Discussion
I've been detailing my cars as a hobby for some time now, I wouldn't mind trying to turn it in to something a bit more full time as I'm getting bored at work.
Obviously all areas/towns will have different markets depending on how many similar business are around, but I'm thinking a decent van kitted out with everything I'd need, and doing this mobile, possibly learning how to refurb wheels etc too.
I'm sure reputation is everything, as well as reasonable pricing...
Have any of you ever got someone like this in to give your car a going over - and do you think it's a decent business model?
Obviously all areas/towns will have different markets depending on how many similar business are around, but I'm thinking a decent van kitted out with everything I'd need, and doing this mobile, possibly learning how to refurb wheels etc too.
I'm sure reputation is everything, as well as reasonable pricing...
Have any of you ever got someone like this in to give your car a going over - and do you think it's a decent business model?
The chap who came to do some scratches on my car had a tent that went over it attached to the side of his van, was thinking about something similar.
Small industrial units are also pretty cheap where I live and it would allow me to have other projects on the go I suppose, so it's an option but it seems quite a big jump while I'm currently still working.
Small industrial units are also pretty cheap where I live and it would allow me to have other projects on the go I suppose, so it's an option but it seems quite a big jump while I'm currently still working.
Will you enjoy detailing other peoples pride & joys as much as your own?
I enjoy doing my own on a nice warm summers day, possibly with a beer in hand toward the end but I'd have to be receiving some decent dough to get that from others.
Saying that a mate of mine started at school and he is doing very well now, does helicopters, boats all sorts. He's good too!
I enjoy doing my own on a nice warm summers day, possibly with a beer in hand toward the end but I'd have to be receiving some decent dough to get that from others.
Saying that a mate of mine started at school and he is doing very well now, does helicopters, boats all sorts. He's good too!
Ex valeter here, and someone that uses detailers.
You need to pick a market and stick to it.
- Top end valeting, charging between £40 and £120 a car, mobile, do 2-4 a day.
- Corporate valeting, this is what I used to do, used to get companies/office blocks on board and spend the day at their premises once a month, they would do a round robin email to all staff the day before and when I arrived at 8.30/9.00 am they had a list of cars, valet wanted and a pile of keys. I used to charge between £15 and £80 a valet (bronze, silver and gold), and do about 8-10 a day. Added bonus, most offices had a multi story car park so stay dry.
- Detailing, and I hate to break it to you, this cant be done in a van and a tent, You need a premises, if you have a double garage at home, fine, if you rent one from someone, fine, but you cant really do "detailing" out in the open.
Any questions etc feel free to ask
You need to pick a market and stick to it.
- Top end valeting, charging between £40 and £120 a car, mobile, do 2-4 a day.
- Corporate valeting, this is what I used to do, used to get companies/office blocks on board and spend the day at their premises once a month, they would do a round robin email to all staff the day before and when I arrived at 8.30/9.00 am they had a list of cars, valet wanted and a pile of keys. I used to charge between £15 and £80 a valet (bronze, silver and gold), and do about 8-10 a day. Added bonus, most offices had a multi story car park so stay dry.
- Detailing, and I hate to break it to you, this cant be done in a van and a tent, You need a premises, if you have a double garage at home, fine, if you rent one from someone, fine, but you cant really do "detailing" out in the open.
Any questions etc feel free to ask
Round our way we have a number of different services from the Eastern Europeans on the garage forecourt doing paint wrecker washes for a tenner though to one guy who has a high end detailing business. For the high end you need some premises but that isn't the toughest thing in the world. Some good advice given above - I would just add that the high end guy is rushed off his feet. He can't fit me in until July despite spending best part of £900 (including glasscoat).
The market is there that is for sure. Not sure what it will be like during the impending downturn though.....
Just one idea - if you can get into the car storage arena then serious money can be made. Owners often just take cars out at the weekend and then have them prepped during the week. Perhaps contact a few locally?
The market is there that is for sure. Not sure what it will be like during the impending downturn though.....
Just one idea - if you can get into the car storage arena then serious money can be made. Owners often just take cars out at the weekend and then have them prepped during the week. Perhaps contact a few locally?
I started around a month ago. Got myself a van and a water tank/generator etc. It's taken off so quickly just with word of mouth. I only do it part time along with being employed. I earn nearly double what I do detailing cars than I do at work... Absolutely gobsmacked at how fast it's happened.
Hope this helps. If you market it right and make people thing 'wow' your name will get out there. I use a really good camera to show before/after and I'd say it's the most important part of advertising.
