Fresh face, NEW VAN and fun mobile retrofit to start up my NEW old passion as a Mobile Business

This post shows my 2 canopy frames stood up mounted in the rear right of my van....that will be the fixed permanent spot for them. I can remove them if I'd like but the entire purpose of my van's setup is to be the WHOLE GARAGE on wheels essentially.... and the one reason why I have decided to make it an ENTIRE garage on wheels was due to one of my first details when I got this Van..... it was a mess, it was so unorganized and I was so flustered! I told myself after that detail i was going to make this one very organized van.... so I am still currently following the path to neatness. The last picture in this post shows you a shot from my first detail and how much of a mess I was. :b. A big van that isn't setup right or well is still just a van with hauling space.. It did NOT make me organized.

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***the canopies are both identical 10x15 recommended to me by superiorshine!

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So in this post you can see I have some ongoing work in the rear of the Van. I found a shelf.... i spruced up the shelf a little bit... That is where I will keep all of my 1 gallon (refills) aside from that I will have all of my 32 oz bottles stored somewhere else. That shelf is currently getting fixed mounted... AS WELL as the top of the water tank is getting a make over in order to store 4 x 27 gallon containers... I put canopy tops inside 2 of them. Also just to the left of the pressure washer hose / reel.... i am having a heavy duty 75 foot extention cord reel / cord mounted. AND on the entire left wall of the van I am having a 10' x 4' sheet of Diamond Plate installed so I can mount a lot of my gear on the wall. Super stoked to get the van back...

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Looking good. We bought two of those canopies you've got. Best purchase I've made. It was unseasonably warm today. 101 when we packed it up at 2:30. The shade made it bearable.
 
sudsmobile said:
Looking good. We bought two of those canopies you've got. Best purchase I've made. It was unseasonably warm today. 101 when we packed it up at 2:30. The shade made it bearable.
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Thanks Sudsmobile!! Glad to hear your guys canopies came to good use yesterday in the HEAT! So you guys bought two of the California Palms canopies there in Ontario? If you don't mind me asking what made you want to buy two of these? The reason I went this route was following Superior Shines recommendations when it comes to canopies. Did you guys get the weighted bags as well? If so what are you planning on using for weight? Are you a two man team? Thanks and glad you love your canopies too!
 
I got some more work done on my van and this is what it looks like right now.... super stoked to start hanging items (polishers etc..) on the diamond plate wall!
I got a custom rack welded to the water tank rack.... it holds 4 totes up top and has hooks for tie down purposes... I also installed my 75' extension cord reel... got my quick connect all hooked up ready to foam.... I'm about ready to roll!!!


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Man really solid setup you have put together there. I hope you absolutely crush it out there!

I am building a mobile trailer and definitely have some inspiration from this setup.

What do you use your air compressor for?
 
time for a youtube video upgrade, lol did not know you were a geek, lol autogeek member, 1st saw your van on youtube. hope you post update video very soon Josher.
 
Hey fella's I actually did post another Van update on YouTube last night..... YouTube (SORRY I DON'T KNOW IF POSTING THE LINK IS OK OR NOT?) if the link doesn't show up just type in 'mobile detail sprinter' on youtube it's like a 26 minute video lol....so excuse that and also it's like my first video ever really talking to a camera much. Thanks guys
 
Very cool video, Josh.

Love the set-up. Good luck with it, man!
 
sudsmobile said:
Are you actually out doing jobs and making money yet?
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lol.... very late reply but yes I am.... It wasn't and still isn't 'open for business' and all come running. I am realizing there is a lot of other work that goes into starting up a business... also I am trying to figure out how to get a car wash in a fair amount of time.. I usually like to do a superb car wash BUT most people only want to pay like $20-25 dollars for a wash. How long do you take on a wash and are you a 2 man crew? I am flying SOLO for now.... I just did my lady friends car yesterday and timed myself.... I cleaned rims / tires.. pre pressure washed all loose dirt off... foamed the car... washed it, 80% dried it... dried all door jambs.. vacuumed entire inside.. anyway it took me like 52 minutes to complete... and that isn't even how I like to deliver a car to a customer... I want it WATER free completely... I could have spent more time on it but my goal was QUICK... UGH any advice?
 
Here's my advice. Charge more. Seriously, no, you can't do a good job and do it any quicker than an hour. I did a wash only yesterday on a car I detailed about two months ago. By myself. It still took me 1:02. I do a good job, it's the only job I can do. With tip I made $57 on that job. Luckily, I was coming from a job where I made a couple hundred. That's another thing I'm talking about, I did that wash on my way home from making real money. I never go out to do a wash.
 
JustJesus said:
What type of job? And how long did that one take?
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Regular customer. Wash and wax on one and wash on the other. We charge the wash and wax price on the other (in lieu of an additional pet hair charge) because they're dog trainers and it usually involves a little more vacuuming although surprisingly not as much as you'd think for dog trainers that use their vehicles to transport dogs. It took me 3.5 hours alone and they pay me $225 with tip. Except for having dog hair in them, the vehicles are meticulously clean. I love doing that job because they have a huge metal building that I use, I only pull out the vehicles to wash them and then I put them right back inside.
 
josher said:
lol.... very late reply but yes I am.... It wasn't and still isn't 'open for business' and all come running. I am realizing there is a lot of other work that goes into starting up a business... also I am trying to figure out how to get a car wash in a fair amount of time.. I usually like to do a superb car wash BUT most people only want to pay like $20-25 dollars for a wash. How long do you take on a wash and are you a 2 man crew? I am flying SOLO for now.... I just did my lady friends car yesterday and timed myself.... I cleaned rims / tires.. pre pressure washed all loose dirt off... foamed the car... washed it, 80% dried it... dried all door jambs.. vacuumed entire inside.. anyway it took me like 52 minutes to complete... and that isn't even how I like to deliver a car to a customer... I want it WATER free completely... I could have spent more time on it but my goal was QUICK... UGH any advice?
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I don't offer detailing at my car washes but as a long time business owner I'll tell you that you quickly need to figure out the math or you're ultimately fail. Time is money. You'll get a little faster but no so fast that $25 for a basic wash and vac is going to be anywhere near a decent living. By the time you add in travel time and expenses you're netting half that or less per hour. Some enthusiasts will counter with "I'd rather do this for 12.50 an hour than work in a C-store (or whatever sucky job you can think of)". You'll eventually tire of the business and if you aren't making enough money to stay excited about going to work every day you'll drift off into other things. Do what you have to do price wise in the beginning to gain experience and stay "busy enough", but you probably need to figure close to $50 per contact hour or even more if you hope to make a living as a self employed person.

On youtube, a guy has a channel called detail groove. He's relatively new to the business but makes it work. He talks about pricing philosophy, marketing and SEO. He's a pretty sharp guy. Yeah, he's trying to get you to sign up for his courses for $199 but he still gives lots of great free information in that arena. Check it out when you have time.

Oh, btw, beautiful rig!
 
Just out of curiosity, why aren't you "fully open for business" yet? Do you have another job that you're working while trying to do this? I remember both of us setting up our rigs at about the same time. Next to you, I feel like I totally kludged my setup together, but I feel like I've been in business for 10 years already. LOL
 
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