Starting my own car valeting company
Discussion
As topic title suggests, I'm starting up my own car valeting company in the very near future as I'm sick of my current job as a suspended ceiling fitter! To tell you the truth I fell into the job anyway and haven't really enjoyed it, needs must though and everyone's got to earn a living somehow. I'm sure you can already assume I'm a bit of a car enthusiast anyway, as after all I'm posting here but I'm also excited about the prospect and challenge of being self-employed, and I realize it's a big step!
I wanted to start a post here to see if anyone would care to share any knowledge/experience in this field at all? I've been doing a lot of reasearch on the stuff I can, like the material goods and marketing leaflets e.t.c. I.e. I've been asking around garages saying "hey, I'm thinking of... would you be interested?" and I've had quite a few offers of work and leaflet handing out to customers (even one from a BMW showroom!). I will be investing in a VW T5 transporter soon (130bhp, silver, air con, only 8K on the clock
), have found a good one just need to go and see it when I can get the time off my current job (catch 22, don't you just love 'em). Have also a van-fitting contact and quotes for getting it customized with racking for the products and 400ltr water tank e.t.c. Then comes the jet washes/generators and the like but I think I've got that base covered as I'm in the fortunate position of having a local car valeting supplies supplier whom I've chatted to on the phone and would gladly aid me in getting the products and equipment I'd need. Well, at least I think I'm fairly confident I've got my facts/assumptions right on these fronts but please do correct me if experiences differ!
So I'm just after opinions/shared experience really, things I should know and the like. I'm not afraid to work hard, I find the prospect of working for myself, rather than for "the man" (actually to be honest "the man" for the firm I work at now is my dad... Hence why I "fell" into the job and actually makes it harder!) rather exciting and enthusing. Have given up my beloved 2.8 Z3 to help fund this too, (and yes, I know all you here think a bloke shouldn't be driving one of those :P) so I'm really hoping it will work for me!
And yes, I know it's damn cold recently and I'm silly to be starting right now.
I wanted to start a post here to see if anyone would care to share any knowledge/experience in this field at all? I've been doing a lot of reasearch on the stuff I can, like the material goods and marketing leaflets e.t.c. I.e. I've been asking around garages saying "hey, I'm thinking of... would you be interested?" and I've had quite a few offers of work and leaflet handing out to customers (even one from a BMW showroom!). I will be investing in a VW T5 transporter soon (130bhp, silver, air con, only 8K on the clock
), have found a good one just need to go and see it when I can get the time off my current job (catch 22, don't you just love 'em). Have also a van-fitting contact and quotes for getting it customized with racking for the products and 400ltr water tank e.t.c. Then comes the jet washes/generators and the like but I think I've got that base covered as I'm in the fortunate position of having a local car valeting supplies supplier whom I've chatted to on the phone and would gladly aid me in getting the products and equipment I'd need. Well, at least I think I'm fairly confident I've got my facts/assumptions right on these fronts but please do correct me if experiences differ!So I'm just after opinions/shared experience really, things I should know and the like. I'm not afraid to work hard, I find the prospect of working for myself, rather than for "the man" (actually to be honest "the man" for the firm I work at now is my dad... Hence why I "fell" into the job and actually makes it harder!) rather exciting and enthusing. Have given up my beloved 2.8 Z3 to help fund this too, (and yes, I know all you here think a bloke shouldn't be driving one of those :P) so I'm really hoping it will work for me!
And yes, I know it's damn cold recently and I'm silly to be starting right now
.True enough, but I'm trying to have enough faith in at least enough people to like their cars enough that don't want their cars scratched to f
k! Obviously I think it greatly depends on area but from what I understand, around here I should be ok for a basic £20 to wash outside and a quick vacuum and tidy inside, obviously then going up in price for more, ahem, services.
k! Obviously I think it greatly depends on area but from what I understand, around here I should be ok for a basic £20 to wash outside and a quick vacuum and tidy inside, obviously then going up in price for more, ahem, services.yourlovewas said:
To start off with I'll take anything I can get, obviously. Then, if business is good then yeah, I'd sooner spend a whole day detailing a car for £100+ instead of running around like a blue-assed fly getting in £20 "mini valets" all day.
Before you start, or even buy anything, do your market research.Then do some more.
At the moment, you have 'guesstimate' figures of what you might get per valet. I must be honest, I wouldnt pay £20 for a wash and dustbuster job. My local handwash place does this for a fiver.
However, there is a certain clientelle that might. The equation is how much you are going to charge them, minus how much it is going to cost to get you there, minus advertising cost etc.
My gut reaction is there are already people out there doing this, do be able to get any income, you are already fighting them off before you have started. So you either have to beat them on service, or price.
