Advice for first time Auto Detailer

J

jasaman

New member
Hello,
I have made a decision to start an Auto Detailing business. I have no prior knowledge but I have mad drive and I know I can learn and be great at it.

I wanted to ask you pro's your advice on what equipment to buy. And also any other advice you most graciously want to give. I have about 4,000. to start with.

I have a chevrolet Equinox I will be starting with. I will be getting a truck and then eventually a trailer.

I have been looking on www.rightlook.com and I am thinking of taking their 2 day seminar which is 297.00. I also thought of purchasing some of their equipment. They seem to be pretty low priced.

Any Advice is much appreciated!

Thanks,
Jasaman
 
First of all welcome to DC. Second, read up. You have to get as much information as you can get before you should begin to consider opening a business. Along with that, you can't learn anything without any practice. You could read and read and read but that won't do anything if you don't have any on hand experience. I would suggest if you are really motivated to consider that school even though I have never been or heard any good's or bad's about it. As for equipment, it really depends on what you are going to be trying to do. If your going to do mobile, then your gonna need a water supply and a power supply. There goes 1/2 of your budget. Then if you are going to do paint correction you'll need, all necessary polishes, towels and machines. On top of all of that, your going to need wash equipment and extractor or good vaccuum for interiors. The list can go on forever. But my advice is get out there and start cleaning up family's cars to get some experince. Well, good luck and start readin!
 
Hi Budman3,
thanks for the advice. Your right about the practice. I planned on doing that on my car and some friends cars. Is there any specific books you recommend to read?
Thanks again,
Jasaman
 
I haven't read any detailing books, but this forum has a bunch of great information. All you have to do is search around for it a little bit and you'll be golden. There are many other web sites available aswell. Dwayne from Premium Autocare has some How-To's listed on his ebsite which would be helpfull for you too.
 
Not a problem. If you have any product or machine related questions, use the search engine and you'll most likely find an answer. Jngrbrdman has a web site out aswell which you may come by which is a good start to read aswell.
 
Welcome to the forum jasaman.
First, you should see if this is your game. Spend $500 on a polisher, some supplies for your work at home. Then spend a day reading on here, coming up with some basic steps to follow. Then do your car, your Mom's car, your cousin's car, your neighbour's car, and your other neighbour's car. They'll probably take a day each, but you'll soon see whether you like it.

Second, $4k seems low to me, but will probably work for supplies, depending on your water source. We started with $10k-$11k + a dealership fee that came with supplies, and though that was fine for start up, was not nearly enough money to keep us going. We needed about $10k more for the first winter, which we expect to be quiet. Our insurance, licenses, business cards, banking fees, signs, and initial advertising costs turned out to be way more expensive than we anticipated.

Third, on advertising, you need customers. Really, you do. You can be fantastic, and without customers, well, you know. If this is part-time for you, you can get going and figure it out later. Detailing friends and family members' cars on Saturdays in your garage or theirs is a great way to get going, but you start by discounted rates, get the word going. We started in August. Initially we hoped to start drawing about $1000/month from full-time work in Dec-Jan-Feb. Now we aren't counting on drawing until next May or June. We haven't figured out the personal financial details, but this is pretty typical for start-up businesses. In the meantime, after Nov 1st, we need about $1800/mo in income--or a good job every second work day--to keep even.

Fourth, on training. I took 3 months full-time training earlier in Spring, and it wasn't enough, not even close, though I'm pretty good inside the car, exterior cleaning, and with certain LSP's. Another week or two on polishing & waxing would have helped, and I'm winging it on chrome & trim.
Your course may be good, but if you have to travel to San Diego at all, consider contacting a quality detailer away from your own city--one who won't expand any time soon and isn't in your competition zone. Offer him or her $300 to work for free with them for a week. If you were from another town and approached me about that, I'd be game, though not everyone would. I'd also round up a bunch of clients offering cheaper rates for you to practice, so it'd be a bigger week. I wouldn't make much money, but it would be a good PR week for me. A seminar in a hotel in SD may or may not be a good idea.
 
2 days isn't much time to learn anything, i think I'd skip the seminar, unless it is strictly related to starting a business. I'd try to find a shop I could work at, but isn't local and see if they'd let you help. In the mean time I'd practice on any thing I could get my hands on, and the rougher the condition the better. this way you can truly see if Detailing is what you want to do for a living.
 
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