwax** · 10-31-2006, 05:53 PM

I agree with the others, start off slow doing cars for family and friends.

**35TH LE** · 10-31-2006, 06:18 PM

Whatever you do get a schedule planner now... youre going to need it.

I started out doing friends and families cars and before I knew it I was booked a couple months out. Of course I only do detailing on the weekends so it doesnt take much to fill the schedule. Word of mouth will be your best friend so make sure youre up to par when starting with customers cars.

Good luck!

**ZoranC** · 10-31-2006, 07:12 PM

Is it too soon to start offering services for cash? Yes it is and no it is not. No, because there is no such thing as free lunch so there should be no such thing as free labor. Yes, because it is just too early to start offering detailing services when you know yourself you are not detailer. If I were you I would be practicing for a while at minimal rate, not offering it as a detailing but as tender loving car wash, and doing it only for few select members of family and friends, ones that will not kill you or stop being friends if things don`t go smooth on their paint.

Oh, yeah, and I would be practicing a lot on junk panels before I would dare to touch paint on someone else`s car.

**Zrex61** · 11-01-2006, 02:00 AM

2 words:

Liability Insurance....

**ZoranC** · 11-01-2006, 02:29 AM

Originally Posted by Zrex61

2 words:

Liability Insurance....

I second that.

**Macko** · 11-01-2006, 07:52 AM

Thanks for all the advice, greatly appreciated. I`ll start small scale with washing & waxing and hopefully build from there, it will all be usefull experience.

Ideally I`d like to get made redundant from my 9-5 job & go in to detailing as a full time job in the future. There seems to be a real dearth of detailers in my area, the odd one I`ve come across still use sponges & Turtle Wax products - yuch.

**BobD** · 11-01-2006, 07:56 AM

I agree with the others. I did about a years worth of free work before attempting to take someones money and then I started off really low. I suggest doing a lot of cars and use a lot of different products and find what works best for you.