Best Places to get top dollar or high end cars

No worries on the Lambo getting driven Daniel! :D Its not just a business tool to draw those types of cars to my shop but also something I have wanted for quite some time now. I have positioned myself financially for this with things outside of my business such as property investments etc., the business just gives me a way to write some of it off! ;)



All of the above posts make VERY good points. Me personally, I would rather work on 100 350.00 dollar jobs a month than 3 to 5 1000.00 dollar jobs. I find that the higher end client is much less forgiving than the low and middle level cars. Im not saying I cant deal with that type of customer but the other guys are easier to please and make me alot more money. Bottom line for me is that my clients are happy and they feel they got their moneys worth.



This is a great thread and will probably help alot of people! I agree a great deal with Holden about school and taking some time off to find yourself. Make sure detailing is really what you want to do. In my case cars are my passion and were always a total distraction from school so I started a business that would keep me close to what I love.



If you cant enjoy and have passion for what you do, you will never be a success.



Last a little recommended reading, and for anyone in business already it is a very powerful read. Donald Trump w/ Bill Zanker have a book called "Think Big And Kick A$$ In Business and Life" Buy it, read it, and become HUGE my friends!!!



.............................................................C:D
 
You have a good point about the 100 $350 dollar jobs instead of 5 $1000 dollar ones. What would be the best possible set IMO would be to have employees do the 100 $350 dollar jobs and i do the couple/few $1000 dollar ones so that i make money off the quantity and also make the quality ones too! I could see staying in Roanoke actually, and spreading my name around this part of the country as a really good show car detailer. That would be great. And then i could charge a lot more then 40 an hour... idk... maybe im just being a kid and thinking too high. But it sure is fuN!



IMHO I am planning on being able to buy an exotic also. My fathers building (if kept going the way it is now) will be payed off when im 40... sad but probably true, my dads not going to be around then. I will be making about 100K a year by just renting out our building plus whatever my main job is. I want to be making about 75K a year with Detailing and Car Storage. That is my Ideal Set up.



Anyway,
 
JoshVette said:
I say they will be hack shops cause even if you have a high end detailer doing all the training, he can't make the employees care about doing quality work, that's a trait few people have and you can't impart that to others by simply training them how to wash a car.
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That’s why you have supervision. As long as you have a good eye, integrity to do the right thing & the right person training them, anything is possible (especially in this high unemployed country). Again, it’s a little arrogant & demeaning to assume that just because someone isn’t a 1-man-show, they’re a “hack shop�. I think that’s overboard and not accurate! You’re basically insulting every shop owner and multiple person mobile workforce on this and every other board if you think about it. There’s really not a difference in someone who is mobile with a helper or 2 & someone who has a fixed location with the same/similar amount of helpers/workers.

JoshVette said:
I cannot train someone to be a perfectionist like I am, I cannot train someone to care about the cars like they are my own, I cannot train someone to be bothered by a dirty area on the car that no one sees, you just can't train someone to care......
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That’s a lot of I’s. Just because you might not have the ability to train someone, doesn’t mean that it can’t be done. A successful business person should be less pessimistic and much more optimistic if they have the desire to be the best.



JoshVette said:
Remember the more quantity you have the less time you have to spend on quality. And quality does take time.
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That's not accurate. It’s all relative to how you are set up. It’s about staffing, training & supervising the right people to perform the right work. Just because you’re busy doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice quality/time.

JoshVette said:
The quality of your work will determine the quantity as well and the type of clientele you'll bring in.
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Sometimes. There’s a lot of people that do poor quality work on a regular basis and their clients don’t know/want better, so they keep coming back. It’s not what I endorse, but it does happen. This happens with all types of clients, even people with expensive vehicles.



JoshVette said:
I disagree here also, going door to door is not the best way to market yourself. That makes you look like a door to door salesman and no one likes those poeple, they seem desperate as if this is there last way to make a buck....



Why go door to door when you can go to a car show and set up a display or meet a bunch of new faces at an exotic car get together at a resteraunt or something?
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You misunderstood what I’m referring to. I never said “door to door� like a vacuum salesperson. I said “knocking down doors� (not in the literal sense either) as a figure of speech referring to making contact with your clients, building and growing existing clientele. Call it Account Management; the heart of a lot of successful businesses.



JoshVette said:
I get to knock on new doors everytime I detail a new car, not to mention the neighbors who come by to chit chat and get a card.
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Imagine all the people that would/will stop and see you if you had an attractive shop on a busy street? Much, much more than a few neighbors in a residential setting.