If you *think* you can get business from dealerships, don't just think it, tell them you are starting up your own business, tell them what you offer and see what they will pay. If you get the brush off from most in the local area, and for the rest you need to undercut someone else, then you at least know how much you are getting per car, and what the likely turnover is.
Your business bank manager will tell you that most businesses out there don't last long. I think the statistic is only one in 3 lasts 2 years. Thats because people jump in without doing their research. What you have to remember is that if your outgoings for the van on finance, and advertising cost say £500 per month, and you end up only getting £10 each job, you need to do 51 car washes each week for you to take home a tenner....
Thats why you need to know your prices and your market *exactly* before you start.
It this game its all about numbers. How many full cleans do you think you can manage a day? I'd say it you do a proper job about 2. What can you charge per clean for the trade? i own a large ish car sales company ( we turn over 60 cars a month) We pay £50 for a very extesive service with a wet vac shampoo interior clean.
I would say your best be would be to sell your self to medium/small sized garages for a whole day 4 days a week. ie, £100 a day. Give yourself one day off during the week and do your private (on the driveway cleans) saturdays and sundays when these people arn't at work. If your lucky you will find a few garages that will book you reliably 1 day a week.
Matt
I would say your best be would be to sell your self to medium/small sized garages for a whole day 4 days a week. ie, £100 a day. Give yourself one day off during the week and do your private (on the driveway cleans) saturdays and sundays when these people arn't at work. If your lucky you will find a few garages that will book you reliably 1 day a week.
Matt
I work in the trade. You might find that the going rate for a full valet is £12 in a large dealership! That is inside and out with wash, wax, vac, all plastic cleaned and tyres dressed. Most of the people doing this sort of work have English as a second language.
You will get more for retail work but that will have you running from location to lacation. Before you spend thousands on a van and equipment do the maths. Do you need a nearly new van?
Surely a good valeter with trade contacts can get and older van and make it look good.......
Keep the money in you pocket, you might need it later.
You will get more for retail work but that will have you running from location to lacation. Before you spend thousands on a van and equipment do the maths. Do you need a nearly new van?
Surely a good valeter with trade contacts can get and older van and make it look good.......
Keep the money in you pocket, you might need it later.
I haven't actually considered "giving" myself to car dealer ships for any days of the week, I mentioned something like it in my first post but I meant that I had gone into a BMW dealership and somehow got into chatting about it and what I had in mind. What he told me was yeah, they valet the cars cheaper than what I could offer them but they get customers asking them for an ongoing service as it were, which, obviously they don't offer, hence why he said sure, he'd hand out leaflets for me to such customers. This was one out of one, and theres plenty of other garages in Newbury to ask... I have friends and friends of friends e.t.c. that yes, would pay circa £20 for a reliable (i.e. booked in every week or whatever) and good service. I understand the math side of things and trust me, it's the thing thats spun around in my head more than anything and caused more headaches than anything else. I was actually looking at a certain car cleaning franchise before this and got so far as to lose a £500 non refundable deposit before pulling out at the last second, the figures didnt add up, after van lease, franchise fees and then products and running costs. Like you said, it meant doing an unfeasable amount of work per week, which clearly is not efficient nor economical, not least physically. And they fact they basically "we own you, your customers e.t.c., and you had a territory you couldn't work out of) Thats why I decided to see how it would go see how it'd be self-employed, harder, yes, but more freedom and a lot more scope in the long run.
I understand what you mean about the starting up costs but I'm getting a sublime deal on the nearly new VW, through a contact and to be honest, it's an asset and sure it will depreciate but at least if all goes tit's up it can be sold. I guess there are people who would and people who wouldnt pay £20 for their car cleaned. I'm probably have a different perspective on this due to my obviously regionalized research, which is around Newbury. Right on the money rich, time poor M4 corridor, so I suppose thats a huge plus from my point of view.
I understand what you mean about the starting up costs but I'm getting a sublime deal on the nearly new VW, through a contact and to be honest, it's an asset and sure it will depreciate but at least if all goes tit's up it can be sold. I guess there are people who would and people who wouldnt pay £20 for their car cleaned. I'm probably have a different perspective on this due to my obviously regionalized research, which is around Newbury. Right on the money rich, time poor M4 corridor, so I suppose thats a huge plus from my point of view.
sam.r said:
Go the other end of the scale.
If someone wants value they will go to a hand car wash in some carpark somewhere...
Charge a nice £100 plus for various services.
Do the showrooms as your bread and butter and the high end stuff as a bonus...
