Conrad

iTrader: (20)

I am 17 and love to clean and detail cars...I had a few questions and I figured this was the best place to ask. I'd love to be self employed and work at home (or travel). Maybe you guys could help and post why I should or shouldn't approach this path (positives, negatives); how hard it was to start making a decent living (ie. based on years of experience and customer's look on that), how much you currently net a year; cars detailed a week, how much it costs you to detail a car vs how much you charge the customer, ETC..

And did you take college classes for this or learn on your own?

Looking for any and all feedback...PM if you want.

Thanks everyone.

-Conrad

6898camaross

You need to talk to gofast908z his work is amazing he could probaly answer a few questions for you

BOBS99SS

iTrader: (2)

i have worked for my self for the past 8 years, the one thing i will say about working for your self is you have to want it. if your lazy you will fail,if you sit back and think work will find you it wont lol. if i was in your place i would go get a job at the best detailing place in your area, why pay for classes when someone can train you and you will get paid for it. now a good detailing place will be hard to find,because 90% of them suck at what they do.i agree that you should talk to gofast , he will be the most help on this topic. good luck man

Bramlok

iTrader: (7)

I love to clean, detail, wax my own cars. Not sure I love it enough to want to do for a living.

I knew a guy that worked as a professional detailer for a detail shop. I last spoke to him a couple years back. At the time he had been professionally detailing cars for about 6 years. Made decent money. Good but not great. He told me how much he hated it and wished he did something else. I guess the same can be said for any job though. I know detailing is a physically hard job.

What's the old saying. "love what you do and never work a day in your life"

That is until you get sick of what you do....

lemons12

iTrader: (71)

Physically hard job? It's not an office job but I wouldn't call it physically hard.

I would jump on autopia and ask this there since that is the largest detailing forum. imo... you can't move up too much. if in 5 years you are making 30k a year, in 10 years you might be making 45k. Seems very hard to move up. it would be nice to do for maybe 5-7 years and then sell your business when you find a good solid job with insurance for you and your family.

Bramlok

iTrader: (7)

For a GOOD detailer, yes it's physically demanding. Try being bent over a low sitting car like a Vette for 8 hours everyday running a buffer, and tell me when you're done it was easy. No it's not like busting concrete but it's far from easy.

The guy I knew was always complaining how much his back hurt, his knees hurt, his fingers and hands were always sore, the skin on his fingers were dry and raw. It sounded to me like it took it's toll. Maybe that's why he said he hated it.

Island Grown

iTrader: (6)

Go to school. At least then you would have something to fall back on later should you decide to change careers.

Trendkiller Z

I just started detailing as a side job to put some money back for my newborn. I'm not sure what crack the dude above is on saying it's not physically demanding. Anyway, the problem with detailing vehicles is there is only so much you can do alone. If you intend on making a great living doing it, either you really need to be a bad *** and charge a very high rate or you will need to open a detail shop with workers that you trust to do a good job. I don't suggest trusting anyone but yourself with paint correction unless you really trust them and their work. However, having guys to wash the car, detail the interior, dress tires, etc would be a good route. Since you are 17, now would be a great time to start your business. Print some business cards and put them on any high end cars you see around town, advertise your services on websites, etc. By the time you REALLY need to question your career path you'll know whether this one is viable or not. If it's what you want to do though, go for it but like the above guy said, you can't be lazy when you do your own thing. You'll need to market your business, do the work, and keep up with the financials which also will make for less detailing time. Good luck!

Conrad

iTrader: (20)

Thanks everyone, appreciate the comments.

I'm not planning on starting to detail cars now, this will be later, at least after 2 years of college (core classes). It is very important to me to go to school for something to fall back on. I am positive that working for myself would make me the happiest, I've considered entrepreuership but have no idea what that thing would be. I know it could be physically challenging but I wouldn't mind it if I didn't have to work every day of the week.

And yes I've seen gofast's work, it is amazing. Figured he would have already posted in here haha.

6898camaross

Detailing is extremely physical IMO I worked for enterprise rent a car cleaning their cars (I know it's not exactly professional detailing but had to clean them really well) I worked from 7:30-6:00 m-f and every other Saturday and I was always tired and sore and hurting all the time I'd clean 30-40 cars a day it was rough

Conrad

iTrader: (20)

Lol 30-40 cars a day?

GoFast908Z

iTrader: (12)

I'm on vacation right now (explanation for my late arrival lol).
Thanks for the referrals and the kinds words guys!


Ok, I must stop myself from writing a book on this. Or maybe I shouldn't....I could go on Oprah and make millions of....ok getting sidetracked.

So how do I compile 10 years of doing this into a single post? Ok, lets do bullet points.






*Anything new you want to try, better be used on your own car till you're comfortable with it.

*You will have to earn the majority of your initial customers by undercutting the price of everyone around you. 2 downsides to this.... 1) those bargain shoppers will not appreciate your work like you'd like them to. 2) the other guys you're undercutting won't like it and you may have to deal with them.

*The pricing at the above point will suck, and you'll want to move up from it as quickly as possible. Some customers at rock-bottom prices will demand the world from you while being a jerk at the same time.

