Working out of home versus small shop?

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highgrade

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While putting together a business blueprint, I have been asking for feedback. I got it and it has raised my curiosity...to the point of wanting to get your feedback.

The initial design to go with the name of the company had a faded picture that was, in my opinion, very nice. One person said it was "too nice" and should be more of a laymen type of design. Most detailer web sites have nice cars shown. I don't work on exotic cars (yet :) ). I work on daily drivers and the daily driver folks say they want to see a site that relates to them...a site with cars like theirs. Is there value in that?

Another point was where the business is being operated. Many have asked where I have my shop and I tell them I work from home (aka, out of the garage). When I told a guy that I worked out of my home, he had a 'disappointed' look on his face and the conversation immediately felt like he had already determined I was not the right guy to detail his car....like....ohhhh, another guy working from home. He must not be very good. It was a bit sad because it did not seem to matter what I said...his mind was already made up.
Detailing is not my primary source of income and I am not in a position to go out and get a shop (or build a new garage out back).

Why is there an astigmatism when a person says they work from their home? One guy told me that the web page looked "too professional" and left the impression that they would be pulling up to some exotic garage to have the work done. No offense, but I have seen a lot of shops and it really does not seem to matter what kind of shop...it is the reputation of the detailer. So, how do we combat that? Is there a way to build a web site that let's people know this is not some million dollar operation in a million dollar facility?
How many professional detailers work from their home (whether stand alone shop or attached garage)?
Thanks for any feedback on the matter
Feed back please
 
When working out of home (in neighborhoods) be aware of the neighbors, water restrictions, and rules regarding business types out of the home. One pesky neighbor and you allowing run-off into sewers or breaking an HOA rule and youve then got the cost of a fine or attorney to deal with ....
 
Tell Mr Sad Face you will get a commercial shop if he is willing to pay you double
 
Flash Gordon said:
Tell Mr Sad Face you will get a commercial shop if he is willing to pay you double
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while a valid question, it doesn't get to the root of a primary concern...is working for the home less professional than having a shop? how many of you work from the home? why does there seem to be a negative light on working from the home or am I just delusional?
 
highgrade said:
while a valid question, it doesn't get to the root of a primary concern...is working for the home less professional than having a shop? how many of you work from the home? why does there seem to be a negative light on working from the home or am I just delusional?
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Yes, it does shed a negative light to some ppl. You will seem like a fly-by-night operation to them. With me, I don't care one way or another if they choose me over a brick and mortar store. I will tell them to stop being a pain in my ass

I explain that to operate a brick and mortar store it requires VOLUME work, and lots of paid labor/rent/utilities. If they hate my price now, their going to double hate me if I have to go through this unnecessary expense just to pasify their desires

Every car I work on gets my undivided attention from conception to completion. No one else is performing work on their car other then me

Ask them if they know anything about art? Picaso and Rembrandt didn't work out of a Hobby Lobby ;)
 
I think most people think if your working out of your home, it not 100% legit. Say if you own a shop or a real garage, most of them will have insurance just incase anything happens.
 
Flash Gordon said:
Yes, it does shed a negative light to some ppl. You will seem like a fly-by-night operation to them. With me, I don't care one way or another if they choose me over a brick and mortar store. I will tell them to stop being a pain in my ass

I explain that to operate a brick and mortar store it requires VOLUME work, and lots of paid labor/rent/utilities. If they hate my price now, their going to double hate me if I have to go through this unnecessary expense just to pasify their desires

Every car I work on gets my undivided attention from conception to completion. No one else is performing work on their car other then me

Ask them if they know anything about art? Picaso and Rembrandt didn't work out of a Hobby Lobby ;)
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Thanks! I really appreciate your comments. They strike a positive chord with me. :xyxthumbs:
 
slickooz said:
I think most people think if your working out of your home, it not 100% legit. Say if you own a shop or a real garage, most of them will have insurance just incase anything happens.
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additionally, it is not hard to pull out a biz license to show that i take it seriously. insurance no matter what makes sense imo
 
highgrade said:
Thanks! I really appreciate your comments. They strike a positive chord with me. :xyxthumbs:
Click to expand...

My wife says I'm like a bull in the china shop. I'm not exactly sure if thats a good thing or not, but it's always worked best for me. I'm a firm beleiver in cutting to the chase
 
highgrade said:
I work on daily drivers and the daily driver folks say they want to see a site that relates to them...a site with cars like theirs. Is there value in that?
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Your customers are answering that question for you.

highgrade said:
Another point was where the business is being operated. Many have asked where I have my shop and I tell them I work from home (aka, out of the garage). When I told a guy that I worked out of my home, he had a 'disappointed' look on his face and the conversation immediately felt like he had already determined I was not the right guy to detail his car....like....ohhhh, another guy working from home.
Click to expand...

