My Plan to open up a shop

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Detailingtime

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I am going to detail part time for 2 yrs. and save every penny to start a shop with $40,000 $15,000 money i have now then $25,000 i earn in the 2 yrs Is this enough?

...I love selling my detail services trying to get max profit and upselling...Honestly its a game to me not in a bad way but just fun....Can i get $80,$90,$100 $150-$200 per hr? Im always pushing the envelope...I hear guys say you cant do this or that... Im like really sit back and watch...Anyone here like to challenge themselves with goals ect..
 
Sure you can do anything and everything you want if you have the drive.for 40k is a lot of money to put on the line for a detailing shop.Ive been in this business for 23 years and going on 24. This is the greatest advice ,take 10k for van take another 5k for awesome tools products pressure washer tank shirts lettering maybe a little left for marketing and insurance.put the rest away,so go mobile the cheapest and fastest way to get started.work by yourself and set your hrs.
 
Have to agree that it's a big risk.

If you want a fixed location I would say you will need to have a lot of volume and employes to do multiple cars a day or it's gonna be hard to be profitable.

Think of it this way, all the expenses of the shop have to be paid first. So it your base cost is say 3,000$ per month, and you charge 50$ per hour, your first 60 hours of work (a little under 2 weeks) are gonna be used to pay for the shop.

I would rather do 3 times less business and be mobile and keep all the cash to myself than pay for overhead. But that's just me.

If you can get enough volume to have a staff then it can be more profitable than being mobile. One of the guys here went fixed location this year and seems to like it a lot.

My advice would be to only go fixed location when you are booked full time in your mobile business. Then you likely have enough clients to make it work.
 
I kinda agree can buy alot of stuff going mobile...I just dont want to work in direct sunlight period anymore....Does a canopy solve this remember im in Texas never had one?
 
Detailingtime said:
I kinda agree can buy alot of stuff going mobile...I just dont want to work in direct sunlight period anymore....Does a canopy solve this remember im in Texas never had one?
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I would get a good canopy, you'love have to weight the legs pretty good with the wind around here.
 
I'm in a similar situation. Trying to get some side work through the winter here in NJ and start something up this spring. I don't want to work in the sunlight either but mobile has a lot less overhead. Would be awesome if I had my own garage but I'm moving into a condo soon. House in a few years.
 
Location is everything. Overhead wont even phase you once you realize how much more money you'll be making with employees doing most of the labor. Unless your goal is to just have a shop for yourself to work in. In that case I'd save up that money for a down payment on a house with a nice garage.
 
FinishingTouchA said:
Location is everything. Overhead wont even phase you once you realize how much more money you'll be making with employees doing most of the labor. Unless your goal is to just have a shop for yourself to work in. In that case I'd save up that money for a down payment on a house with a nice garage.
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You just made a lot of decisions a whole lot easier.

Thank you.

A lot of friends have urged me to get a shop, but I have no desire to go that route with it. My better half has a very nice garage at her condo, and I plan on renovating mine next summer. That/this is my dream set up.
 
FTA That's what I want I'm not afraid of employees but can a shop with intense marketing Can it make money? I love sales/marketing and the challenge of building a business...FTA you have a shop?
 
I'm in the midst of doing it now...I'll tell you this, it isn't for the faint of heart. You definitely need a pair of .... to stomach the investment of capital, rent, etc. It takes $ to make $, but you must be committed to making it work and have plenty of cash because just when you think you've got everything you need, 9 other things pop up.

Best of luck to you, and here is to living out your dreams!
 
Detailingtime said:
I am going to detail part time for 2 yrs. and save every penny to start a shop with $40,000 $15,000 money i have now then $25,000 i earn in the 2 yrs Is this enough?

...I love selling my detail services trying to get max profit and upselling...Honestly its a game to me not in a bad way but just fun....Can i get $80,$90,$100 $150-$200 per hr? Im always pushing the envelope...I hear guys say you cant do this or that... Im like really sit back and watch...Anyone here like to challenge themselves with goals ect..
Click to expand...


- reputation - have a good reputation and always deliver quality
- location is the key ( by a traffic road , central location , close to a few main car dealerships)
- more space, more people - why not a helper once you see some traffic in your shop
- MARKETING - now.... here you may have to pump some money , heavy money....
- prices - adjust the prices based of the quality and service
- upsell , find anything related with detail ( tint, pdr , ppf install, touch-up paint ) and sell it in the shop
- system , build your shop on a solid system , have systems for everything ( wash , organize, billing, schedule, estimates etc) - that way will be easier to pass the knowledge to your employees and you can run the business not the floor.
- you can get as much money as you want per hour , you just have to see outside the box. upsell , and sometimes you can not charge more for an service but you can always improve your process and the working time , that way you can make more an hour.
 
dlc95 said:
You just made a lot of decisions a whole lot easier.

