Accumulator - So, I didn't expect this thread to stir up so much emotion, otherwise I wouldn't have made the "clown" comment. And you're right, I haven't used the $30 car wash, and I'm not going to. But my guess is that you'd be hard pressed to find something better than the Turtle Wax Ice Car Wash that I get for $6.99/gal at Costco. And it does get me a little emotional when people try to sell me things for a price multiples higher than I could get it elsewhere, these are the kinds of people who kill entrepreneurs. I should also note that the Turtle Wax Ice Car Wash is hard to find at that price. Over the winter, Costco stopped selling it, and the next closest I could find was $7.99 for 1/2 gallon purchased by case from a distributor.
MakitaNinja - You asked me which line do I stand on? Well, let me make one thing clear first. Ego and Insecurity are death to an entrepreneur. These things allow a man to be manipulated and/or swayed from what is his primary purpose: to grow his business and turn a greater and greater profit. That being said. Its not a black and white issue, most things are not black and white issues. A good analogy is that I try to be the Chipotle of the detailing industry. Did you know that Steve Ells, the founder of Chipotle is a 5 star chef? His dream was to start a 5 star restaurant and be the lead chef/owner and pioneer his own menu. But he realized that 5 star restaurants are risky and the demand for them is low, so he started Chipotle as a "cash cow" to finance his 5 star restaurant. I don't know if you've ever eaten at Chipotle, but the food is a good value. The ingredients are all fresh and healthy. The food is tasty, comes fast, but also pretty cheap. He applied his 5 star knowledge of foods to create his fast-food concept. He's now one of the richest people in the country. He doesn't have his 5 star restaurant though because his goals have changed. Instead of creating a 5 star restaurant that only a few priviledged could enjoy, he created a healthy, tasty fast-food option that in my opinion is superior to almost all other fast food.
I look at a lot of the hard core detailers on here as 5 Star Chefs of detailing. What I try to do is adapt that information and knowledge to create services for customers that provide good quality for an affordable price. I call this concept "value"
mcc - Yeah, I feel your pain. I'm always freaking out that one of my avenues of income will dry up and screw me. I have this concept that I call "liquidity" in my head. It means decreasing the number of variables that can change that will have a direct impact on your business. When I got my first car dealership account, I almost immediately started thinking about getting more. The money was good, but what if the dealer decided to go with someone else? How would I sustain my income and keep my promise of employment to my employee? What if the employee I had serving the dealer flaked? How would I keep my promise to the dealer? If I was doing 5-10 dealerships, not only would I be rolling in dough, but my stress level would be lower too because I would not be sweating any one individual client. If they switched providers or didn't want to agree to my terms, then sianara! If one guy flaked, I could just move one of my many other guys to that account and then start some of my other detailers training a few more guys and then cherry pick the best one. The idea of getting business in only one way or from only one client freaks me out.
As for hiring employees, this is HARD. Probably the hardest thing I've had to figure out how to do. The best things I can tell you is that: 1) Its a numbers game. You have to interview and work with a whole bunch of people, like 20, to get just one good person. But one good person is a cash cow. 2) You have to interview people out on the job and turn a profit or at least break even doing it. I interview people at the job site, I have them do work the first day, and I pay them. In the likely event that I won't hire them, I want to still make sure I didn't lose money off them and hopefully made a little. 3) If you're out at your sites doing your $30 services now and you get overwhelmed, I suggest using day laborers. They work hard under supervision and do what you say. Plus, they always show up for work because even if the same ones from yesterday aren't at the 7-11, there will be new ones. Pretty soon you will have a pool of candidates to choose from and enough poeple you have previously worked with will be there. Thats when the money really starts to get good, because if you turned a profit off them the first day, imagine how much money you'll make when they get the hang of it and start working faster and more efficiently? 4) I pay people above industry standard. I HATE dealing with problems weather they be customer complaints or anything else. I tell my people "I like my serenity" I don't want any problems, they get paid well because they should be smart enough and hard working enough to do a good job every time and deal with any X factors that pop up along the way. They do this because the money is good and they like me and appreciate me because I pay them well and always have their back. 5) Pay using commission when possible. I give my detailers a minimum hourly wage just in case a job takes much longer than expected, but for the most part, detailers get paid a set amount per job. This motivates them to work more efficiently. They don't dottle along draining away my money on a per hour wage. And they earn me more money because they learn how to do more work in less time meaning their output is higher. 6) Do NOT tolerate any excuses for lateness, or inferior work. My detailers are paid to arrive on time, do a good job and make the customer happy EVERY time. If that doesn't happen in its entirety, I DON'T CARE why. People are wizards at making up good excuses.
