How Nice of a Living Can Be Made in Detailing?

[Less]

I would really like to know if it`s possible for someone to net (as in: take home) north of $200K by detailing. You don`t have to tell me your exact salary, or anything like that. Just tell me, yes or no, is your gross compensation over $200K.



You can PM me and tell me if you want. I will not share any names or information. i will just post "X number of people PM`d me and claim to make $200K or more"



I know a guy who has a consulting business and bills himself out at $250 per hour. In a good year he`ll make $200 - $300K. But he doesn`t have anywhere near the kind of expenses that a detailer does. His product is his brain. He doesn`t have to rent a shop, he works out of his house. He doesn`t have to buy equipment, supplies, tools, or anything like that. He doesn`t need any kind of property insurance or any of those other incidental expenses that come with working on cars. So here`s a guy billing himself out at 4-5x what a detailer charges per hour with 1/10th of the expenses. And even for him, $200k is a really good year.



Keep in mind, being self-employed, the government nails you for the employer`s half of Social Security taxes. Which means your tax rate is 15+% instead of the 7% that everyone else pays. And that`s all before you pay income tax, health insurance, dental, and state taxes. Then you have to pay all of that for your employees if you have any. Then you have rent, utilities, insurance, supplies, equipment, and many other expenses you`ll have to pay.



So to the folks raving about shops who pull in $500K per year, please understand, that translates into a modest living, at best, for the owner.

[Justin A.]

SO, what, Justin...since I`m 48 and thinking of going to Med School for some extra $ as a part-time cardio-thoraci surgeon, you don`t want me to compete with you???LOL. Welcome to the forum! You picked a gbreat thread to make your first post!!

It`s not that I don`t want competition, it`s just that I think it`s folly of the worst kind to go into medicine for the money. You have to really want to practice medicine...the money needs to be secondary because it`s really not [I]that[\I] good when you consider the $100,000-$300,000 in student loans, long erratic hours, and continuing medical education expenses.

Not to insult you, but you do realize that even though you only want to practice part-time, you will have to work full time for lousy pay for at least 4 years as a resident in order to get licensed, right?



Anyway, I was thinking about this while I was out a little while ago.

When I was cooking professionally, I was always looking down the road at how I could become financially stable. I`m educated in fine cuisine, but I realized that I would never be able to live the kind of life that I want by owning a fancy restaurant - the profit margin just isn`t there because of the large staff required, high food costs, etc. So I thought that perhaps the best way to go about making gobs of money in pretty much any business that tends to have a limited appeal is to broaden the appeal - cut prices and open your service to more people.

Your detail may be worth $500 a car, but as all of us have experienced, the number of $500 a car customers is...uh...limited. Slash your price and offer the same level of service at the lower price and you`ll be rolling in customers in a hurry. I don`t know if there`s a real business term for it, but I call it the Applebee`s Philosophy. Applebee`s used to be about $20 per person, and they didn`t do a whole lot of business. They cut their prices and offered the same products, and suddenly the franchise took off.

See where I`m going with this?

[Less]

Justin, you may be on the right track with your Applebees analogy, but I think you`re still a little off.



The idea with Applebees, or any restaurant, is to use the food and prices to get people in the door. That`s it. You can break even on the food, as long as the bar makes money. It`s pretty easy for Applebees to sell $10 entrees when you`re paying $6 for a bud light. Any restauranteur will tell you, unless you`re running a white table cloth joint with $100 steaks, then the only way to make real money in the restaurant biz is with booze.



Many other businesses do this as well. I`d like to hear from the guy who works at Best Buy. it`s my understanding that your employee discount is cost+X%. So if you find out YOUR price and then compare it to the retail price, you`ll see which products have extremely high profit margins. For example, what`s your discount on TV`s compared to TV stands? what`s your discount on an Xbox compared to Xbox games? What`s your discount on an a laptop compared to your discount on a carrying case and second battery?



Now applying that approach to detailing is tricky. It`s pretty easy to sell 15 hour paint corrections for $300. However, the only way to make money at it is to convince the customer to pay $100 for the monthly, one-hour, wash and wax for the rest of the year.

[corrswitch]

Just curious if anyone knows:



Usually I see youngsters and students at the detailing shops (the ones that offer lower prices) do they make a decent income?



I imagine they make more than the minimum wage but just kinda curious what is their income range versus a full time detailer.

[MaksimumAuto]

This is one really interesting conversation that got sparked up. I`m loving it!

[Barry Theal]

I know of at least 5-7 high volume shops that clear an easy total gross profit of 5 mil a year. oh here is a kicker there all within five miles of each other!

[David Fermani]

David F. - If you think that business model can be replicated, and you have the know-how and experience to consult people into making it happen. Why don`t you do it? Seriously. I`m not trying to dispute what you`re saying, and I`m not trying to start an argument. i`m just asking why you don`t do that? If it`s that easy, you could just travel the country selling detail franchises and make a TON of money.



