Starting up a mobil unit and have a few questions

SShine said:
I think it is a must to supply water and electric if you are mobile. Having to ask for either of the two seems unprofessional to me. My generator isnt loud at all. My rotary makes almost as much noise.
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Good thing that's merely your perception, I suppose ONR is unprofessional too?



My perception is hackshop on wheels when I see huge setups driving down the street, most the time that's what they are. If you are worried about the added cost of water and electric you have no business requesting that kind of service. Fwiw I have a water tank and very quite generator, It's more affordable for my client for me to use their electric than run a generator for 10+hours.
 
VaSuperShine said:
Good thing that's merely your perception, I suppose ONR is unprofessional too?



My perception is hackshop on wheels when I see huge setups driving down the street, most the time that's what they are. If you are worried about the added cost of water and electric you have no business requesting that kind of service. Fwiw I have a water tank and very quite generator, It's more affordable for my client for me to use their electric than run a generator for 10+hours.
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Hmmm very good point. I guess in residences it isnt a problem, most of the time they tell me where the power and water is as soon as I get there.



And I use ONR too:dance
 
I use a 5x10 single axle enclosed trailer. Inside, I have a 90-gallon water tank, a Honda generator, and a Troy-Bilt pressure washer (along with all my other supplies). I decided to bring my own water & electricity just because I felt better about having it. However, if I am working at a residence, I will use their electricity if they are not opposed.



Obviously, people like Scottwax do amazing work and have a great reputation and don't carry water and a generator so you can see that you don't need it to be successful.



By the way, here's a rear interior shot of my trailer where you can see my PW, generator, and water tank. If you want to see more pics, I can send you links but I won't post them here since my contact information is on the trailer.



IMG_2806.jpg
 
Mike do you keep the rest of your supplies in the truck then? I actually went to your website and saw a few more pics. seems like a simple enough set up to start off with.
 
any reason why you didnt go with a 6x10? I was shopping today and the difference between the two was only $200. I liked the fact that I could stand up in the 6x10 depsite being 6'2
 
If you look closely in the previous pic you can see I have a door on the side of my trailer (which I would highly recommend). This allows me to keep all my supplies at the front of the trailer. During the colder months, I keep my products inside my house and my trailer sits inside my garage that typically stays around 50* during the winter months.



Here's another interior pic from the side:



IMG_2802.jpg




Excuse the mess in there. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to organize everything in the trailer w/o having to use totes (sp?) and what not.
 
SShine said:
any reason why you didnt go with a 6x10? I was shopping today and the difference between the two was only $200. I liked the fact that I could stand up in the 6x10 depsite being 6'2
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The main reason was that I wanted to be able to keep it in my 2-car garage. A 5x10 was the biggest I could get in there. Having a 6x10 would have been nice but after having the 5x10 I realized that I never actually stand inside the trailer.



SShine said:
you can look into building some shelves with 2x4's and plywood. lots of wasted space on the walls.
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You're telling me! It drives me crazy not having it organized. I would like to get as much as the stuff on the walls as possible. Hopefully by spring I can build something like you're talking about inside.



VaSuperShine said:
Mike, it's a nice setup but have you looked into these honda generators, they are silent compared to yours and run 15 hours per tank. This is the one i have, it's pretty light and compact too.





Honda EU2000I Generator - Honda Super Quiet Generators
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Looking back at it now, I wish I would have purchased something like that. The reason why I got the big generator (3800W) is because I thought I would need that much power using a hot water extractor and steamer, safely. Do you think I could have gotten by with a 2000W like you posted?
 
Gotcha. I might check into a little further. If I could sell my current one, get one like you posted, and still come up with a little extra cash in hand I'd definitely do it.
 
Jakerooni said:
I've decided to start a mobil unit based out my fixed location shop.
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Jake,



Do you really think you can market your detailing business both ways? There is a very real possiblity that some of your current fixed shop customers may decide they would rather have their vehicles detailed at their location, instead of bringing them to your shop. After all, it could very well become their most convenient option.



Just something to think about.
 
Yea frank I've thought about it. But I'm actually going to advertise the mobil crew to a completely different clientel. The Mobil unit will be focused on clientel that really can't come to the shop or it's just very impractical to do so. Like the boats. I have room up to a certian size then it's just not physically possible at my shop. Some of the higher end clientel. I have a guy right now that has 2 vipers 2 vettes and 6 caddy's and he wants them all done. Driving that many cars in isn't something he's willing to do. He's very busy and can't be bothered with details like driving in his collection of cars LOL. I'm trying to keep it so anything within 5 miles of the shop will be the "shops" work. I'm focusing the mobil unit outside of that range as not to compete. That and I barely had enough room here last summer to take in the work we had. and that was just word of mouth getting out. Now that I have effectively advetised myself out to the surrounding communites and people know I'm here I'm actually a little worried that this summer is going to be too overwhleming.. Hopefully the mobil unit will be able to redirect that some. remember I'm not a one person operation. Even though I make the final call on everything I have a good support group up here now that I fully trust in making this place grow. So I can focus on expansion. Which was really my goal since day one. I don't want a shop I want a whole franchise of shops and mobil units. And I feel I'm truely on the right track to see that happen. Start out small. Let the reputation grow and build till the demand becomes overwhleming and then expand as needed in areas of desire. Pretty much my goals in a nutshell.
 
Another quick question. What about easy ups or some sort of shade? Common practice? Common size? Easily to get logo'd up? I have one but I think it's to small for car shade. I used it traveling across the friggin nation racing BMX with the kids for the past 10 years or so. but I think it's only like an 8'x8'
 
My experience with EZ-UP.



Purchased a 10x10 tent from them last summer and then a couple months later purchased a 8x12 from them. Together, it is about $800 worth of tents. Within a 2 week period, both tent frames had broken on me in some sort of fashion. Now I cannot use either of them. Luckily, it was at the end of the hot season so I could get by w/o any shade. From what I've been told by EZ-UP, I have to FAX them all my information and state what is broke so that I can possibly get it fixed (not replaced) under warranty.



I won't be buying from them again. If I buy a tent in the future, it will be from a local store so I don't have to deal with a situation like this again.



If you decide to get a tent, I would recommend a 10x10. It's much easier to maneuver vehicles underneath it. If you get two 10x10's, you'd have really good coverage for long vehicles (SUV's, trucks, etc.).
 
thanks mike.. you're quickly becoming a source of valuable information for people looking to start up right :D. Hopefully you won't have to be the guinea pig forever on what works and what dosen't. But you're saving me tons of cash LOL
 
for my mobile set-up, i just used what i had for a vehicle. It's an old S10 ext cab with a 125 gal tank from Tractor Supply ($289). I manage to get my 3550 watt Troy Bilt generator and TB 2550 psi pressure washer in along with the 16 gal 5.75 hp shop vac. I have a milk crate, 5 gal gas can, 1 gal gas can, and the wash buckets and pressure sprayer. I don't currently have an extractor. I pretreat and scrub mats and carpets, then pressure wash the mats (no, not the carpets!) In the cab I have another milk crate, a 3 drawer plastice cabinet, and 2 bottle totes. Also, I carry jumper cables, jack, and a battery charger should I ever overuse my stereo and kill my battery or get a flat (both have happened).



as far as a trailer goes, I know a lot of guys use one, but after toting 1,000 lbs of water around in the truck, I'm not sure I'd trust that much weight in a trailer on a bumper hitch, but that's just me.
 
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