Hope this helps. If you market it right and make people thing 'wow' your name will get out there. I use a really good camera to show before/after and I'd say it's the most important part of advertising.
Chateauneufdupape said:
I've been detailing my cars as a hobby for some time now, I wouldn't mind trying to turn it in to something a bit more full time as I'm getting bored at work.
Chateauneufdupape said:
The chap who came to do some scratches on my car...
Something doesn't quite sound right there! I know almost nothing about this, but keep reading about people spending hundreds or thousands of pounds to protect the finish on their car. This should be your target market - if you're going to win the customer and spend the time with their car, you may as well aspire to pick up premium money at the same time. You will need to gain trust and reputation to get owners to part with the keys to their precious cars but this should be your end goal.
sidekickdmr said:
Ex valeter here, and someone that uses detailers.
You need to pick a market and stick to it.
- Top end valeting, charging between £40 and £120 a car, mobile, do 2-4 a day.
- Corporate valeting, this is what I used to do, used to get companies/office blocks on board and spend the day at their premises once a month, they would do a round robin email to all staff the day before and when I arrived at 8.30/9.00 am they had a list of cars, valet wanted and a pile of keys. I used to charge between £15 and £80 a valet (bronze, silver and gold), and do about 8-10 a day. Added bonus, most offices had a multi story car park so stay dry.
- Detailing, and I hate to break it to you, this cant be done in a van and a tent, You need a premises, if you have a double garage at home, fine, if you rent one from someone, fine, but you cant really do "detailing" out in the open.
Any questions etc feel free to ask
Can I ask why you stopped the corporate valeting? This would go down fantastically at my work, there are hundreds of cars in the car park and plenty of people too busy to get their car cleaned, you could probably spend a whole week there, providing the company would be okay with something like that. Does sound like a good, simple idea for a decent income, hard work though I'm sure. You need to pick a market and stick to it.
- Top end valeting, charging between £40 and £120 a car, mobile, do 2-4 a day.
- Corporate valeting, this is what I used to do, used to get companies/office blocks on board and spend the day at their premises once a month, they would do a round robin email to all staff the day before and when I arrived at 8.30/9.00 am they had a list of cars, valet wanted and a pile of keys. I used to charge between £15 and £80 a valet (bronze, silver and gold), and do about 8-10 a day. Added bonus, most offices had a multi story car park so stay dry.
- Detailing, and I hate to break it to you, this cant be done in a van and a tent, You need a premises, if you have a double garage at home, fine, if you rent one from someone, fine, but you cant really do "detailing" out in the open.
Any questions etc feel free to ask
CX53 said:
Can I ask why you stopped the corporate valeting? This would go down fantastically at my work, there are hundreds of cars in the car park and plenty of people too busy to get their car cleaned, you could probably spend a whole week there, providing the company would be okay with something like that. Does sound like a good, simple idea for a decent income, hard work though I'm sure.
I didn't give it up, I sold the business as a going concern.It worked fantastically, I was taking good money home, had a good bunch of clients, and never worked past 5.00 or weekends. The issue came when I tried to expand, I employed staff and trained them up to take over my run so I could start a 2nd and grow the business, I just couldn't find good reliable staff that had the same enthusiasm and salesmanship, such a shame as it had scope.
sidekickdmr said:
I didn't give it up, I sold the business as a going concern.
It worked fantastically, I was taking good money home, had a good bunch of clients, and never worked past 5.00 or weekends. The issue came when I tried to expand, I employed staff and trained them up to take over my run so I could start a 2nd and grow the business, I just couldn't find good reliable staff that had the same enthusiasm and salesmanship, such a shame as it had scope.
Ah I see! I suppose it would be quite hard to put your business in someone else's hands like that, I see where you're coming from. It worked fantastically, I was taking good money home, had a good bunch of clients, and never worked past 5.00 or weekends. The issue came when I tried to expand, I employed staff and trained them up to take over my run so I could start a 2nd and grow the business, I just couldn't find good reliable staff that had the same enthusiasm and salesmanship, such a shame as it had scope.
I would love for someone to clean my car while I'm busy at work, it would save a lot of time.. Just mentioned it to my mrs as well and she said what a great idea, would go down great at her work.
Sounds like just the sort of thing I'd love to do when i've finally had enough of working for other people
sidekickdmr said:
Ex valeter here, and someone that uses detailers.
You need to pick a market and stick to it.
