ScubaStevo said:
Great work Scott. Thats crazy man, I wish I had the energy to do that many cars in a day. I only have 2 or 3 exteriors on saturday, and that means a 16 hour day for me.
Our winters aren't nearly as rough on cars as yours are, so I probably do less heavy buffing than you do regularly-most cars I can do with 1 or 2 polishing steps. Plus with my son taking on the interiors, that frees up more time for me.
xtrememike-I really like it, much less vibration than the PC and a bit quicker at removing deeper defects. A bit awkward to use on some vehicles, I used it on a Jeep Wrangler today and I probably could have polished it more quickly with my PC due to the vehicle design.
Joe-Z06 rims-really odd too, had a rough surface texture. Brake dust doesn't show on them though. You do have to admire the rims on the H2 though, perfectly matched for it. Darth Vader would love it!
TheFiveO-my boys started helping me early, probably at 8 or 9 doing the wheels, door jams, easy stuff like that. Now they can both detail a car inside and out-but neither really enjoys buffing. It is also great spending more time with them.
604_Coast-apparently owning a motorized scooter company is very profitable! Endless supply of old folks needing them to get around.
gav'spurplez-I find it much easier to try to do the best work I can and let my customers advertise for me. Once I had done 1000 total cars, I pretty much had enough repeat and referrals to stop marketing. I always try to turn one time referrals into a lifetime customer. I look at each detail as an opportunity to make myself indespensible to that person.
My brother worked at that law firm so that is how I got my foot in the door but the ever increasing number of cars we do there each summer is because we do better work than anyone else they've used. They know their office is a 20+ mile drive one way and have used other companies that are closer but they always end up calling me the next time. Now that this is the 4th straight summer we've gone out there, I guess they've given up on anyone closer.
The trip to Austin was because I know someone on another board. He started having me detail his cars when he was in the Dallas area but just had too much he wanted done this time. Not only did he have all his stuff lined up for me but also had a friend bring in his boat and Cayenne to make sure the trip was profitable enough for me.
tom p.-honestly, I really don't want to push doing boats too much. I personally don't enjoy doing them as much as cars. So many nooks, crannys and compartments to clean, not to mention what sweat and sunblock does to the vinyl seats. However, my son seemed to like cleaning the interior, despite spending 5 hours on the white/red one and 4.5 hours on the white/orange one. I guess if he is going to be able to work for me through college, he can continue to clean boat interiors. He also wanted to know if we could get into plane detailing! Probably not so much because he likes detailing but the money he's been making lately.
Beason-
No!
I pay him around $12-15 an hour depending on what we are doing, plus all his meals. He is making out pretty good for a college student.
