lost confidence in detailing

Don't worry about other people.

People will say you did a great job and you wont hear from them again. People will say they will be back and you wont here from them again. I've followed up with people and gotten no response, then six months later they ask for work again.

Anyway, I moved down to MD to take a job at a shop and one of the main reasons is because I was told I would be detailing here. About a month after I started my boss cornered me and asked me how much I charge.

I responded with my rate of about $140 for the average. I also said I wanted to talk to the customer so I could see what they wanted exactly.

His response? "No ones ever paid that much for a detail, you have no idea how to run a business." He laughed in my face and walked away.

Fast forward to about 3 weeks ago, I approached him with a sound business plan. He looked at it, said he would consider it and then did not get back to me. He finally had a meeting with me and told me that I was suppose to do this in March. I was shocked because when he approached me in March he literally laughed in my face.

He asked me to clean a car he bought to flip. He asked me to (I still have the note) wash the exterior, clean the wheels, wipe the glass and vacuum the interior. This car sat in a barn and needed a lot of work...not an hour that he asked me to spend on it. There was also some duct tape that had dried and etched itself into the paint, which I removed and did a little hand polish. I told him it needed to be machine polished his response? "go get me goof of and Ill have it off in 5 minutes." I said okay and he responded with "well I dont have time to show you how to do your job. If you cant even do this job how can you expect to do high end? I don't know what I am going to do with you, I am disappointed."

He bitched at me for 20 minutes about how I didn't do what he asked, all of which I did.

So last Thursday was my last day and I am going to follow my dreams of doing this myself.


Point is, a lot worse could happen. I moved 2 hours away, I have no friends here, luckily I met a girl who is supportive or else I would be back home with my mom. If this stuff gets you down, you are going to be in trouble, just fight on!
 
Im going to shorten mine ALOT. lol

1989 the year I signed up for the Marines. My boss at the time at Western Auto Parts heard I signed up and made a point to come out and laugh at me and say "With that bird chest you have, you will never make it in the USMC" AND to top it all off he was a fat a$$. That stayed with me the WHOLE 5 years I was in the Marines. It was a big driving force for me to make it through boot camp.

I never saw him again and that doesnt even matter I MADE IT THROUGH and he was WRONG!!!! And to top that off I was even airborne and in a special operations unit the whole time!

Prove all of those people wrong.
 
So what if a customer didn't come back? A few of mine come back for a "refresher" every few months but that's it. Unless they screw the paint up again there's really no reason for them to. As far as the pollen goes get used to it :)
 
detailerroad27 said:
Sorry for coming back to post. goodbye.
Click to expand...
C'mon ol' Buddy...

Everyone has had their share of ups & downs;
successes as well as failures.

Why just the other day I was going to commit suicide...
but I must not have been serious:
Because I brought a beach towel.

Bob
 
Andrew@ToyMotorsports said:
I can't really emphasize more than has already been said. We all have our bad days right? Sometimes we just need to vent but I think you are going about it all wrong. Much like Brondon said you are venting to guys who have not only had struggles in business but in some cases life itself.

The grippe that you have sounds to me like you've never been challenged in life. Don't take that personal because none of us here even know who you are or what you have been through. Being successful is all about making mistakes and learning from them. We live and learn as the saying goes.

Meet your challenges head on brother don't get discouraged and give up at the first sign of distress. Cleaning one persons car doesn't mean the whole world is going to show up at your doorstep. You have to go out to everyone's door step and let them know you exist and why they should be going to you for your services. You're going to get rejected (you could fill out a hurt feelings report later) I'm just being honest. If you can't accept rejection running a business is not for you.

Like I said nobody is here to hurt you're feelings buddy it's just experience in life and in business talking. Instead of getting down about it take what we tell you and learn from it. You have to roll with the punches.

I'll leave you with this.

"Quitters never win, and winners never quit."
Click to expand...

Great Post.

My dad used to tell me that all the time growing up.
 
dcjredline said:
Im going to shorten mine ALOT. lol

1989 the year I signed up for the Marines. My boss at the time at Western Auto Parts heard I signed up and made a point to come out and laugh at me and say "With that bird chest you have, you will never make it in the USMC" AND to top it all off he was a fat a$$. That stayed with me the WHOLE 5 years I was in the Marines. It was a big driving force for me to make it through boot camp.

I never saw him again and that doesnt even matter I MADE IT THROUGH and he was WRONG!!!! And to top that off I was even airborne and in a special operations unit the whole time!

Prove all of those people wrong.
Click to expand...

Semper Fi Hoorah!
 
