how did you know you were ready?

[House of Wax]

For those of you who do details for money, how did you know you were ready to start charging? I'm in the process of doing some "freebies" to hone my skills, but not sure at what point I'll be "ready to go" and start actively pursuing jobs for cash.

 

[Jpostal]

I would not do any jobs for free...at a discounted rate, sure. You might not be a "pro" but you are still providing a service. Whenever I am experimenting with a new service or something I will charge normal price for the rest of the detail and maybe discount the part of the detail that is experimental or whatever.

 

[House of Wax]

For what it's worth, my "freebies" are going to people close to me, i.e. my mother in law (the bug in the click and brag section), and up next is my dad's truck. I wouldn't do some random Joe's car for free.

 

[C. Charles Hahn]

I think as soon as you have identified your limits as far as what you are comfortably able to do without causing harm to a vehicle, you are ready to start charging for services within those boundaries. That may mean just washing at first, or wash/waxes, but there's nothing wrong with starting out that way and learning/getting more comfortable with polishing and other services you can add to your arsenal later. Just always know and stick within your comfort zone where paying customers are concerned.

 

[Jean-Claude]

I think as soon as you have identified your limits as far as what you are comfortably able to do without causing harm to a vehicle, you are ready to start charging for services within those boundaries. That may mean just washing at first, or wash/waxes, but there's nothing wrong with starting out that way and learning/getting more comfortable with polishing and other services you can add to your arsenal later. Just always know and stick within your comfort zone where paying customers are concerned.

This is awesome advice.

 

[tmurph01]

For me, the defining moment was when my neighbor asked me to detail their King Ranch before a big Horse Show. They always dealt with a detail shop in town, but it was short notice and they could not get an appointment. They always see me detailing my cars and know Im always looking for side work, so they asked if I could do theirs. Which I did.


 


After I detailed it, I returned it back to them. The way they reacted and complimented it was a great feeling. They even went as far as to say that I did a much better job than the "Professional Shop" that they have dealt with for years. They asked if I would be interested in being there "go-to-guy" when they need a vehicle detailed.


 


Getting these compliments as well as knowing that I can do just as good a job, if not better than a professional, got me thinking that this could actually become a pretty profitable side business. After testing the waters for a few weeks, I took the plunge and started up. 

 

[David Fermani]

After selling my detailing business in Michigan and moving down to S. Florida, I began/continued posting quite a bit on Autopia. I was fully retired from detailing cars and and had basically not detailed a car for money for nearly 2 years, but still very passionate about it. Without even ever posting a Click N Brag to date I received a PM from someone from a member asking if I could detail his father's cars. Immediately after posting the write ups requests started coming in like wildfire. Florida was a mecca for high end detailing yet there was really nobody at the time marketing themselves online besides Todd Helme. (but he was nearly 4 hours away and came down only occasionally then) And after that I created a name for myself by not just posting Click N Brags (actually do very few), but being active on this forum. Basically the whole time after while being in Florida I detailed cars pretty much every single weekend and haven't looked back. So much so that I have moved back to Michigan and am pursuing another career in detailing.