My journey in starting a detailing business

Vanquish Auto said:
Suds I love the fact that you have your son working with you. That’ll be a good bonding experience that he will always remember. Plus it will instill a good work ethic in him. I think you would be alright on your own for that long. If not you could always try to find someone part time.
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I work alone a lot. He was in school two days a week until June and then he went on vacation for 10 days a couple weeks ago. I gave him the day off today and went and did almost $500 by myself. He starts complaining if he works too many days in a row. :D
 
The time you do get to spend with him at work is a good thing. A lot of fathers work all day and are too tired to really spend any quality time with their kids. Good deal. I think you’ll be alright on your own then.
Ha. That’s with any kids these days. At least you can get him off of a video game long enough to do some work with you.
 
Vanquish Auto said:
The time you do get to spend with him at work is a good thing. A lot of fathers work all day and are too tired to really spend any quality time with their kids. Good deal. I think you’ll be alright on your own then.
Ha. That’s with any kids these days. At least you can get him off of a video game long enough to do some work with you.
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Yeah, the video games are an issue. Plus, he lives at home and it's basically shangra la here. So, I'll say "Hey, we going to make $xxxx this week! You can have a really good paycheck." (He gets half of gross minus expenses). He'll go "Well, I don't really need to make that much. I don't have any expenses." LOL

But, when he works, he works hard. He's not the fastest, but he does a good job.
 
LOL. It’s a problem with a lot of kids these days. As long as he has enough to get by. It sounds like he’s good if has little spending money.
That’s good he’s a hard worker. That’s a rare thing these days. Very rare in today’s youth.
 
Vanquish Auto said:
LOL. It’s a problem with a lot of kids these days. As long as he has enough to get by. It sounds like he’s good if has little spending money.
That’s good he’s a hard worker. That’s a rare thing these days. Very rare in today’s youth.
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He's getting like $500-700 weekly checks. He puts it all in a brokerage account except a little money to pay his CC. He's the oldest 18 year old on the planet. LOL
 
It sounds like you’ve raised a smart kid. Not too many adults have that responsibility with their money these days. Much less kids. It sounds like he’s on the right track.
 
sudsmobile said:
He's getting like $500-700 weekly checks. He puts it all in a brokerage account except a little money to pay his CC. He's the oldest 18 year old on the planet. LOL
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At 18, I was already living in my own apartment for over a year.

Sadly, that is completely unattainable for almost any 18 year old today. Especially in SoCal, or here on LI.

Sad.
 
PaulMys said:
At 18, I was already living in my own apartment for over a year.

Sadly, that is completely unattainable for almost any 18 year old today. Especially in SoCal, or here on LI.

Sad.
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Same with me. The day I turned 18 I got an appartment. Been working since I was 8 years old (paper boy then doing delivery for a conveniance store then upgraded to working at a gas station at 16. ;)

These days, kids stay at their parents homes until they are 35 LOL. Different times for sure.
 
PaulMys said:
At 18, I was already living in my own apartment for over a year.

Sadly, that is completely unattainable for almost any 18 year old today. Especially in SoCal, or here on LI.

Sad.
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My son just went on vacation and he stopped in SF to visit his friend from high school that is in college up there. He shares an apartment with 3 other people. His rent is $850/month. It's not a super nice place either.
 
Great story

Thanks for sharing it.

Similar here..

I've been detailing for 30 years both part time and full time.

Going back 6 years..

I was the Dir. Of Engineering for a large company but detailed every single weekend so no days off but for me it was theripy detailing after such a mind blowing week.

Then one day (6 years ago) we were bought out and out the door I went.

It was a blessing really because now I run one of the largest shops here in Louisiana.

Beautiful large shop
Staff of 4


I had offers to do what I did but told myself detailing is what I love.

Take Care

Sent from my SM-G965U using Autogeekonline mobile app
 
HateSwirls said:
Great story

Thanks for sharing it.

Similar here..

I've been detailing for 30 years both part time and full time.

Going back 6 years..

I was the Dir. Of Engineering for a large company but detailed every single weekend so no days off but for me it was theripy detailing after such a mind blowing week.

Then one day (6 years ago) we were bought out and out the door I went.

It was a blessing really because now I run one of the largest shops here in Louisiana.

Beautiful large shop
Staff of 4


I had offers to do what I did but told myself detailing is what I love.

Take Care

Sent from my SM-G965U using Autogeekonline mobile app
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That is a great story Kevin. You are doing what you love and loving what you do. You are still director of engineering along with marketing manager, shop foreman, purchasing manager, estimator............
 
I saw this and thought I would add my .02.

I've always been a car guy. Started "detailing" my own cars. It became therapy after helping out with my share of the Global War on Terrorism. In 2014 I decided to call it quits and finally retire after 21+ years in the Army. My heart just wasn't in it anymore. I had about a year before I finally retired in preparation. I worked about 2 days per month so the rest of the time was mine to take car of me and relearn how to civilian. I happened to live in Europe at the time and military service members have to ensure their vehicle passes the US Customs inspection for import back into the US. I spent most of my time providing detailing packages that went along those lines. In over a year I never had one customer that failed a U.S. Customs inspection. They even check for foreign particles on the frame rails in the engine bay. One stray animal hair will get you another appointment. Word spread fast because I did a good job and folks could pay in dollars instead of Euros. I did so well that I had the local "detail" shop off base file multiple complaints about me because they were losing so much business, I did this part time.