*It will be a while before you make any real money. The instant benefit is making your own schedule and having LOTS of time off while you're buddies are working.

*Can you afford insurance? If you can't, then you shouldn't be working on someone else's car unless you have the liquid cash to cover the most crazy unexpected catastrophic loss of their car (like you accidentally set it on fire).

*You'll need to invest in a MINIMUM of $1k of supplies to have anything decent. And really that's leaving ENORMOUS gaps in your arsenal. $4-5k would be a good starting point really.

*You're cost per car should be very low. If you're product expenses exceed 30% of what you're been paid, you're gonna go downhill fast. Learn to to get it under 10%.

*Most detail classes are a waste of time/money. Practice, read, read, read, practice, read x10, practice, read x20, etc. Find the detail forums and soak up everything you can. You could spend a solid year reading posts on Autopia and BARELY scratch the surface.

*Learn to find each customer's ONE irritating thing about their car. It isn't the big scratch on the hood.... its the one pea-sized soil spot on the sun visor, or the salt they can't get out of the ash tray, or the dirt in the key hole. EVERYONE has at least one thing that they see daily that drives them nuts but they forget it after getting out of the car. They won't think of it if you ask them most times. So you have to learn to have an eye to FIND that stuff, fix it, and it blows their minds. After that, nobody touches that car but you!!!! But, be forewarned.... don't make them that happy once, and cut corners the next time. You will be burned quick.

*You need to be prepared to take every car that comes to you until you're so busy you have to turn them away. This is no 40/hr a week job. Starting a business is part of your life, its 24hr/day. May sound dramatic....but its true.

*Say goodbye to 8 hour days lol. Be prepared for 10-14 hr days if thats what the car needs to make your customer happy.

*Learn (QUICKLY) what your time is worth to you, and charge what you are happy with. Nothing will kill your love of a job faster than felling like you're getting paid in peanuts.

*Last and most important. You have to LOVE detailing, ALL THE TIME. Those people are rare. A lot of people like to detail, its fun, rewarding, and can be therapeutic. Then again, Xbox can be too, but even I don't want to play it for 10-14 hours every day. You've GOTTA love it!




Oh and one last thought.... you better have or get a girlfriend who understands the time commitment required to start and build, and keep successful, a new business. Little petty fights over stuff like that can not eat into the time you're working, or having an issue on the phone while at a clients house. Very unprofessional.

Gipraw

iTrader: (10)

LOL. It was 104 degrees in my shop today with the Porta-Cool running, and I spent 9 hours there working on a black excursion that had never had any correction. I had days working construction where it was easier than what I did today.


Conrad - GoFast made some good points. I would add a few things.

- If at all possible, find someone to teach you how to do this, and use their equipment and clients. You will learn a lot quicker somewhere that has good client flow and learning from someone that knows what they are doing.

- Don't try and learn from someone that doesn't know what they are doing. Most (not all) high volumes shops don't turn out high enough quality.

- It is very difficult to make any kind of a living doing this without high end clients. It is impossible to get and keep high end clients without being very good at this.

- Don't try to learn how to use every product. Start out with few high quality products and learn them inside out.

- Learn how to effectively price your services. Over charging is bad, but under charging is sometimes worse.

- Never cut corners. One bad job is too many.

- Be professional. Keep appointments. Be punctual.

Conrad

iTrader: (20)

Maybe I can do this as a side job instead. Hah. Honestly sounds like it could get overwhelming. Thank you both for the great pointers.

GoFast908Z

iTrader: (12)

^well said.

GoFast908Z

iTrader: (12)

Thats the just the tip of the iceberg.

I wasn't entirely kidding about being able to write a book on this.


If you do it on the side, still get the insurance. You really can't afford NOT to. And its not that expensive.

Gipraw

iTrader: (10)

That is a perfect way to start. Find a buddy that is doing it, or find a guy on one the forums that does it professionally that would be willing to show you for some free help.

Conrad

iTrader: (20)

Do you pay the insurance per customer car or full time? How does that work, is it like a contract between you and the customer? Is the insurance so you have no liability if something happens even if it is your fault? Have you guys ever f***ed up someone's car?

GoFast908Z

iTrader: (12)

Insurance is through an insurance agent. Just like your car insurance. Doesn't involve the customer or how many cars you do or how often. An agent can explain it all to you. What you'll want is Garage Keepers and Garage Liability.

Yes its to cover you if you damage a customer car. Insurance pays out to repair/replace and you pay the deductible.

I've never had to make a claim before. But theoretically I could accidentally burn 2 Bugatti Veyrons to the ground and I'm covered.

BobDoLe

iTrader: (11)

sounds like you want to run your own business and you like detailing.... so i would recommend busting your *** in school, getting into a great college while aiming for a business degree.

on the side, detail cars. build up a portfolio, get referrals. post up pictures of your work.

later on, who knows what is possible... you could attempt a small business and fail horribly, or you could start something that can really take off like a jiffy lube style *high quality* detailing chain and make billions.