New Ideas for Mobile Detailing Business
Discussion
I have recently started a mobile car detailing business. It is going really good but I have a lot of competitors in my area. So I am looking at other services I could offer along side the detailing.
I have been looking at doing remapping. Quite expensive for equipment but quite high profit margins but I am not sure how popular it would be? I am still doing my research for this at the moment as I would only offer it if the maps were from a reputable company.
Any other options that I could look into? It has to tie in with being mobile and I like to keep focused on cars. I would like to look at paint protection film but being mobile it would have too much limitations for this.
I just want to be different and offer more than competitors, ideally I would like to have premises but I feel I do not have the customer base to sustain the costs at this time for that.
I have been looking at doing remapping. Quite expensive for equipment but quite high profit margins but I am not sure how popular it would be? I am still doing my research for this at the moment as I would only offer it if the maps were from a reputable company.
Any other options that I could look into? It has to tie in with being mobile and I like to keep focused on cars. I would like to look at paint protection film but being mobile it would have too much limitations for this.
I just want to be different and offer more than competitors, ideally I would like to have premises but I feel I do not have the customer base to sustain the costs at this time for that.
As above, I like to trust a pro to do a remap, preferably with a dyno rather than generic buy em off the shelf without knowing how they really work
Wheel refurb and paint would be great though, there are established franchises you can get into if you dont have the kit/knowledge to get started on your own
Would be a perfect service if you can refurb wheels, touch in stone chips and detail
Wheel refurb and paint would be great though, there are established franchises you can get into if you dont have the kit/knowledge to get started on your own
Would be a perfect service if you can refurb wheels, touch in stone chips and detail
Plastic bumper repair
Scratch repair
Alloy wheel repair
Interior Repair
Ventudreshield/Clear wrap stuff
Basically anything that goes hand in hand with keeping a car looking good.
As an off the wall idea, how about doing something for your customers that your competitors don't? How about a breakfast club once a month? Bacon Butties at a local cafe with some hints and tips on cleaning etc? Do you retail your products? Do you think you could?
What about a sunday run out? If you get some success you can go further, two day trips out with 5 star accommodation around some great roads. Good food and drink etc you can keep the cars cleaned on an evening and perhaps organise a semi-pro photographer to take some snaps.
Scratch repair
Alloy wheel repair
Interior Repair
Ventudreshield/Clear wrap stuff
Basically anything that goes hand in hand with keeping a car looking good.
As an off the wall idea, how about doing something for your customers that your competitors don't? How about a breakfast club once a month? Bacon Butties at a local cafe with some hints and tips on cleaning etc? Do you retail your products? Do you think you could?
What about a sunday run out? If you get some success you can go further, two day trips out with 5 star accommodation around some great roads. Good food and drink etc you can keep the cars cleaned on an evening and perhaps organise a semi-pro photographer to take some snaps.
LaurasOtherHalf said:
As an off the wall idea, how about doing something for your customers that your competitors don't? How about a breakfast club once a month? Bacon Butties at a local cafe with some hints and tips on cleaning etc? Do you retail your products? Do you think you could?
What about a sunday run out? If you get some success you can go further, two day trips out with 5 star accommodation around some great roads. Good food and drink etc you can keep the cars cleaned on an evening and perhaps organise a semi-pro photographer to take some snaps.
This is a great idea! Anyone who goes to the bother and expense of detailing will be a car enthusiast and will enjoy being in the company of other car people, showing off each other's p&j's etc. What about a sunday run out? If you get some success you can go further, two day trips out with 5 star accommodation around some great roads. Good food and drink etc you can keep the cars cleaned on an evening and perhaps organise a semi-pro photographer to take some snaps.
Repeat custom is where it's at along with word of mouth. Also if you don't already, get involved with Facebook etc. Ideally showing some top end cars you have detailed. This has worked very well for another detailing company I see on Facebook.
Formula 13 said:
I have recently started a mobile car detailing business. It is going really good but I have a lot of competitors in my area.
I just want to be different and offer more than competitors...