- Top end valeting, charging between £40 and £120 a car, mobile, do 2-4 a day.
- Corporate valeting, this is what I used to do, used to get companies/office blocks on board and spend the day at their premises once a month, they would do a round robin email to all staff the day before and when I arrived at 8.30/9.00 am they had a list of cars, valet wanted and a pile of keys. I used to charge between £15 and £80 a valet (bronze, silver and gold), and do about 8-10 a day. Added bonus, most offices had a multi story car park so stay dry.
- Detailing, and I hate to break it to you, this cant be done in a van and a tent, You need a premises, if you have a double garage at home, fine, if you rent one from someone, fine, but you cant really do "detailing" out in the open.
Any questions etc feel free to ask
Out of curiosity, what did you do for each of the three levels?You need to pick a market and stick to it.
- Top end valeting, charging between £40 and £120 a car, mobile, do 2-4 a day.
- Corporate valeting, this is what I used to do, used to get companies/office blocks on board and spend the day at their premises once a month, they would do a round robin email to all staff the day before and when I arrived at 8.30/9.00 am they had a list of cars, valet wanted and a pile of keys. I used to charge between £15 and £80 a valet (bronze, silver and gold), and do about 8-10 a day. Added bonus, most offices had a multi story car park so stay dry.
- Detailing, and I hate to break it to you, this cant be done in a van and a tent, You need a premises, if you have a double garage at home, fine, if you rent one from someone, fine, but you cant really do "detailing" out in the open.
Any questions etc feel free to ask
Did you operate out of a van? Tank of water? Compressor? I take it it would need to be a transit sized van?
daemon said:
sidekickdmr said:
Ex valeter here, and someone that uses detailers.
You need to pick a market and stick to it.
- Top end valeting, charging between £40 and £120 a car, mobile, do 2-4 a day.
- Corporate valeting, this is what I used to do, used to get companies/office blocks on board and spend the day at their premises once a month, they would do a round robin email to all staff the day before and when I arrived at 8.30/9.00 am they had a list of cars, valet wanted and a pile of keys. I used to charge between £15 and £80 a valet (bronze, silver and gold), and do about 8-10 a day. Added bonus, most offices had a multi story car park so stay dry.
- Detailing, and I hate to break it to you, this cant be done in a van and a tent, You need a premises, if you have a double garage at home, fine, if you rent one from someone, fine, but you cant really do "detailing" out in the open.
Any questions etc feel free to ask
Out of curiosity, what did you do for each of the three levels?You need to pick a market and stick to it.
- Top end valeting, charging between £40 and £120 a car, mobile, do 2-4 a day.
- Corporate valeting, this is what I used to do, used to get companies/office blocks on board and spend the day at their premises once a month, they would do a round robin email to all staff the day before and when I arrived at 8.30/9.00 am they had a list of cars, valet wanted and a pile of keys. I used to charge between £15 and £80 a valet (bronze, silver and gold), and do about 8-10 a day. Added bonus, most offices had a multi story car park so stay dry.
- Detailing, and I hate to break it to you, this cant be done in a van and a tent, You need a premises, if you have a double garage at home, fine, if you rent one from someone, fine, but you cant really do "detailing" out in the open.
Any questions etc feel free to ask
Did you operate out of a van? Tank of water? Compressor? I take it it would need to be a transit sized van?
It sounds great, fairly low start up costs, van + equipment/products + some sort of work uniform and leaflets/cards or whatever and away you go.
Do many people take the higher priced options? I suppose you could also offer stuff like a rain X window treatment for an extra few £ too.
Just thinking about it makes me daydream about handing in my notice and going around my local area doing sociable hours, spending time with nice cars and being home at a reasonable time for tea. I'm sure it's not always so easy but it does certainly appeal!
Do many people take the higher priced options? I suppose you could also offer stuff like a rain X window treatment for an extra few £ too.
Just thinking about it makes me daydream about handing in my notice and going around my local area doing sociable hours, spending time with nice cars and being home at a reasonable time for tea. I'm sure it's not always so easy but it does certainly appeal!
workid1 said:
I have a VW Caddy with a 250L water tank. Karcher Pressure washers draw water out themselves so no need for a water pump. I use a Generator for the Karcher and Vacuum. Had some shelves and draws made to keep all the different consumables in, inside the van. Fantastic way of making money AND you get to work with some very nice cars.
Sounds good. How many washes would you get out of a 250L tank? I see there are 500L tanks - is space / weight a problem with those?Gassing Station | Business | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff