Detailing - Thinking of opening a detail shop.

First off, I've been detailing cars for over 16 years now. I stopped doing it full time in '98 and graduated college with an Associates degree in 2000. I've been a CAD drafter/designer ever since. While I like working on computers I can't stand to sit for 8 hours a day....and I just love working on cars. I did have my own detail business for almost 2 years a while back but I was basically renting a stall from my boss and cleaning his cars and giving him a commission for each car....which sucked! I ended up getting 2 dealership accounts but it required 45 minutes of driving one way to get them and half my day was spent picking up cars. Obviously that didn't work. So I got fed up one day and decided to go to college and here I am now.

If I do this I’m doing it right this time. I'll have my own shop, the right equipment, and accounts that are close and will require them to be delivered. I have plenty of work lined up if I chose to do this but I want to focus on more high-end cars. My Dad works at the Elite body shop in the Twin Cities and they do work for Mercedes, Porsche, and Audi...and he could probably get my foot in the door at those places. As far as retail work...well I have a long list a people still wanting their cars done...and once the work get out I'm doing it agian work of mouth would travel fast!;)

What you guys think? I do pretty well at my job but there is potential to make a lot more money in detailing if done right. I can always go back to drafting if it fails.

Do it man! and Hire me! haha ;)

ooh, I see you're in Minnesota, how will the winter months affect business you think?

I'm pretty pumped right now! Winter kinda sucks but if the shop has some room where I can have cars warming inside while working on another it's not too bad. January and Febuary tend to get slow so I would try to bust a$$ during the warm months and save up. My old boss has a car sales lot now and he said he will send his cars to me before anyone else. ;) Currently he has to send out some of his cars to other shops because the main shop can't keep up. I plan to stay away from Rotary buff jobs unless they are willing to pay for it. Seems like most shops are getting away with using the Porter Cable or similar polishers which is much safer and swirl free. If I have a few employee's I don't want them messing up paint. ;)

sounds good. u should maybe find a small part time job or something for the winter just so u have that extra cash. keep us updated!

I'm going to look into some contract CAD work if I need extra cash. In 16 winters I can only think of maybe 4-6 days I went home because of no work. When it slows down that's a good time for doing maintenance work and any upgrades to the shop. I'm confident I'll have more than enough work. My g/f is a HR manager at a large company and we are going to sit down and draw up a business plan this week. I need to find a building too and see what overhead will be. I'll update when I make a final decision.

Sounds like you've already got a good plan and a lot of the operation lined up. You've already established quite a bit of clientele it seems with the dealer and other w.o.m. customers. If you still have questions I would suggst posing them on Autopia.com. There are a lot of seasoned detailers on there that have their owns businesses that do very well. I'm sure the veterans will be glad to give you any advice you may need. From one detail lover to antoher, best of luck to you. [sm=smiley20.gif]

Thanks man! Yeah I've been on Autopia a lot...bough a few things. I ordered catalogs with pricing sheets from 4 of the large auto reconditioning product manufactures. I will compare prices then decide which to go with. I've used mainly Car Brite and Auto Armor in the past but I'm looking at a few new companies..

I'd say go for it. Do what you love. Life's not fun if you hate what you do every day. Like you say, if you do good work, word gets out. It worked that way for me, I started mowing one yard for some friends during the summer, now I'm working nine hour days and I still can't keep up. If you set up your own shop, it would also be nice because you'd be your own boss, which has many advantages. Best of luck, from another detailing nut.

Update:

So after checking on insurance, looking at buildings and having a few people telling me I'm crazy to quit my job since I do make decent money plus full bennies and 4 weeks vacation....I've decided to run the business part time out of my home. I have an extra garage out back that is 25' x 25' with 10' celings that I can use. I need to run gas, water, upgrade the electrical and finish off the interior. I don't have a floor drain but I've seen some things online that mobile detailers use to contain the water. I have a car wash a few blocks away that's I'll just pay the $1.75 to clean motors so the city can't come down on me. I appllied for a home equity loan today so hopefully all goes well. I'll keep you all updated. My goal is to be up and running before the end of July....hopefully sooner ;)

Business name/slogan

Rasky's Auto Detail
The Only Choice for Precision Auto Detailing

...over 16 years of experience!!!



What ya think? :D

Maybe you should look into doing body work/paint some time down the line after your buisness starts rolling.

ORIGINAL: RaskyR1

Business name/slogan

Rasky's Auto Detail
The Only Choice for Precision Auto Detailing

...over 16 years of experience!!!



What ya think? :D


money

ORIGINAL: AgentofDarkness

Maybe you should look into doing body work/paint some time down the line after your buisness starts rolling.


lol...nope, I grew up with my Dad owning his own Body shop....That's how I got started into Detailing. The shop was in the back yard and he'd pay me to wet sand & buff cars then clean the inside out of all the dust. ;)

Not for me...though I do want to build another Muscle car again.

money


Guess I'll have to get some business decals made up to put on my car....I could put them right next to the HCF decals. [8D]

Running it out of your home sounds like a smart start. It'll give you a chance to see what you're getting into and what you can expect. The name sounds cool. The 16 years experience is what will really draw customers. Are you going to get a web page set up? That seems to have worked well for detailers per Autopia. A listing of services, and prices will eliminate a lot of wonder and searching for potential customers. Oh btw, best of luck on your heloc app.

Yeah I have a friend that will build me a web page...probably not going to be anything to crazy to start with. I have a friend who just bought a new Ferrari and a few other friends with some nice rides that I will use for photos on the site. I may as well use "myspace" too and add a link. I really hope this loan goes through. I have $28,000 in equity so I don't see any reason it would not. If all else fail I can always sell my R1.

good luck to u man and the home deal is your best bet that way u know if its worth for you to expand at a later date and get a full shop. Im getting ready to close on my business on 6/30/06 so were (wifey and me) are excited. We are taking over a day carre center that has been in business for the last 16 years. So we will be there right after 4th of july break and hopefully all will run as good as it has for the current owners..
Good luck again man

ORIGINAL: Raul98

good luck to u man and the home deal is your best bet that way u know if its worth for you to expand at a later date and get a full shop. Im getting ready to close on my business on 6/30/06 so were (wifey and me) are excited. We are taking over a day carre center that has been in business for the last 16 years. So we will be there right after 4th of july break and hopefully all will run as good as it has for the current owners..
Good luck again man


Thanks man! Good luck to you as well!

Where are you running your home business? Does anyone live in Portland? Does anyone know any places in Portland that detail or any performance for hondas?

[>:] Not having much luck getting my loan. With the purchase of the new car and my credit not the best...(low 600's) I'm having a hard time. I have a freind of mine trying to get it done after 2 other places truned me down. If he can't get it done I'm going to sell my other baby the R1. I hate to do it but I should be able to save up enough $$$ by next spring to buy a new one. I should know more on the loan today/tomorrow.

Hope it works out for you. Mortgage companies make everything so difficult sometimes. Best of luck man, I hope you get it.

I have detailed for almost 2 years now and I love it it’s a great job I wish I had the finances to get a shop and start my own business. There is only one detail shop in my town and he has a bad name so I think getting business would be easy. If you do open up shop I am using a carpet shampooer called a cobra I have use a few different machines and this thing rocks there is clear tanks 2 vacuum motors 2 plug ins one for the fans, vacuum motors and pump which is placed before the hot water heater and the other plug is just for the heater. This thing gets hot in about 30 sec and stays hot look in to one of these.