MakitaNinja - You asked me which line do I stand on? Well, let me make one thing clear first. Ego and Insecurity are death to an entrepreneur. These things allow a man to be manipulated and/or swayed from what is his primary purpose: to grow his business and turn a greater and greater profit. That being said. Its not a black and white issue, most things are not black and white issues. A good analogy is that I try to be the Chipotle of the detailing industry. Did you know that Steve Ells, the founder of Chipotle is a 5 star chef? His dream was to start a 5 star restaurant and be the lead chef/owner and pioneer his own menu. But he realized that 5 star restaurants are risky and the demand for them is low, so he started Chipotle as a "cash cow" to finance his 5 star restaurant. I don't know if you've ever eaten at Chipotle, but the food is a good value. The ingredients are all fresh and healthy. The food is tasty, comes fast, but also pretty cheap. He applied his 5 star knowledge of foods to create his fast-food concept. He's now one of the richest people in the country. He doesn't have his 5 star restaurant though because his goals have changed. Instead of creating a 5 star restaurant that only a few priviledged could enjoy, he created a healthy, tasty fast-food option that in my opinion is superior to almost all other fast food.
I look at a lot of the hard core detailers on here as 5 Star Chefs of detailing. What I try to do is adapt that information and knowledge to create services for customers that provide good quality for an affordable price. I call this concept "value"
mcc - Yeah, I feel your pain. I'm always freaking out that one of my avenues of income will dry up and screw me. I have this concept that I call "liquidity" in my head. It means decreasing the number of variables that can change that will have a direct impact on your business. When I got my first car dealership account, I almost immediately started thinking about getting more. The money was good, but what if the dealer decided to go with someone else? How would I sustain my income and keep my promise of employment to my employee? What if the employee I had serving the dealer flaked? How would I keep my promise to the dealer? If I was doing 5-10 dealerships, not only would I be rolling in dough, but my stress level would be lower too because I would not be sweating any one individual client. If they switched providers or didn't want to agree to my terms, then sianara! If one guy flaked, I could just move one of my many other guys to that account and then start some of my other detailers training a few more guys and then cherry pick the best one. The idea of getting business in only one way or from only one client freaks me out.
As for hiring employees, this is HARD. Probably the hardest thing I've had to figure out how to do. The best things I can tell you is that: 1) Its a numbers game. You have to interview and work with a whole bunch of people, like 20, to get just one good person. But one good person is a cash cow. 2) You have to interview people out on the job and turn a profit or at least break even doing it. I interview people at the job site, I have them do work the first day, and I pay them. In the likely event that I won't hire them, I want to still make sure I didn't lose money off them and hopefully made a little. 3) If you're out at your sites doing your $30 services now and you get overwhelmed, I suggest using day laborers. They work hard under supervision and do what you say. Plus, they always show up for work because even if the same ones from yesterday aren't at the 7-11, there will be new ones. Pretty soon you will have a pool of candidates to choose from and enough poeple you have previously worked with will be there. Thats when the money really starts to get good, because if you turned a profit off them the first day, imagine how much money you'll make when they get the hang of it and start working faster and more efficiently? 4) I pay people above industry standard. I HATE dealing with problems weather they be customer complaints or anything else. I tell my people "I like my serenity" I don't want any problems, they get paid well because they should be smart enough and hard working enough to do a good job every time and deal with any X factors that pop up along the way. They do this because the money is good and they like me and appreciate me because I pay them well and always have their back. 5) Pay using commission when possible. I give my detailers a minimum hourly wage just in case a job takes much longer than expected, but for the most part, detailers get paid a set amount per job. This motivates them to work more efficiently. They don't dottle along draining away my money on a per hour wage. And they earn me more money because they learn how to do more work in less time meaning their output is higher. 6) Do NOT tolerate any excuses for lateness, or inferior work. My detailers are paid to arrive on time, do a good job and make the customer happy EVERY time. If that doesn't happen in its entirety, I DON'T CARE why. People are wizards at making up good excuses.
At least your customers might still have original paint if they keep their cars for decades.