And luck is a major factor in ANY business success. I doubt you can find one single business owner who didn`t have a door opened for him, or find the right customer at the right time, or have his competitor hit by a bus, or some other random occurence that helped him gain momentum and bring the business to the next level.



I`ll use an analogy that I`m pretty familiar with. Poker Winning a major tournament takes countless hours of practice, determination, incredible talent, and skill. However, even if you have all of those things, you`ll never win without getting lucky. Your kings have to crack aces, and you need to hit your draws at the right time. You just don`t plow through 5,000 other players on skill.



The same goes for business. For every aspiring detailer, there are hundreds of other people just like you. You can work harder, have more skill, etc., and that`s usually enough to build a decent business. But to really elevate yourself to the next level and put yourself in the top tier of businesses it does take some amount of luck. You have to be at the right place, and the right time, find the right customer, and take advantage of the right opportunities to really break out and be exceptionally successful.

I’m not interested in getting into the consulting business or opening up francises. After 10 years of owning a high volume operation, I was so burned out that I didn’t even want to even think about washing my car ever again. I actually did do some consulting for a GM dealership for about 6 months as well as for the new owner of the business, but didn’t get any satisfaction helping others improve their business based on my own life experiences. I no longer want to be in the detail business at or anywhere near that capacity. Now, I have a decent corporate job with a pension, 401K matching, health insurance, company car and 5 weeks of paid vacation each year. Selling my detail business for a very nice amount allows me to live comfortably, my wife doesn’t work(for now), my kids go to private school and I’m happy doing detailing on the weekends for throw away money. Having this security with a comfortable living weighs a lot more in my mind than operating a very stressful business. Especially when the business wouldn’t be my own. I’ve coached several members with dealer relations (free of charge), but if someone wanted to pay me to analyze their operation to maximize its potential and make it run lean, I feel I’d be very well versed. I just don’t have the resolve to focus any full time effort on doing that these days. Luck certainly helps, but knowing how to & making the right moves for growth is key almost as much as cementing in strong bonds with your customers. I just believe that the overwhelming majority of the detail shop owners aren’t multidimensional business people and lack common skills at sales negotiation, account management, finance/accounting and employee mentoring. Knowing these things and having them in place can kick a basic detail business into overdrive.

I would really like to know if it`s possible for someone to net (as in: take home) north of $200K by detailing. You don`t have to tell me your exact salary, or anything like that. Just tell me, yes or no, is your gross compensation over $200K.



So to the folks raving about shops who pull in $500K per year, please understand, that translates into a modest living, at best, for the owner.

Here`s a good example of how successful doing business with dealers can be:



The Great Lakes Companies - HOME



Their business does several million $ each year in dealer reconditioning services and operates like a well oiled machine. I can`t see any other shop doing anything close to this level without implementing dealers into their portfolio.

[efnfast]

I plan on getting my MBA and starting a company or two.

Sorry, but this statement made me LOL. It`s so vague; almost sounds to me like you think you goto school, get MBA, maybe start a company or two doing who knows what, then make several hundred thousand.



Doesn`t work that way at all - I know more people who have higher degrees (anything over a regular bachelors) that arn`t even making 70k/yr than I do who are 6figure plus. Conversely, I know far more people who just have a high school diploma or a bacelors (any field really) degree who are making 500k+/yr.



What makes money - being in a niche sector and/or having something people want.



The only real advantage an MBA nowadays has is any social networks he makes while getting it. Beyond that, meh.

[Setec Astronomy]

Sorry, but this statement made me LOL. It`s so vague; almost sounds to me like you think you goto school, get MBA, maybe start a company or two doing who knows what, then make several hundred thousand.

Aw c`mon, we all went to high school with a few kids who said things like that. I remember the kid who said he was going to be neurologist like his uncle, who didn`t really have to do anything, he just sat at a desk looking at brain scans and made some enormous amount of money. I pointed out to him that not only did his uncle have to go through all those years of med school, internship, etc., but that he had to have years and years of experience to be such an expert that his job was so "simple". I think it went in one ear and out the other.



But hey, some of those kids wound up on Wall St., turned investment into an "industry", and make a pretty good darn living. I`d love to be a CEO making $50 million/year running a company that doesn`t make anything. How hard can that be? Once upon a time if you ran a bank or financial institution you actually had to know something so that you could invest the funds entrusted to you wisely, now you can steal all the money for years, hide it somewhere where your family can get to it later, and just go to white collar jail in your old age (Madoff), or you can just lose all the money and get the gov`t to reimburse you (rest of Wall St.)



(Sorry for the bitter rant)

[Dsoto87]

Haha setec dont you love our system?

[Showroom Shine]

Think of dealership work like the guys with city/state jobs that detail part time look at their F/T jobs.



The dealership work will pay your taxes, insurance, rent, and salaries. The retail detailing work is the gravy.