Do a much better job than your competitors and at a more competitive price and the work should come piling in. Diversification from your core business, particularly as a one-man band, may not be the best strategy.I just want to be different and offer more than competitors...
rog007 said:
Do a much better job than your competitors and at a more competitive price
i think for a sole trader/small company this can be a difficult strategy. The problem being its a short term solution to gaining business and isn't without its problems later on. Go cheap and cut corners to gain a high turnover of business or provide a much better service and charge more for it to maximise profits.
To try and do both (better standard and cheaper price) means you're inevitably working harder than your competitors for less profit. What's the point? If your customers are mainly driven by price when you eventually put prices up they'll walk to your cheaper competition.
The OP is offering a skilled service and without diversification it's this skill (perhaps along with trust) that can push profits forward. To undersell your sole revenue stream is risky to say the least.
Edited by LaurasOtherHalf on Monday 1st August 22:34
It won't be popular at all.
There's already plenty of companies offering remaps in the area. With so many cars on finance more drivers are steering clear of remaps, or heading down the tuning box route.
I'd not even consider a car detailer to remap my car. That's just got alarm bells all over it.
As for the detailing business, that's a business beyond saturation point in Aberdeen. There's just too many people at it and trying to get into it. There's also more people doing their own cars.
For a small place Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire already has numerous dent repair guys, smart repairers and alloy wheel refurbishment places.
Anything along those lines is all going to be a competitive market.
There's already plenty of companies offering remaps in the area. With so many cars on finance more drivers are steering clear of remaps, or heading down the tuning box route.
I'd not even consider a car detailer to remap my car. That's just got alarm bells all over it.
As for the detailing business, that's a business beyond saturation point in Aberdeen. There's just too many people at it and trying to get into it. There's also more people doing their own cars.
For a small place Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire already has numerous dent repair guys, smart repairers and alloy wheel refurbishment places.
Anything along those lines is all going to be a competitive market.
Edited by Driver101 on Tuesday 2nd August 03:50
Edited by Driver101 on Tuesday 2nd August 03:51
Great points, but you'll note I never said 'cheapest', I deliberately said 'more competitive'! This can be an easy assumption (competitive means cheapest) to make I acknowledge. I was mainly thinking similar pricing or maybe 'just' below (to gain or increase that essential market share prior to slowly raising prices) but whilst employing other strategies to become more profitable.
Relying on a competitive pricing strategy may be risky I acknowledge if volume cannot be maintained or if costs suddenly rise. However, maximising volume and reducing fixed and variable costs (this is key and oft overlooked in the excitement of setting up a new venture) can allow you to be more competitive price wise whilst maintaining if not increasing net profit.
Price must support the other elements of the marketing mix. Pricing is very difficult and so must reflect the supply and demand relationship too. Pricing a product too high or too low can also mean lost sales thus affecting net profitability.
Pricing something correctly should therefore take the following factors into account:
- Fixed and variable costs
- Competition
- Objectives
- Proposed positioning strategies
- Target group and their willingness to pay
When formally considering all of these factors during the construct of one's business plan one can then ensure that pricing is competitive (if indeed there's an actual business to be had), which may or may not equal cheapest, whist hopefully maximising profitability.
I particularly think for this sector however that quality (and I agree trust) are key products that need highlighting (and delivering, every time!), to gain a reputation that will also be key to any success.
I personally almost always avoid the cheapest in most things in the hope that by going for quality (indicated by either price or reputation) I will get it right first time (which is of course cheaper in the long term). It's not a fail safe strategy by any means but it works most of the time for me.
Great debate and one which I hope provides some useful insights for the OP.
Relying on a competitive pricing strategy may be risky I acknowledge if volume cannot be maintained or if costs suddenly rise. However, maximising volume and reducing fixed and variable costs (this is key and oft overlooked in the excitement of setting up a new venture) can allow you to be more competitive price wise whilst maintaining if not increasing net profit.
Price must support the other elements of the marketing mix. Pricing is very difficult and so must reflect the supply and demand relationship too. Pricing a product too high or too low can also mean lost sales thus affecting net profitability.