I agree. Get into "detailing" as well as "valeting" - learn about all the paint problems and how to fix them (practice on some scrappy cars or car bits!), get all the tools and the materials. If someone wants value they will go to a hand car wash in some carpark somewhere...
Charge a nice £100 plus for various services.
Do the showrooms as your bread and butter and the high end stuff as a bonus...
There's a garage near me that has all sorts of supercars in it.. I walk past them and I notice a lot of the cars have pretty grotty paintwork, and I am by no means a perfectionist.
If I was going to drop £90k on a DB9 I'd want the paint looking perfect, so maybe they'd pay someone £200-300 when they take the car in to make it look like new. Bonus is you can work in a workshop or garage rather than on someone's driveway at 8am in November!
Might be an angle to investigate anyway. Get good PI insurance if you go that route, nobody likes to drop a rotary buffer on a brand new 430
Like I said before, the detailing side would be wonderful if when when it comes but I'm obviously still going to have to valet too, however I don't think working in a workshop benefits the clause much? Ok warm for me, but surely Mr. Smith would rather me come to his driveway to clean his 599GTB with scratches and swirling in the paintwork (what, it could happen!) then him have to use his valuable time and thus money driving it to a workshop himself? Not to mention it's in another league for cost, especially for a new venture. And lastly, I ain't afraid of no cold!
I didn't mean work for the garage, I just meant offer your services to them - head over once a week or something. It might make all the difference in the winter months, I don't know if people are that fussed about having pristine cars when it's the depths of December.. whereas a garage has to trade all year around. Anyway, all food for thought. Good luck with it!
yourlovewas said:
I haven't actually considered "giving" myself to car dealer ships for any days of the week, I mentioned something like it in my first post but I meant that I had gone into a BMW dealership and somehow got into chatting about it and what I had in mind. What he told me was yeah, they valet the cars cheaper than what I could offer them but they get customers asking them for an ongoing service as it were, which, obviously they don't offer, hence why he said sure, he'd hand out leaflets for me to such customers. This was one out of one, and theres plenty of other garages in Newbury to ask... I have friends and friends of friends e.t.c. that yes, would pay circa £20 for a reliable (i.e. booked in every week or whatever) and good service. I understand the math side of things and trust me, it's the thing thats spun around in my head more than anything and caused more headaches than anything else. I was actually looking at a certain car cleaning franchise before this and got so far as to lose a £500 non refundable deposit before pulling out at the last second, the figures didnt add up, after van lease, franchise fees and then products and running costs. Like you said, it meant doing an unfeasable amount of work per week, which clearly is not efficient nor economical, not least physically. And they fact they basically "we own you, your customers e.t.c., and you had a territory you couldn't work out of) Thats why I decided to see how it would go see how it'd be self-employed, harder, yes, but more freedom and a lot more scope in the long run.
I understand what you mean about the starting up costs but I'm getting a sublime deal on the nearly new VW, through a contact and to be honest, it's an asset and sure it will depreciate but at least if all goes tit's up it can be sold. I guess there are people who would and people who wouldnt pay £20 for their car cleaned. I'm probably have a different perspective on this due to my obviously regionalized research, which is around Newbury. Right on the money rich, time poor M4 corridor, so I suppose thats a huge plus from my point of view.
Look at the franchises doing this kind of thing. If there is tons of good quality business going around why would they want to franchise?I understand what you mean about the starting up costs but I'm getting a sublime deal on the nearly new VW, through a contact and to be honest, it's an asset and sure it will depreciate but at least if all goes tit's up it can be sold. I guess there are people who would and people who wouldnt pay £20 for their car cleaned. I'm probably have a different perspective on this due to my obviously regionalized research, which is around Newbury. Right on the money rich, time poor M4 corridor, so I suppose thats a huge plus from my point of view.
They could get their own vans and equipment, and just get an employee to go around for them, pay them £17k or whatever, and keep ALL the profit?
The answer is is that the franchise is no risk for them - as they cannot guarantee the business - if they could, they would take on employees.
As others have said, at the bottom end of the scale, you are working against companies employing immigrant labour on minimum wage. You can offer the same, but the minimum wage will just about cover your outgoings. You need to offer to the other end of the scale - Porsche, top end Mercs, Ferraris, etc. They are more discriminating against trusting the bottom end of the market on their P&J.
Don't just do a wash and vac, as you will never be able to retire. Even if you can get £20 from a Fezza owner who doesnt mind paying over the odds, they wont want that every week. Maybe once a month. So, once you have paid for petrol and your van contract, just to take home a grand a month, you are going to have to be doing 70 of them a month. That means finding 70 people who will pay £20 for a wash.