I`m tring to understand what you mean by this statement! I work fulltime for city government and detail on the side partime. I have payed my dues in both areas. 25 years of welding and heavy steel fabrication, Train scales to fuel tanks. I have earned a living working hard. Detailing is not easy either. Dealing with someone`s nasty vehicle is a choice that I welcome. I have a PASSION for a Clean vehicle. Detailing is not Gravy. I am not as qualified as some of the best,but I have invested time and money for training to sharpen my skills. I have customers that contiually return for my services,and I get better every detail.

I just don`t understand your statement. I`m 52 and still work 40 plus hours a week,maintain 2 yards,detail, and still try to be the best father,husband, son , employee, business owner,law abiding citizen I can be. You may need to clearly state what is is you are refering to.

[Less]

I think what he means is that, like most individuals or businesses, you have a core income stream that is reliable, predictable, and sufficient for most of your expenses.



Then you have the "gravy". That`s the low volume/high-margin side of things. That`s the `wash & wax` jobs where you can charge $100 - $125 for just about an hour`s work. It`s probably pretty tough to make a living `just` on that kind of work since there is much less demand, probably seasonal, and doesn`t work well as a reliable income stream.



I`m not sure why he mentioned city/state jobs. The same logic applies to just about any individual, family, or business out there.



My company has about half a dozen customers that represent our core business. They are large companies, buying a very high volume of extremely high-tech products. Because of their market power, and their purchase volume, they beat us down so badly on price that we make just enough money to keep the lights on. Then we have another 75+ customers where we do low volume (1-3 buys per year) of the same type of product at ridiculous margins (200-300%). Those customers represent the "gravy". Since all of our fixed costs are `sunk` into the core business, we make some crazy margins selling everything else.

[Showroom Shine]

I think what he means is that, like most individuals or businesses, you have a core income stream that is reliable, predictable, and sufficient for most of your expenses.



Then you have the "gravy". That`s the low volume/high-margin side of things. That`s the `wash & wax` jobs where you can charge $100 - $125 for just about an hour`s work. It`s probably pretty tough to make a living `just` on that kind of work since there is much less demand, probably seasonal, and doesn`t work well as a reliable income stream.



I`m not sure why he mentioned city/state jobs. The same logic applies to just about any individual, family, or business out there.



My company has about half a dozen customers that represent our core business. They are large companies, buying a very high volume of extremely high-tech products. Because of their market power, and their purchase volume, they beat us down so badly on price that we make just enough money to keep the lights on. Then we have another 75+ customers where we do low volume (1-3 buys per year) of the same type of product at ridiculous margins (200-300%). Those customers represent the "gravy". Since all of our fixed costs are `sunk` into the core business, we make some crazy margins selling everything else.

THANKS LESS!

[MichaelM]

So to the folks raving about shops who pull in $500K per year, please understand, that translates into a modest living, at best, for the owner.

I think it`s safe to say that you won`t become a millionaire overnight with detailing alone but you can beat modest, depending on your definition of what a modest lifestyle is of course. I would say "comfortable" is a better term.



Just to throw some realistic but non-factual numbers out there, *IF* my shop grosses $336K I (as the owner) will take home just north of $100k, before taxes. Where I live that would be a good/comfortable living. Depending on where you are in your life with family obligations you can re-investment that into other businesses and/or real estate over time and become wealthy. I`ve seen that happen to other business owners, here, that I know.



Now those numbers that I posted were, for me, based on a high staff number, conservatively high fixed cost number and a near capacity volume/income figure (counting detailing and hand washing only, not add-on services), which by the way is not something that you will get to overnight, or in five years or perhaps even ten years down the line. $336K worth of detailing and hand washing is a TON of work, for ME that would be roughly 2000 details and 1400 hand washes in a year. Based on my market size I would need some sort of dealership work to get to that. Actually I think just about any shop in the northeast would as the weather is not conducive to consistent retail work.



I wouldn`t go into a detailing business trying to get rich. I got into it, leaving the corporate world behind, because I can make the same or better money as I could/did in the business world while being my own boss and doing it my way which for me is worth so much more then just the money. You gotta do what makes you happy.

[imported_Detailing Technology]

I`m tring to understand what you mean by this statement! I work fulltime for city government and detail on the side partime. I have payed my dues in both areas. 25 years of welding and heavy steel fabrication, Train scales to fuel tanks. I have earned a living working hard. Detailing is not easy either. Dealing with someone`s nasty vehicle is a choice that I welcome. I have a PASSION for a Clean vehicle. Detailing is not Gravy. I am not as qualified as some of the best,but I have invested time and money for training to sharpen my skills. I have customers that contiually return for my services,and I get better every detail.

I just don`t understand your statement. I`m 52 and still work 40 plus hours a week,maintain 2 yards,detail, and still try to be the best father,husband, son , employee, business owner,law abiding citizen I can be. You may need to clearly state what is is you are refering to.

Take the dealer work to pay the shop bills.

Use the retail work as the fun money.





Take the state/city job for the house bills, retirement, and family insurance.

Take the part-time detailing work as the fun money.