2008 Professional Detailers Survey

[todd@bsaw]

Anyone here get and read industry mags? To keep it short, you should.

The January issue isn`t on the web page yet, so I will just type out some of the more interesting points.

These are the abridged results of a national survey of the detailing/car wash industry from Auto Laundry News:



Percentage Of Detail Business Done By Season By Region



Pacific

18% Winter

26% Spring

36% Summer

20% Fall



Mountain

17% Winter

29% Spring

28% Summer

26% Fall



Midwest

15% Winter

25% Spring

34% Summer

26% Fall



Central

13% Winter

32% Spring

34% Summer

21% Fall



South Central

20% Winter

32% Spring

31% Summer

17% Fall



Southeast

26% Winter

24% Spring

30% Summer

20% Fall



Mid-Atlantic

14% Winter

28% Spring

33% Summer

25% Fall



New England

08% Winter

45% Spring

27% Summer

20% Fall



* * * * *



Operator Profile

57% Freestanding Detail Shop

09% Mobile Detailing

18% Full-Service Conveyor Car Wash

10% Exterior-Only Car Wash

08% Self-Serve Car Wash

01% In-Bay Automatic

04% Oil Change

01% Gas Station

01% C-Store

02% Auto Dealership



* * * * *



Income Compared to Last Year

48% 2007 Income more than in 2006

35% Income the same

17% Income less



* * * * *



Average Time Required to Complete Standard Detail Package

4.8 Hours - Freestanding

3.9 Hours - Car Wash Combo

4.3 Hours - Mobile Service

5.5 Hours - Other Combo (look under Operator Profile)



* * * * *



(I found this the most interesting given the often discussed in this forum)

Detail Service Prices

Charge from a fixed-price menu

- 51%

Charge according to per-car estimate

- 49%



* * * * *



Average Number of Cars Detailed Annually

Freestanding 1,070

Car Wash Combo 2,118

Mobile Service 418



* * * * *



Customer Profile

74% Retail

23% Auto Dealers

1% Taxi/Limo

2% Other (fleets, wholesale, etc.)



Retail Vehicle Profile

19% - New (under 1 yr. old)

32% - 1 to 2 years old

33% - 3 to 5 years old

18% - 5+ years old



* * * * *



For those looking to start your detail business... READ THIS!

OPERATING COSTS AS PERCENTAGE OF REVENUE

11.0% - Rent

4.7% - Equipment/supplies/maintenance

4.3% - Chemicals

38.8% - LABOR

4.3% - Utilities

3.4% - Advertising & Promotion

3.9% - Insurance

1.0% - Customer Claims



* * * * *



Average Monthly Gross Income

$12,080 Freestanding

$13,013 Car Wash Combo

$8,000 Mobile Service



Average Wage Per Hour Per Employee

6% Minimum wage

24% Min to $8.00

32% $8.00 to 10.00

38% Over $10.00



* * * * *



Average Package Prices

Retail

Complete Interior/Exterior Detail

$185.86 Freestanding

$175.06 Car Wash Combo

$209.14 Mobile Service



Exterior Detail Only

$115.73 Freestanding

$087.81 Car Wash Combo

$116.43 Mobile Service



Wholesale

Complete Interior/Exterior Detail

$129.60 Freestanding

$125.50 Car Wash Combo

*Not Avail*



Exterior Detail Only

$88.82 Freestanding

$64.17 Car Wash Combo

*Not Avail*

Mobile detailers do not do wholesale work? :nixweiss



* * * * *



A LA CARTE SERVICES (Average Price)

Hand Wax $68.29

Machine Wax $113.32

Carpet Shampoo $49.32

Upholstery Cleaning $52.39

Dress Interior $34.17

Dress Exterior $18.16

Deodorizing $64.83

Paint Touch-up $44.60

PDR $98.33

Windshield Repair $54.29

Upholstery Prot. $50.33

Paint Sealant $127.90

Rustproofing $193.00

Engine Cleaning $47.89

Window Tinting $174.33

Pinstriping $74.00









Lots of great info in here. I already used to set my 2008 goals. I guess the question on a lot of this is... are you average or below average? Sure, I have some curiosities how they came upon some numbers and stats and how accurate they are to each region. I just figured this would be useful to ALL THOSE posts we get in the Professional forum about "Starting Up A Detail Business... HELP!" This took a really long time to type.



- T :work:

[imported_ajbarnes]

Very interesting read. I`m mobile, and I would say those stats are pretty much in sync with my operation.

[PROServices]

Great info Todd.. When can you start?

[mixxer]

wow very interesting thanks. what magazine is that ?

[Labster]

I`m actually gonna use some of this to help get my info put together for my website.

[Superior Shine]

Those numbers would be lean in my neck of the woods. According to the survey $48 is the going hourly rate for a mobile detailer. A two man crew at $96 per hour (2 x $48 = $96) at that rate should gross $600- $625 a day. Ours is $65 and our target is $800 - $850.

[mixxer]

yes but it should take you half the time so the the hourly rate per man shouldnt change.

[todd@bsaw]

mixxer,

The mag is Auto Laundry News as stated at the start of the thread.

I get many others, but cannot think of the names right now.



Also, Superior Shine is in a higher priced location (So. Cal) so would be part of those polled that were above the average of $48 per hour. He also came with those numbers using a two man team for both the average and his pricing structure. There is no "half the time" to consider.

[Envious Eric]

yes but it should take you half the time so the the hourly rate per man shouldnt change.

the way you are saying it is that Joe should be losing money by using a two man team.



if it takes two people to do a job in 10 hours, then alone, it will in effect, take a single person 20 hours for having to do double the work...



2 man team x 5 hours = 100 bucks

1 man team x 10 hours = 100 bucks



by using a two man team, he is able to get in two cars a day instead of just one, increasing his profits...



I would be doing the same, I just need more clients to schedule the same day...:xyxthumbs

[mixxer]

no i just misunderstood he said "According to the survey $48 is the going hourly rate for a mobile detailer" i took it as [a ] mobile detailer meaning 1 detailer not a crew of 2 or more.