Sorry bring back the old post, I keep this quote with me everyday and all i can do is pasting this to you.

"Young man, why would I feel like a failure? And why would I ever give up? I now know definitively over 9,000 ways that an electric light bulb will not work. Success is almost in my grasp."

And shortly after that, and over 10,000 attempts, Edison invented the light bulb. Yes, 10,000 attempts you heard the wise man said. Now be honest with yourself. In your life time, how many things and times did you quit before you even try harder?

That's all am going to say :)
 
Edits.. Quick check of his profile "detailerroad27" Last Activity: 08-19-2014 12:32 PM
you're not a quitter after all :) I'm glad you're still around. All you have to do is face your fear, fear being failure and many other fears. You own yourself an apologize, you have to apologize to yourself for feeling like you had to in the first place.
 
I hope i dont get flamed for posting here again. I want to say im sorry bout this thread. I do have confidence issues that lead me to get discouraged easy and outside influences that made me give up. Ive gotten therapy for that and still am.

I love detailing i posted this out of frustration. And regretted it. Ironic ly after posting this that customer called back ha. Ive missed the forum cos i learn so much. Im sure yall wont take me seriously again but ide like to come back and learn. I will be detailing either way
 
KevinDetailing said:
Edits.. Quick check of his profile "detailerroad27" Last Activity: 08-19-2014 12:32 PM
you're not a quitter after all :) I'm glad you're still around. All you have to do is face your fear, fear being failure and many other fears. You own yourself an apologize, you have to apologize to yourself for feeling like you had to in the first place.
Click to expand...

Thank you
 
detailerroad27 said:
I hope i dont get flamed for posting here again. I want to say im sorry bout this thread. I do have confidence issues that lead me to get discouraged easy and outside influences that made me give up. Ive gotten therapy for that and still am.

I love detailing i posted this out of frustration. And regretted it. Ironic ly after posting this that customer called back ha. Ive missed the forum cos i learn so much. Im sure yall wont take me seriously again but ide like to come back and learn. I will be detailing either way
Click to expand...
Welcome back! Don't worry about what other people say, be yourself and be happy! Hope everything is going good for you now my friend:)
 
The hardest part of detailing is that you are your biggest critic. But remember, a detailer's good work is most others' exceptional.
 
I thought when I became a member of autogeek that I was just going to learn some great tips on detailing. I was wrong. Most of the replies to the original post are just outstanding! I don't own my own business but just love keeping my truck and bike looking great. I learned that from my dad. I can remember scrubbing the whitewalls on his Caddy. Life is never easy and often unkind. However, you must always find a way to pick yourself up and move on. If you are truly passionate about what you are doing and don't allow yourself to be easily discouraged your chances of being ssuccessful will only be that much greater. Not only that but you will al so be able to sleep better at night knowing deep down that you did the best you could.
To all of you who have served our country, I would like to extend my deepest thanks. You are truly heroes!
 
Just remember the old saying "Quitters never win" and "Winners never quit"
 
I ran out of armour all once on a job and got frustrated and quit detailing for 2 years cause the customer was mad that his tires weren't slick enough. I ended up buying a case of it years later and am confident I can make customers happy again. My point, don't ever give up. Success is just a trip to auto zone away!
 
wrb_subie said:
I ran out of armour all once on a job and got frustrated and quit detailing for 2 years cause the customer was mad that his tires weren't slick enough. I ended up buying a case of it years later and am confident I can make customers happy again. My point, don't ever give up. Success is just a trip to auto zone away!
Click to expand...
well said sir:)
 
wrb_subie said:
I ran out of armour all once on a job and got frustrated and quit detailing for 2 years cause the customer was mad that his tires weren't slick enough. I ended up buying a case of it years later and am confident I can make customers happy again. My point, don't ever give up. Success is just a trip to auto zone away!
Click to expand...

Like this post:dblthumb2:
 
detailerroad27 said:
I hope i dont get flamed for posting here again. I want to say im sorry bout this thread. I do have confidence issues that lead me to get discouraged easy and outside influences that made me give up. Ive gotten therapy for that and still am.

I love detailing i posted this out of frustration. And regretted it. Ironic ly after posting this that customer called back ha. Ive missed the forum cos i learn so much. Im sure yall wont take me seriously again but ide like to come back and learn. I will be detailing either way
Click to expand...

If you're getting professional help with therapy, make sure you tell them your work challenges too. Tell them everything and dont hold back or they can't help you.

its a tough fight dealing with yourself and with others at the same time, good luck and keep at it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top