JoshVette said:
I've even had car clubs seek me out to speak at seminars about taking care of their vehicles and all I had to do was answer a phone call.
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Hey wait, I thought you couldn’t train anyone? See, you’re doing it without even thinking about it. :xyxthumbs Imagine doing this a full time, not touching a car and getting paid? :Paypal: That’s *almost* like how it is when you have a shop.
 
David, you and I are just two way different people, I can respect that.



I'm a perfectionist so yes, I tend to be a bit more pessemistic and I wouldn't trust someone to do my job no matter what the job is, especially detailing someone's vehicle.



Sounds like you're more geared towards running a good quality shop and in my experiences I've never seen a good quality shop AND I've actually cleaned up and corrected some of the "best" shops work on vehicles they're destroyed. It just gets old hearing about how great detail and body shops are and then seeing the truth and working 8 hours to perfect the car again.
 
I had the same get-rich-quick schemes growing up as well. Usually they don't work out, but the dreaming helps figure out what will. Just keep doing what you're doing, setting goals, and making people come back. The rest will fall into place as the years go by.
 
Josh-- Man ..... wow... I seriously hope that this isn't the mindset of mobil detailers in general. I can't beleive you just got on here and slammed every shop owner with the "hack shop" label because we tend to work with employee's instead of being a one man show... Dave I can agree with just about everything your saying. If you can find someone with the passion you can easily train them to be a perfectionist. It's not always about finding the highly skilled individual to work for you. As long as you can find the passionate person that has the right mindset to learn what you have to teach them.



To the OP. You can market yourself to any clientele you set your business up for just about anywhere in the country. No real need to relocate just in hopes to get more high end cars. While they make take better pictures a car is just a car. you clean them all up the same way and if your any sort of repectacble businessman you'll never drive them so whats the point? To say you got to sit in one and drool a bit before you cleaned it? Millions and millions of cars on the road. From $500 beaters to $5,000,000 super exotics. All need a clean up and pleanty of them to go around for everyone. Just reach out and get yourself some.....
 
I met an owner of a hedge fund in Greenwich. He and his employees are my only clients. I make more than the US 2008 nation average income from this client alone. I do this ONLY on the weekends when I am not busy. I have a "day job" for lack of a better term, I own an IT consulting company in NYC. That generates the income I need to pay my bills, the detailing is for fun. If I didn't have the cash to pay my bills coming in, there would be too much pressure on the detailing rendering it useless for me. I couldnt position myself and decline work as readily as I do.



College may change your mind about what you want to do. Go and see.

I literally have done nothing but talk for work my whole life (Im 36 now) and I make a decent living. The detailing is for relaxation and playing with special cars. Once I have kids, I'm sure this will stop, my weekends will be with them.
 
jsatek said:
College may change your mind about what you want to do. Go and see.
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Heh heh, IMO that's the best advice yet.



baseballover1- Just keep an open mind and see where life takes you....most of the successful people I know didn't end up doing what they *thought* they'd do when they first went to college. And when you're there it oughta be *the* focus of your attention, time, and abilities.
 
jsatek said:
I met an owner of a hedge fund in Greenwich. He and his employees are my only clients. I make more than the US 2008 nation average income from this client alone. I do this ONLY on the weekends when I am not busy. I have a "day job" for lack of a better term, I own an IT consulting company in NYC. That generates the income I need to pay my bills, the detailing is for fun. If I didn't have the cash to pay my bills coming in, there would be too much pressure on the detailing rendering it useless for me. I couldnt position myself and decline work as readily as I do.



College may change your mind about what you want to do. Go and see.

I literally have done nothing but talk for work my whole life (Im 36 now) and I make a decent living. The detailing is for relaxation and playing with special cars. Once I have kids, I'm sure this will stop, my weekends will be with them.
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Would you have this client if it weren't for your primary career? Hedge fund managers just ooze money. If you're there to pick up the cash, more power to you. I'm sure you do an excellent job, I've seen your work. We're all impressed with how much money you make.



I think it's completely asnine to ask this sort of question from the original post. It's not like the market is completely like a shopping mall, just at your disposal. Hmm, maybe you can exclaim you'll be this or that every other week. Maybe Paris Hilton and her ilk can 'run' any business of their choosing with customers of thier choosing as well.

Get advice from the board, there's tons of it here.