Pricing something correctly should therefore take the following factors into account:
- Fixed and variable costs
- Competition
- Objectives
- Proposed positioning strategies
- Target group and their willingness to pay
When formally considering all of these factors during the construct of one's business plan one can then ensure that pricing is competitive (if indeed there's an actual business to be had), which may or may not equal cheapest, whist hopefully maximising profitability.
I particularly think for this sector however that quality (and I agree trust) are key products that need highlighting (and delivering, every time!), to gain a reputation that will also be key to any success.
I personally almost always avoid the cheapest in most things in the hope that by going for quality (indicated by either price or reputation) I will get it right first time (which is of course cheaper in the long term). It's not a fail safe strategy by any means but it works most of the time for me.
Great debate and one which I hope provides some useful insights for the OP.
To beat your competition just be exceptional at what you do.
Go the extra mile - don't just try do the cars as quickly as possible - spend that extra 20 minutes on the finishing touches.
very quickly your name will get round as the 'Go to' detailer.
if it was me - I would charge a flat rate which you knew would cover your materials / time.
as long as you're not pricing youself out the market you'll be fine if you are any good.
Get an instagram page going - put lots of before and after pictures. - Make time lapse videos that can quickly been seen on instagram. - make videos of everything you do - ask the owner if you can do a video and tag them in it - that way they'll show all their mates.
instagram is a massive tool for marketing - its free so use it! - gone are the days of handing out business cards imo.
Go the extra mile - don't just try do the cars as quickly as possible - spend that extra 20 minutes on the finishing touches.
very quickly your name will get round as the 'Go to' detailer.
if it was me - I would charge a flat rate which you knew would cover your materials / time.
as long as you're not pricing youself out the market you'll be fine if you are any good.
Get an instagram page going - put lots of before and after pictures. - Make time lapse videos that can quickly been seen on instagram. - make videos of everything you do - ask the owner if you can do a video and tag them in it - that way they'll show all their mates.
instagram is a massive tool for marketing - its free so use it! - gone are the days of handing out business cards imo.
Edited by PlayFair on Tuesday 2nd August 05:29
Avidfanofstuff said:
Diagnostic scans
I initially thought this too, a friend has a fiesta that popped the inlet pipe of the air filter a few weeks ago, pop to the local garage as the EML had come on, £40 + vat later its the air flow meter, £48 paid and drives away. gets home refits the offending pipe which is a ball ache and then should have returned for another £48 to reset, but thats where i step in and buy a cheap (£13 of amazon) codereader as its something i feel might come in handy and proceed to reset the EML for a beer. 
Also get yourself onto various owners clubs forums, Facebook pages etc offering a reduced rate for paid up club members. I am on the Fiesta ST owners club and the few garages and services that are on there have a good following but you will need to be good at what you do as you will be scrutinised.
Edited by dci on Tuesday 2nd August 14:53
I'm in Aberdeenshire and your right there is alot of competition in mobile car detailing.
To be honest you have to stand out, have great feedback, quality, cost etc.. Are you on facebook with your business? Twitter? It makes a huge difference getting on social media.
I know a guy in Aberdeenshire who got paid off last year (oil & gas) so went into car detailing as he was an enthusiast anyway...worked from home or traveled to folks houses if possible, started a facebook page..shared by friends...did some free work to show off what he could do...shared more & more & more now 1 year later has a retail unit with the diary full and does simple details around £30 to full extensive details £200+ and does alloys powder coat, scratch repair etc!
You have to get yourself out there, don't expect the work to come to you! It's hard work but will pay off in the end!
To be honest you have to stand out, have great feedback, quality, cost etc.. Are you on facebook with your business? Twitter? It makes a huge difference getting on social media.
I know a guy in Aberdeenshire who got paid off last year (oil & gas) so went into car detailing as he was an enthusiast anyway...worked from home or traveled to folks houses if possible, started a facebook page..shared by friends...did some free work to show off what he could do...shared more & more & more now 1 year later has a retail unit with the diary full and does simple details around £30 to full extensive details £200+ and does alloys powder coat, scratch repair etc!
You have to get yourself out there, don't expect the work to come to you! It's hard work but will pay off in the end!
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