any uk full time detailers??

I

imported_steveo3002

New member
ok guys i got made redundant from my job as a car painter, im thinking id like a change in job



id like to ask a few questions if you dont mind



mobile or get a place? i figure the weather isnt good enough to do good work outdoors in uk



id really like to steer towards customers that want better than average work, rather a £10.99 wash n tickle , would i get enough work



can i ask what prices you charge for what ?? and rougly what do you take home in your pocket weekly/monthly?



any tips/suggestions for setting up
 
Get in touch with BenP, he recently started out. If you have any specific questions about the UK market, try posting in the UK forum (link in my sig).



Ben seems to be getting a lot of custom via word of mouth which is excellent, however you may not have contacts who are able to provide you work to help you get started. Marketing will be the key factor, possibly above all others such as products and equipment. I'd keep your service plan simple and streamlined, UK motorists seem very uneducated about the value and results of true detailing, especially when we have so many £5 "Hand Car Wash" and £15 "Valet" centres appearing on disused filling station forecourts up and down the country.



Anyway, just my 2p :) Good luck in your venture!
 
I started out earlier in the year, but have only really just started to get things together in terms of marketing material, business cards etc etc. I'll answer your questions as best I can.



steveo3002 said:
mobile or get a place? i figure the weather isnt good enough to do good work outdoors in uk
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Being mobile will keep your overheads to a minumum compared with running a premesis. Also, most clients prefer the convenience of you going to them. Remember that (especially as you're considering targeting the higher end of the market) clients that are prepared to pay above average for a detail are usually pretty busy most of the time, and as such will prefer you to fit in around them rather than vice versa. If that means detailing in their office car park then so be it.



In terms of the weather, you're going to need a canopy or two. Our weather is naff in the winter, and can be too hot without shade in the summer. In both situations detailing can be difficult. I've had to cancel a couple of appointments in the past because it started raining and I had no useable under cover space, and I've also had a nightmare trying to detail cars in 30 degree heat with no shade. I've got two 4.5mx3m canopies coming so I can use one for small cars, and butt two together for larger vehicles. These don't come cheap though - the ones I'm looking at are about a grand each, but at least they won't blow over if I fart.



id really like to steer towards customers that want better than average work, rather a £10.99 wash n tickle , would i get enough work
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The amount of work you get depends on two things. The quality of your work, and how you market yourself - you can't expect business to simply come to you, although with detailing, a fair amount of it will. Do a job well and it will do you well. Also, you might want to get an idea of how to structure your business - are you just going to do full details, or will you do "quickie" details and maintenance washed etc as well. Also, determine your target market - i.e. private individuals, company fleets, or both. All of these factors will determine how much work you get. Don't stop trying to get new business untill you have enough to have to turn some away.

can i ask what prices you charge for what ?? and rougly what do you take home in your pocket weekly/monthly?
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I charge what I feel appropriate for the job in hand, what level I can take it to, and also factor in how much I want to earn from a job. I don't have a set price list as every single car will be in a different condition, every single client will have a different requirement for what they want out of the detail, and these two combined will determine how long the job takes, and therefore how much I ultimately charge.



If your confident that your pricing structure represents value for money, that's all that matters.



Hope this helps,



Ben.
 
thanks for the reply, i just cant see mobile working for me..i do see the low overheads and the advantage of driving to them, but what are going to do in winter? i cant imagine wax/polishes are going to work well at close to freezing point??



you say you price each one as it goes...surley people call and say how much to clean my xxxxx they must want some idea ?



are you getting by on your earnings or not really?



dunno what to do really..its just im good at making cars look nice and i need to work
 
I'm not F/T unlike young Ben but I have built a fair number of "clients", primarily at my other half's office, which conveniently has a covered area in the car park complete with water, power & lights.



I tend to book work in when I'm there and I'm gradually building a base of customers (The Lexus IS I did last week was a new one to me, as was the paint restoration on the 3 series).



I decided not to try doing it full time as to be frank I enjoy my detailing/valeting (whatever....) and have little desire to try to turn a hobby into a paying business at this time. Plus I ain't cleaning cars when it's minus 7 and snowing!



I've done some work for dealers and generally they don't want to pay big bucks, as their view tends to be that they can employ someone full time for less per car than paying me. Not always the case, as some will happily pay proper money - but whilst we look at a Ferrari 355 and say "ooooooh" a dealer says £5k profit" - end of story, anything out of that is cutting into his bottom line.



As for charging, this is my rough structure.



Wash & vacuum £40 (includes dressing inside & out, quick hand glaze and seal/spray wax) - the Lexus took me 3 hours, the Mondeo 2 (Mondeo was repeat custom and was already sealed)



Machine polishing £25/hour



Other bits I tend to charge ad hoc - if someone wants interior shampooing I generally look first, assess what needs to be done and how long it'll take and charge accordingly.



I'm cheap by comparison with some detailers but the NCP next door to the office charges £15 for a "full valet" - I know I do better work and get superior results but you try telling that to people!!



HTH & good luck mate
 
steveo3002 said:
thanks for the reply, i just cant see mobile working for me..i do see the low overheads and the advantage of driving to them, but what are going to do in winter? i cant imagine wax/polishes are going to work well at close to freezing point??
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Well there's only one way to find out - and that's try!

you say you price each one as it goes...surley people call and say how much to clean my xxxxx they must want some idea ?
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I give them some idea, but always say it's subject to change on viewing the car. Generally I don't need to alter my quote, but sometimes you get a really disgusting interior or a really trashed exterior that is going to take many more hours than "normal". I don't really want to give my price structure here because that's something you've got to figure out for yourself - what's the competition like in your area? What are they charging? Is your target market on your doorstep and if so, do you think enough of them will employ your services? If your main target market is further away, you've obvioulsy got to factor in your cost and time of getting to each client. Also you have to feel comfortable in asking people to pay your prices - do you think it's worth it? Would you pay someone else the same amount to get your car to the standard you could get theirs to?

are you getting by on your earnings or not really?
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I'm in a fortunate position at the moment where I don't need to live of my earnings, I have reserves elsewhere that I'm using until the business is much more established.

dunno what to do really..
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Well you've got to figure that out before you start. You need to know what you're going to do, what to charge, how to market yourself, what you need in order to start up, forecast how many jobs your are going to get (and be honest), forecast your cashflow and decide whether or not you can make it work.



If you don't fancy being mobile, you're going to need a premises - these cost muchos coin on their own, and that's before you've started lighting it, heating it and securing it. How will clients get their cars to you? If they drop it off - what do they do while you're detailing? Will you have a courtesty car? Will you go and collect their car - if so, do you have adequate insurance? If they don't have another car to use when you have theirs, can they drive yours? These are just some of the questions you need to ask yourself.



I'm not trying to put you off, but diving in head first and hoping it will work isn't suggested. To start detailing full time, especially from a fixed location, is going to see you have quite high start up costs in order to be able to offer the full range of services you'll need to. Unless you have the cash tucked away somewhere, you'll need a start-up loan from a bank or other lending institutions - they won't give you a penny if you can't answer all of the questions above, and usually more. They also usually need you to raise half the capital on your own from other sources.



Just remember the seven P's - Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Pi$$ Poor Performance.



Ben.
 
Although detailing is only a hobby for me, I would imagine you would need/want some form of insurance incase you damage a customers vehicle.
 
On a full time basis you definitely need insurance. The problem is, you'll be lucky to find someone to cover you for chemical damage. You can find people who'll insure you against dropping a buffer on a car etc, but nobody with take the risk of you spraying something into an interior that discolours/wrecks the upholstery/leather/vinyl etc - I've been chatting to a few insurers and they've all stopped offering this cover due to a large number of claims by what we know here as "hacks".



Just to give you some idea of start up costs (these are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head):



Van (OK so I've bought a new VW Transporter) - £20k

Insurance (covers me on clients cars up to 100k and also includes PL cover) - £3800

Canopies (I'm getting two decent ones) - £2500

Pressure washer (you'll want one that can handle being used all the time) - £1k

Wet/dry vac - £250-£300

Extractor - £200-£300

Steamer - £150-200

Chemicals/products - £500 (at least)

Website/business stationery design/print - £1000



There are loads more, but they're the obvious ones I can think of right now.



Ben
 
Ben mate you've been speaking to the wrong insurance people!! Remember what I do for a living and more specifically what sort of traders I deal with (one in particular springs to mind locally-ish to you buddy!) - PM me if you're not already committed as I may be able help.



Remember also that if you're mobile and cleaning purely at other people's premises, you don't necessarily need an All Risks cover for other people's cars, as strictly speaking you're not removing them from the control of the owner. You still have a duty of care and as such ought to consider a Public Liability policy with at least £1.0M of indemnity (we provide £5.0M as standard other than where fabrication activities are involved but that's another story) which will cover your legal liability to others and more importantly any damage caused to a vehicle whilst you are working on it - some wordings contain exclusions whilst cleaning but you simply need to be careful and make sure that your broker knows that, as a valeter, you will be doing exactly this.



HTH
 
Andy,



I'd totally forgotton that you'd be able to help! I'm not committed at all so will PM/call you later today...



Ben
 
pugoman said:
You should be able to get a tidy van for around 4-5k. I was looking at them myself a few months ago.
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Totally agree - I'm just a bit daft when it comes to things like that! Air-con, electric windows, parking sensors... :p
 
I can concur with that - Mr P's totally daft :p



Joking aside, I'd say that if you can stretch to a decent van then fair play. Plus if you're targetting high net worth custom, you need to walk the walk, although like I said to Ben, had I done this F/T I'd have found myself a S/H Vito or similar in silver and would be happy with that.



Having seen some of Ben's marketing literature, I reckon this will be a stunning looking vehicle myself :xyxthumbs



As an aside, I was with a client who sells primarily high, high end cars recently (think 3 Carrera GT's side by side.....) and he's just completed some major refurbishment work. I didn't sneak a pic of the valeting bay, but it's a brand new single storey 5 car garage with 2 extra width up & over doors, tiled floor and built in custom cabinets, PLUS a fully equipped kitchen, restroom with TV & hi-fi with speakers concealed in the bay. Cost was not discussed but it represents a major part of the overall refurb (excluding new showroom/offices) and he has 3 F/T valeters.



Sweet
 
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