Thank you.

A lot of friends have urged me to get a shop, but I have no desire to go that route with it. My better half has a very nice garage at her condo, and I plan on renovating mine next summer. That/this is my dream set up.
Click to expand...
You're welcome. You've just got to do what you can with what you have then grow from there. Best of luck to you.

Detailingtime said:
FTA That's what I want I'm not afraid of employees but can a shop with intense marketing Can it make money? I love sales/marketing and the challenge of building a business...FTA you have a shop?
Click to expand...
My situation is a bit different than most. I had been doing mobile detailing part time for 2 years then after a whole winter of no detail work I found a shop in my home town (population 8k, surrounding areas 20k, no other detail shops within 12 miles) for $800 a month. I decided I was going to make it happen. I had 4k in the bank. First thing was legal stuff (insurance, sign permits, etc.) then I got a couple signs and started posting to social media. I was booked out 2 weeks before the doors even opened. After just 2 months I had to hire an employee and 2 weeks later I hired another. This summer was great, did about 60k in revenue. Still busy enough to keep each of my employees working 30+ hours a week even though its 20-30 degrees out. I give most of the credit to the location of my shop and the small town word of mouth effect. Another good chunk is how much time/money I invest in social media. Planning on launching my own line of products this spring even. You MUST set goals and create a PLAN OF ACTION.

Cosmin said:
- reputation - have a good reputation and always deliver quality
- location is the key ( by a traffic road , central location , close to a few main car dealerships)
- more space, more people - why not a helper once you see some traffic in your shop
- MARKETING - now.... here you may have to pump some money , heavy money....
- prices - adjust the prices based of the quality and service
- upsell , find anything related with detail ( tint, pdr , ppf install, touch-up paint ) and sell it in the shop
- system , build your shop on a solid system , have systems for everything ( wash , organize, billing, schedule, estimates etc) - that way will be easier to pass the knowledge to your employees and you can run the business not the floor.
- you can get as much money as you want per hour , you just have to see outside the box. upsell , and sometimes you can not charge more for an service but you can always improve your process and the working time , that way you can make more an hour.
Click to expand...
:iagree::props:
 
Boejoula said:
I'm in a similar situation. Trying to get some side work through the winter here in NJ and start something up this spring. I don't want to work in the sunlight either but mobile has a lot less overhead. Would be awesome if I had my own garage but I'm moving into a condo soon. House in a few years.
Click to expand...

Ny nj will be really tough to do mobile,as I'm sitting here warm in my sisters house at 9:00 am it's 32 degrees outside,and besides all the bad weather here through out the year excluding summer which is only 3 months you wouldn't make any money and lots of aggravation.you would have to rely on dealers and fleet washing .
 
DaveT435 said:
I would get a good canopy, you'love have to weight the legs pretty good with the wind around here.
Click to expand...
The promblem with the canopy is that for a 30 dollar wash job if you do them,a canopy will be a pita to set up and breakdown.maybe more suitable for a full day job.
 
No wash jobs here....Unless they pay $55 to wash kinda keeps tire kickers away lol.... Has to be 2 or more also
 
medicscott said:
I'm in the midst of doing it now...I'll tell you this, it isn't for the faint of heart. You definitely need a pair of .... to stomach the investment of capital, rent, etc. It takes $ to make $, but you must be committed to making it work and have plenty of cash because just when you think you've got everything you need, 9 other things pop up.

Best of luck to you, and here is to living out your dreams!
Click to expand...

This is true!

I owned and operated a drive through tunnel wash the winter of 2014. I had 18 years experience in that industry, knew all the right contacts, had a good amount of money, etc, etc - but wasn't anywhere near prepared for the worst winter to hit southeastern lower Michigan in 100 years, which inevitably put me out of business. The days that I'd be able to open, the brushes would freeze as soon as the doors would open to let a car in or out!

My mentor told me that if it had been any year prior, we'd be discussing the best way for me to direct the company, and what to do with my money. Instead of returning to work for him....
 
Advice: When your book of business is too big for your space and you are actually turning away jobs then it may be time to raise prices to curb demand. When your demand becomes too big again then I would look into a shop. Make sure you have a solid 6 months in cash reserves to keep yourself a float when you are not as busy. Do you best to avoid debt and avoid a partnership.

Good luck!
 
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