Its a tough ask mate, you need to get at least enough secured business before you enter the contract for the van to at least cover that cost before taking the plunge, as in all honesty in the current economic climate, if a Fezza owner is a bit short on cash, rather than sell up, they will just cut back on the 'non-essentials'...
Food for thought indeed and I really appreciate it. You make some good points, though maybe a bit "glass half empty" but probably pretty realistic. To be honest though, I'm not looking to make millions doing this. Yeah, I want to earn more than your average immigrant and I need to earn a living e.t.c. But do you not think there's any point chasing such a business? I know the hardest part will be competition but like it's been said, my ideal target is high end, people who WOULDN'T go to the immigrants for a wash'n'scratch. Finding them might be a challenge to start out, but isn't that the case with any start up?
I am a professional detailer and I think the one bit of advice that I could give to you is that if you want people to pay £100+ for your services then your work has to be absolutely spot on.
I wish you a lot of luck but it's damn hard work, I spend a full day detailing and then come home and spend at least 4 hours replying to emails and working on other aspects of the business. It's long long hours if you want to succeed and you have to know your stuff.
Roy
I wish you a lot of luck but it's damn hard work, I spend a full day detailing and then come home and spend at least 4 hours replying to emails and working on other aspects of the business. It's long long hours if you want to succeed and you have to know your stuff.
Roy
i would say, dont fall in love with the idea mate, it will cost you.
how about, how many kosovan tescos and homebase types are there around you? for £6 and they call you boss, get it clean in 5 minutes on a week day, i would choose that over waiting in for someone to do it on my drive, or book it for a day thats raining, or if i have a 200 mile journey the next day. not gunna happen, let alone pay £20.
As for scratches, swirls etc, i think this is something the die hards cling onto to try to convince people that they are better. I have never had any trouble with these guys.
So......depending on the current situation where you are, why not look at setting up a static high volume type affair, pay cheap, make lots keep risk relativly low.
i saw one in a pub car park the other day. great plan!!!!
how about, how many kosovan tescos and homebase types are there around you? for £6 and they call you boss, get it clean in 5 minutes on a week day, i would choose that over waiting in for someone to do it on my drive, or book it for a day thats raining, or if i have a 200 mile journey the next day. not gunna happen, let alone pay £20.
As for scratches, swirls etc, i think this is something the die hards cling onto to try to convince people that they are better. I have never had any trouble with these guys.
So......depending on the current situation where you are, why not look at setting up a static high volume type affair, pay cheap, make lots keep risk relativly low.
i saw one in a pub car park the other day. great plan!!!!
yourlovewas said:
Food for thought indeed and I really appreciate it. You make some good points, though maybe a bit "glass half empty" but probably pretty realistic. To be honest though, I'm not looking to make millions doing this. Yeah, I want to earn more than your average immigrant and I need to earn a living e.t.c. But do you not think there's any point chasing such a business? I know the hardest part will be competition but like it's been said, my ideal target is high end, people who WOULDN'T go to the immigrants for a wash'n'scratch. Finding them might be a challenge to start out, but isn't that the case with any start up?
Yes and no. When you research whether a start up is viable you need to look at the big picture.For example, if I came to you and told you I want to start up a fast food chain, that would specialise in burgers, and call myself McJustin's what would you tell me?
That there is already people out there that will be able to do it a lot cheaper than me, McDonalds, Burger King, and I am going to have to fight each and every person from McDonalds. People always go to these places, and they don't know me. I am never going to be able to sell cheaper than them, so I will be fighting a losing battle from the start.
Thats my feelings with this. Call it gut/reaction and experience with start-ups.
Your option is to aim at the high end - however to a certain extent there are already experienced specialists out there with a Zymol franchise or something like that.
I am not saying it will be impossible, however with a nice van and spending a bit on marketing you need to be prepared for the fact that you might not make more than five grand a year from this, and the market may never grow. Worse than that, it may be less.
Again, not saying it is impossible, but you have chosen something difficult to achieve. As I mentioned, about one in three businesses last two years. Starting something which is very difficult to achieve in the first place is starting of on the same odds, but being three-nil down before you have started.
What you need to do at this stage, before going any further is to get accurate market data. That means see how easy it is to get business. OK, a dealership has agreed to hand out leaflets in principle... thats not money in the pocket.
My advice would be to spend a few weeks, and seriously a few weeks going round your area. If someone has a flash car, ask them who washes their car, ask them what they would pay for a pro to do it, ask them if they would like their car waxed and what they would pay.
Tell them you are starting your business soon, and even get an agreement 'in principle' that you will come back and perform your services.
If from going round the area, and from the money you think you could attain it will be enough for you, by all means go for it!
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