Go out and find out for yourself. Life isn't just the choices you make. It's also what you do with the decisions you've made. For now, keep your room clean, and eat your veggies or you'll have to go to bed early without your dose of American Idol.



I can't believe people actually pander to these questions. I guess I'm guilty too. Damn....:wall
 
boogiejoe said:
Would you have this client if it weren't for your primary career? Hedge fund managers just ooze money. If you're there to pick up the cash, more power to you. I'm sure you do an excellent job, I've seen your work. We're all impressed with how much money you make.



I think it's completely asnine to ask this sort of question from the original post. It's not like the market is completely like a shopping mall, just at your disposal. Hmm, maybe you can exclaim you'll be this or that every other week. Maybe Paris Hilton and her ilk can 'run' any business of their choosing with customers of thier choosing as well.

Get advice from the board, there's tons of it here.

Go out and find out for yourself. Life isn't just the choices you make. It's also what you do with the decisions you've made. For now, keep your room clean, and eat your veggies or you'll have to go to bed early without your dose of American Idol.



I can't believe people actually pander to these questions. I guess I'm guilty too. Damn....:wall
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I did not see a J/K after your dismissive statement. No need to act like this towards the young lad.
 
Is it my stupid idiotic young brain here or did you basically just tell me that im an idiot for asking a question and that anyone who responds to me is an idiot also?... maybe its just the way i read it.
 
If these questions never came up...this forum wouldn't be the forum that it is today! With everyone expressing their opinions and sharing ideas, its makes "new or inexperienced" people feel more confident entering into a career.



I for one can agree with jsatek, I went to college...right when I got out, I switch career fields..i didn't see myself doing what I studied in college. I always have it to fall back on if all else fails!



Keep the questions coming and the answer flowing...im still a firm believer..."no question is a dumb question!"
 
Twista616 said:
Keep the questions coming and the answer flowing...im still a firm believer..."no question is a dumb question!"
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I agree to a certain degree... so i guess i didnt mis read his post and he did actually say that... hmmm... lol
 
baseballlover1 said:
I agree to a certain degree... so i guess i didnt mis read his post and he did actually say that... hmmm... lol
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True to a certain degree...but think of it like this: if someone asks a question...they ask it because they don't know...that doesn't mean they are stupid or dumb just because YOU knew the answer...thats the point I was trying to make..thats all...:dance
 
[quote name='Jakerooni']Josh-- Man ..... wow... I seriously hope that this isn't the mindset of mobil detailers in general. I can't beleive you just got on here and slammed every shop owner with the "hack shop" label because we tend to work with employee's instead of being a one man show... QUOTE]



Not meaning to insult "every" single shop owner. I've just seen way too many that claim to have 10-15 years experience detailing that are nothing more then a hack shop according to Autopian standards. That's just the facts.
 
boogiejoe said:
Would you have this client if it weren't for your primary career? Hedge fund managers just ooze money.
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Nope. If I didn't have my current career, this guy wouldn't even know me. A construction company I do business with recommended me to relocate all of his IT equipment when he moved offices. I moved all of their equipment from NYC to CT.

This hedge fund employs 26 people and manages over $2 billion dollars. Average hedge fund manager compensation is 20% annually. Split $200,000,000 over 26 people, you have some rich people....



I saw his Murcielago in Ct on a Saturday morning and we started talking.
 
Holden_C04 said:
My recommendation is to stay in school and eventually graduate college. At that point, you will be able to make a valid career choice. Until then, just stick to the books.



On the other hand, I highly recommend taking 1 yr off school after high school to figure out who you actually are. Travel a little bit, work a little bit - do anything you like to gain some valuable experience that will actually enhance your "real life" education.



Although detailing full-time is a very valuable experience and rewarding, you may decide - as many do - that it's a very difficult way to live.
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I couldn't agree more. I took a year off between HS and college and don't regret it for a minute. You'll never have that kind of time on your hands, see the world and figure out what you want. If it's still detailing, great, but your idea of a full time career may change over time.



Take me for instance, I'm beginning grad school in the fall yet still have a pretty decent customer base back home that I take care of on weekends. As far as going completely full time in the detailing industry, it's always a temptation because I love detailing. In regards to getting into a completely exotic market, that's a very hard niche to fill and as has been already posted, sometimes you have to take on the construction vehicles, soccer vans etc to keep the money coming in. Let your work speak for itself, word will spread, the greatest advertising and way to break into any area of the detailing world or any industry for that matter is doing quality work that makes people stop and stare. (This post just got a lot longer than I thought it would be, I apologize)
 
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