When I finally retired and moved back to the US in 2015 I went back and forth on how to move forward with detailing business aspirations. I finally bit the bullet and started making things happen like forming my LLC, buying some good tools and products, and detailing cars for friends and relatives. I had a few full time jobs along the way that stalled me out a bit on this journey but now I have enough spare time to devote to this thing. I'm still moving slow and networking with folks all over. I should have my first actual customer for New Finish next monday. I'm doing a wheel detail and ceramic coating on the new wheels he just got for his 2019 F-250 King Ranch. Sometimes you just have to know where your talents lie and where to put your efforts. Cheers.
 
Stevedotmil said:
I saw this and thought I would add my .02.

I've always been a car guy. Started "detailing" my own cars. It became therapy after helping out with my share of the Global War on Terrorism. In 2014 I decided to call it quits and finally retire after 21+ years in the Army. My heart just wasn't in it anymore. I had about a year before I finally retired in preparation. I worked about 2 days per month so the rest of the time was mine to take car of me and relearn how to civilian. I happened to live in Europe at the time and military service members have to ensure their vehicle passes the US Customs inspection for import back into the US. I spent most of my time providing detailing packages that went along those lines. In over a year I never had one customer that failed a U.S. Customs inspection. They even check for foreign particles on the frame rails in the engine bay. One stray animal hair will get you another appointment. Word spread fast because I did a good job and folks could pay in dollars instead of Euros. I did so well that I had the local "detail" shop off base file multiple complaints about me because they were losing so much business, I did this part time.

When I finally retired and moved back to the US in 2015 I went back and forth on how to move forward with detailing business aspirations. I finally bit the bullet and started making things happen like forming my LLC, buying some good tools and products, and detailing cars for friends and relatives. I had a few full time jobs along the way that stalled me out a bit on this journey but now I have enough spare time to devote to this thing. I'm still moving slow and networking with folks all over. I should have my first actual customer for New Finish next monday. I'm doing a wheel detail and ceramic coating on the new wheels he just got for his 2019 F-250 King Ranch. Sometimes you just have to know where your talents lie and where to put your efforts. Cheers.
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That’s awesome Steve! I currently am in Germany and have been going crazy not being able to detail my own car. I think now they have certain regulations where you can only wash your cars in certain areas. For now I left my truck back in the states because I’m selling it but hopefully soon I’ll pick up a beater car here and be able to at least detail it in the sense of cleaning/protecting.


Sent from my iPhone using Autogeekonline mobile app
 
Breese147 said:
That’s awesome Steve! I currently am in Germany and have been going crazy not being able to detail my own car. I think now they have certain regulations where you can only wash your cars in certain areas. For now I left my truck back in the states because I’m selling it but hopefully soon I’ll pick up a beater car here and be able to at least detail it in the sense of cleaning/protecting.



Sent from my iPhone using Autogeekonline mobile app
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BlackFire waterless wash concentrate is your friend. p21S wheel gel (pink) €18 usually. Plenty of MF towels and you’re straight. Send me a DM if you have Europe travel tips. We went everywhere. Prost!!
 
Enjoyed reading your story and "watching" you grow your skills and tools. One thing I've got to ask though is this....
What the Hell kind of electric pressure did you buy for $1200 and what made you feel like an investment that large was necessary at that point in your journey? It clearly represented the single largest investment you made up to that point by far and having such limited income, I'm just curious and somewhat stunned that you spent that much money for something that you could have settled on for much less.
 
Coach Steve said:
Enjoyed reading your story and "watching" you grow your skills and tools. One thing I've got to ask though is this....
What the Hell kind of electric pressure did you buy for $1200 and what made you feel like an investment that large was necessary at that point in your journey? It clearly represented the single largest investment you made up to that point by far and having such limited income, I'm just curious and somewhat stunned that you spent that much money for something that you could have settled on for much less.
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I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thank you.
It is a MTM electric pressure washer. I know it sounds crazy for that kind of investment that early. But I bought a Simpson gas pressure washer that I thought would be good. But the pump died after 6 months. Their customer service and warranty are a joke. Plus I went through a few electric pressure washers in the $200 range. So I started doing research on industrial electric pressure washers. I knew it would be something I would only have to buy once. I’ve not had a problem out of it so far. As long as you keep the pump oil changed, they are good to go. I also took it off the cart and mounted it on the wall with a reel. It has saved me a ton of time that way. Just flip a switch and it’s ready to go.
 
I bought a used Ridgid pressure washer off CL for $250 and that thing's been banging away every day for over a year. I'm trying to find another one.
 
I actually looked at Ridgid quite a bit before I decided to go with electric. I won’t buy any other power tools besides Ridgid. They have excellent warranties and customer service.
 
I got the old brake light warranty because I got it off craigslist. I don't really care about stuff like that anyway.
 
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