How to Start A Car Detailing Business |
Posted: November 29, 2017 |
Starting a car detailing business is a great way for people who love cars to create their own business, and the wash and detailing industry is a massive business at more than $10 billion in annual revenue. Detailing is a subset of that revenue, but what’s most important is that it’s far less reliant on volume and much more focused on cleaning higher value cars carefully, a business that is far more lucrative per hour spent and a business that’s much easier for a sole proprietor to handle on their own (at least at the beginning). Not only is detailing a great business in terms of revenue per hour spent at work, but it also benefits from the fact that the cost to start up the business itself is relatively limited. If starting a detailing business is something that you’ve thought about doing lately, then take a look at our detailed guide to learn how to get started the right way. PreparationThe most important thing that you can do before starting a car detailing business is to have the right mindset in place. A car detailing business is about much more than cleaning cars – that’s the realm of general car washing. Detailing a car still involves washing the car on some level, but where detailing sets itself apart is that it focuses on the details. Features like waxing and polishing, available on some car washes, are all included in the detail. Additionally, detailed cleaning of the interior and exterior of the car, using vehicle appropriate cleaning solutions and equipment, is expected. Even if you have an understanding of how to detail your car, it’s important that you get the right tools and cleaning products for most cars that you’ll be working on. This means diving deep into the world of equipment reserved only for professional auto detailers, including a range of brushes, cleaning and polishing solutions, cloths, and other products that you’ll need to clean the wide range of materials and surfaces that you’ll come across. Additionally, you’ll want to plan the different aspects of your detailing business as much as possible before you start taking on business. For example, are you going to provide detailing service at your home, at your customer’s home, for corporate clients like car dealerships, or all of the above? This type of planning will be extremely important further down the line as you figure out what your service offering will look like. ExperienceDetailing is a great business to start because it doesn’t require that you go get a degree or any set experience before starting the business, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have an idea of how to detail a car before you start working with clients. One of the best ways to get started in the business is with your own car and with your friends or family’s cars. These cars are readily available to practice on and will give you an easy template to practice on as you build out your broader business plan. Practice is especially important if you are planning on attacking the lucrative luxury car detailing market. While any car can be detailed, and most should on a regular basis, luxury car owners generally expect a far higher level of service than run-of-the-mill customers. Their cars often have slightly more upscale interiors as well, which may require different cleaning tools and products to clean properly. The last thing that you want is to destroy the interior of a customer’s car because you didn’t realize what cleaning product to use on a specific type of leather. That can kill your detailing business before it even begins. Building Your BusinessWhile it’s relatively easy for almost anyone to start a detailing business, one of the key ways that your detailing business will continue to grow is by establishing trust with your client base and in your area of operation. Trust is a fickle thing in any business, but particularly in auto detailing, as it can take a long time to establish but just minutes to destroy by messing up on a clients’ car. The most important thing that you can do is to take your time and get a keen understanding for what it takes to properly detail a car. Once you are extremely confident in your skills, and you’ve gotten at least a few practice cars under your belt, building your business is about getting out there and detailing cars until you build up a solid client base and have word of mouth referrals coming through the door. While it may feel like that’s a long way off at this point, with proper preparation and education, building a thriving detailing business may be able to be done faster than you ever thought possible.
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