Ok so I've had it, and I am thinking about starting my own detailing business

W

Willfulone

New member
Ok so I've had it and I'm sick and tired of the BS at work, and I am thinking about starting my own detailing business.

I guess my question is there any money in it?

So here is my basic situation.

I have enough money to buy a house outright.
I have enough money to buy a building/shop outright.

What can I expect in the way of revenue if I am in a major metro area, with a good location and a lot of traffic?

Sorry it is so very vague of a question, but I have no idea of the average volume/cars per day, ect...

Peace
Willfulone
 
There is definitely money in it for a hobbiest, but not if you have to pay taxes and insurance and all that fun stuff. If you are going to make a legitimate business out of this then there is a lot of overhead to consider.

Let me ask you this... what is your background in detailing? How fast are you and what kind of tools do you already have? That kind of information can help get an idea of what type of volume you can handle in a day. If you are a beginner at this then I would suggest not buying a building and starting out as a mobile detailer doing 'on location' type jobs. There are also several companies out there who sell whole mobile detailing packages. www.marsinternational.com is just one of them. I looked into them at one time and was very interested. I'm in the wrong area for it though. I would starve 6 months out of the year.
 
I actually have "some" past experience doing this. When I was in college I detailed cars for extras cash for 4 years. Mostly adhock jobs, but it got to a point where I had to turn away people because I did not have enough time between classes and work.

I currently use a PC 7424, (because I'm lazy) but have used and am comfortable with a rotory buffer. As for how fast I am, currently I use the time to drink beer and work on my Vette, so I have no idea how fast I could strip a car and start from scratch.

As for the overhead, I could cover the initial expense of tools and supplies.

I am not sure of the insurance expense, or who does insurance.

I guess I am curious just how much work is out there in a well populated metro area, and how much one could expect to earn from an established business with no mortgage

Peace
Willfulone
 
There is plenty of work out there. It is in the marketing. I hot a dead spot for a bit, and all of the sudden, I am too busy to fart. You have to figure out "who" you will try to reach and market to. The middle class, upper class, filthy rich....etc......


-Chris
 
I had a really poor winter, and an incredible spring. Just awesome.
Either way, success or failure, I want out, and would love to get my investment back and work for someone else. I'm just wrong for business.
 
Where are you located? If your going to open a shop, maybe look to do other things like window tint. If you have lots of contacts that will help for sure.
 
Can someone tell me the range of income a good detailer would be making per year? I'm not talking about a "Detailer to the Stars" type money where you get paid thousands per vehicle, but real world stuff. Are we talking $30K/year, $40K? $50K?
 
hooked said:
Can someone tell me the range of income a good detailer would be making per year? I'm not talking about a "Detailer to the Stars" type money where you get paid thousands per vehicle, but real world stuff. Are we talking $30K/year, $40K? $50K?
Click to expand...

You can make as little as 20K a year or as much as 150K a year depending on your overhead and business.


Willfulone said:
Ok so I've had it and I'm sick and tired of the BS at work, and I am thinking about starting my own detailing business.

I guess my question is there any money in it?

So here is my basic situation.

I have enough money to buy a house outright.
I have enough money to buy a building/shop outright.

What can I expect in the way of revenue if I am in a major metro area, with a good location and a lot of traffic?

Sorry it is so very vague of a question, but I have no idea of the average volume/cars per day, ect...

Peace
Willfulone
Click to expand...

Theres plenty of money in it. You can easily make $1000 a week. The sky is the limit really. All depends on how hard you want to work, and how much you spend on your products,insurance,etc.
 
You brought up alot of good questions. I owned a shop for 5+ years and have over 12 years of experience. I have a "following" of 20-21 loyal customers that follow me no matter where I go.

I am in WI, so detailing is very seasonal. I averaged 45-50K profit after overhead which included a $1000 lease for the building and $500 of utilities/phone/internet.

I worked by myself and could push 4-5 cars a day out of the shop if I had to, but average was 3 per day year round 6 days a week. I had the help of my girlfriend who manned the showroom and front office so I could concentrate on detailing.

Its worth it, but you HAVE to be able to detail yourself and learn to be one of the best AND worky efficiently in order to be successful. PM me and we can chat a little more abou tit if you want to know more specifics.
 
I'm in my 4th year in a fixed location with three employees.
Overhead is about 75%, which means profit is about 25%. We'll do $180K this year, and I'll net 45K. Should be better, but...

Jim
 
hooked said:
Can someone tell me the range of income a good detailer would be making per year? I'm not talking about a "Detailer to the Stars" type money where you get paid thousands per vehicle, but real world stuff. Are we talking $30K/year, $40K? $50K?
Click to expand...

It depends on how honest you are and how smart you run the business. Self employed people get the crap taxed out of them. We are talking 50% here. So you should probably get yourself a good tax accountant from the get go so you can get your ducks in a row. Everything (practially) is a business expense when you are self employed, so you have to keep track of things. There are ways to help save some money from overhead if you are smart too.

The reason I say it depends on how honest you are is because if you run your business like a hobby and forget to pay the tax man, then you'll make twice as much money. If you don't have important things like insurance and business licenses and all that then you'll make even more. You'll go to jail if you get caught, of course, so don't be stupid like that. If you are going to make a business out of this then you should get a lawyer and set up the LLC first and then start getting your business licenses and everything else you need to be legal. Talk to a tax accountant who can advise you on how much money you'll actually be making when you make a dollar.
 
Ok.....just what I love to talk about. Going in business for yourself.
I'm totally mobile and have about 600.00 per month in overhead. Just started my 6th month and I'm averaging 1250.00 per week.
It's all in the marketing.
Washes and vacs are where the money is. I charge 50.00 per and get 6-8 per day or I do one long full detail for 200ish. See my point? I know of alot of mobile detailers that just wash with no interior work for 40-50.00 per car!
I do 200.00 for a full detail IF they agree to at least a bi-weekly commitment of 50.00 per vist. I'll make my money back this way.
My goal is to have a fixed location and 2-3 trucks with employees doing routine washes while me and another do the big, full details at the shop. My shop will also do car audio/video. This is my 3 year goal. Goals are very important. Hard to know where you're going if you don't know how to get there.
 
Same here I have about $600 to $800 in overhead per month and I do about $4,000 to $5,000 in the summers months. I been doing this about five years and I am starting to get a little burnout.
 
Willfulone said:
As for the overhead, I could cover the initial expense of tools and supplies.

I am not sure of the insurance expense, or who does insurance.

I guess I am curious just how much work is out there in a well populated metro area, and how much one could expect to earn from an established business with no mortgage

Peace
Willfulone
Click to expand...

If you're in full time I'd have to say a person is crazy if they don't carry a Business Liability policy (with a Garage Keepers attachment), and if you plan on having employees, Workmans Comp. Both are available, and the price varies depending upon your location. I'm in business for quite awhile, and pay $1,700 for one million business liability, with 100K per event garage keepers.

It's already been said that you have to market yourself, and then you have to perform, and price your service accordingly, which is important.

I think it's an honorable way, and a very tough way to make a living, and if I had the chance to do it over again, I'D SELL PRODUCT:D
 
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