Some guys on here have better set-ups in their home then I've seen out in "the real world". Maybe try this, make yours look as professional as possible (if it's not already), take a picture to show people when they ask.

highgrade said:
Why is there an astigmatism when
a person says they work from their home?
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It's funny especially when a majority of people I talk to wish they could work from home.
 
I've been working out of my home for years; can't say that it's ever been an issue with clients....
 
I can provide my experience. I started off mobile & built a level of mutual trust with clients. After some time I realized I am much more efficient in my own place (home shop). Due to the existing relationships that had established, leaving the vehicle(e) was not an issue.
 
Flash has hit the nail in the head and echoed my thoughts exactly. I market myself as the "anti-volume" guy simply because I do not want to go full time. My focus is one client at a time and I have a waiting list.
 
Porsche Pilot said:
Flash has hit the nail in the head and echoed my thoughts exactly. I market myself as the "anti-volume" guy simply because I do not want to go full time. My focus is one client at a time and I have a waiting list.
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I like those concepts. Almost like an exclusive club membership or a "I don't detail just anyone's car" attitude. Even turn it around on the customer somewhat & make them qualify themselves that they are worth your time. Not with an arrogant attitude but busy.
 
highgrade said:
while a valid question, it doesn't get to the root of a primary concern...is working for the home less professional than having a shop? how many of you work from the home? why does there seem to be a negative light on working from the home or am I just delusional?
Click to expand...


Just real quick as I have a ton of thing on my to-do list today...


Generally speaking, when you get a commercial shop, by default you become a production detail business.

Why?

It's a numbers game. As soon as you have a shop you have a monthly lease or rent payment, electric bill, water bill, insurance bill and any other bill related to running the shop.

For round numbers, let's just say your total overhead is $2000.00 You work 6 days a week. You have to earn $83.00 dollars in profit each of your work days to pay the overhead. So by default you have just become a production shop because you'll tend to take any daily driver that calls or comes through the door just to stay busy to pay the overhead.

I'm not saying this is a good thing or a bad thing, it's just how it goes. The bread and butter for "most" detail shops will be daily drivers, not "Special Interest" cars, again nothing wrong with this unless your personal preference is to only work on special interest cars.

I've had 3 detail shops and while I love having all of my gear in a specific location and have customers come to me, it took some of the fun out of the business working on daily drivers to pay the overhead. That's just me though, everyone is different.

Most, not all but most of the top detailers I've known over the years and know today are mobile for a host of different reasons but to avoid the overhead is one of the reasons as you can then put more money into your own pocket.

If you want to buff out "Special Interest" cars for big bucks, then most of the time you're going to be driving to the car as the owners of these types of cars don't and won't usually drive them very far to have them worked on, especially to have the paint buffed out. (I can explain why if someone wants me to but it should be kind of obvious)


Two Things...

1. If you get a shop, try to get a shop with the lowest rent or lease payment possible. That's kind of a no-brainer but needs to be stated.

2. If you don't get a shop, then anytime you're talking to a potential customer, simply educate them briefly that the benefit to working from your own garage is it allows you to do better work because you don't have to worry about the overhead. That's a benefit to the customer.


Education is the key...

:)
 
I live in a town where commercial property is at a premium, and it is common for

people to have a garage behind their house...The one car garage attached to my

house is way to small to work from. Build your reputation and there shouldn't be a

problem as to where you do your work.:xyxthumbs:
 
My two sense:

I have been working out of my garage for 3 years, and to some people it isn't the answer they want to hear. Unfortunately, it's their perception of your "small time gig" that almost offends them. The thing is once I've educated them on the procedures and processes that their car will receive they seem to be fine with it. People just tend to want to see a shop, but in reality they don't realize the overhead involved. My prices are the way they are because I have almost no overhead, and my quality speaks for itself. Just remember you can't please everyone and even if you have to turn away business because they want you to have a shop, chances are they were never your potential customer to begin with.
 
BorisC said:
I like those concepts. Almost like an exclusive club membership or a "I don't detail just anyone's car" attitude. Even turn it around on the customer somewhat & make them qualify themselves that they are worth your time. Not with an arrogant attitude but busy.
Click to expand...

I drill noob inquires before I'll even accept them as a client. If my Goof meter goes off, I decline their business
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
I've had 3 detail shops and while I love having all of my gear in a specific location and have customers come to me, it sucked the life out of me, and took every bit of the fun out of the business working on daily drivers to pay the overhead. That's just me though, everyone is different.
:)
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:iagree:
 
My newly acquired shop is attached to a barbershop where the owner doesnt use the oversized garage for any reason...... so we worked out a deal where he gets a percentage of each vehicle we do at the shop. This is seeming to work great for now and keeps us from worrying to much about the overhead of a shop. Currently my overhead is around 125 a week and this does not include products (roughly 5 to 8 % per job). If I had to worry about another say 500 a week in rent to put away, I would be working my butt off to barely survive. So I would suggest home garage and mobile for now IMO of course.
 
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