How many buffer pads does a new business need?

If you are waiting until you do master detailer level work before starting your business, you are never going to start. Being able to "perfect" a vehicle takes years of practice, plus a client base willing to pay for work that takes that amount of time.

Work hard, be willing to fix any mistakes you make free of charge, double check your work, and you will be fine. Don't offer perfection when you start, offer professional quality and thorough work.
 
Thanks beamerstrumpet, Dr_Pain, Ken_Clark, TundraPower, Calendyr, VP Mark, HellaBroke, tuscarora dave for the great information and for saving an otherwise doomed thread. :)

HellaBroke said:
Aside from your pad question, have you started on your package plans? I enjoy seeing the different prices that different places charge throughout the country and what they include or don't include. ie maintenance washes, sealant packages, wax's... painted wheel corrections etc.
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Yes, I have a long list of websites and corresponding Yelp listings bookmarked that have given me a lot of data regarding prices in this area.

What I need to do is weigh the new product bottles on a food scale to calculate before and after weights, which will give me an exact material costs. And then average it out over 6 vehicles to get a more precise frame of reference.

Rough guess is product cost will be 10% of my invoice.

:dblthumb2:
 
Products are not cheap but they do not represent a large amount of the bill. I calculated it costs me between 5$ and 50$ in products depending what I do. At 50$ we are talking full paint correction + interior.
 
TundraPower said:
I disagree 100%.

I started out with crap correcting and polishing products and quickly learned they produce crap results. Use the BEST products you can afford. Stick with Menzerna and learn how they work with different pads. There are no better polishes. The 4 different pads are fine, just get a lot of them. I use at least 6 pads per vehicle. $50/hour for paint correction and polishing is cheap. Don't set your rate the same as others or that's all you will ever earn!
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So youre going to do production detailing with pricey Menz polishes when you can just use a quality AIO? I don't know, IMO I wouldn't be doing that. Seems like overkill for production detailing. Show car detailing, different story but if you're going from lot to lot multiple cars a day your really going to rip out Menz polishes and pads, or just go an AIO that works and be done? Maybe I'm wrong who knows, again just an opinion. But if I was starting a business I wouldn't be buying $40 32oz bottles of polish when I could get a gallon of d151 and do quality work? Anyways.....
 
There is more to this than meets the eye. I will explain. Look at my web site and how I explain my products and processes. I promote them and brag about them. I don't say "I wash your wheels darn good". I say ".....I wash your wheels with Sonax Full Effect that is imported from Germany.....". When I walk a customer through my shop and show them what products I will be using on their vehicle they are impressed. Just the other day a guy said to me "You know it's nice to see someone that uses high-grade products. I can go down the street myself and buy Meguiar's." Perception is reality. Consider Paul Dalton. Mr. Dalton could get 99% correction with a toothbrush and a can of $8 rubbing compound. But he has always used only the best products. I'm not sure where you get $40 for a container of Menzerna. That's certainly not what I pay.
 
TundraPower said:
Perception is reality.
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Ain't that the truth, and not just about detailing. I think they made a couple movies about that, too...one recently with Matt Damon, and that other series with the guy flying around in the trench coat and sunglasses...
 
TundraPower said:
There is more to this than meets the eye. I will explain. Look at my web site and how I explain my products and processes. I promote them and brag about them. I don't say "I wash your wheels darn good". I say ".....I wash your wheels with Sonax Full Effect that is imported from Germany.....". When I walk a customer through my shop and show them what products I will be using on their vehicle they are impressed. Just the other day a guy said to me "You know it's nice to see someone that uses high-grade products. I can go down the street myself and buy Meguiar's." Perception is reality. Consider Paul Dalton. Mr. Dalton could get 99% correction with a toothbrush and a can of $8 rubbing compound. But he has always used only the best products. I'm not sure where you get $40 for a container of Menzerna. That's certainly not what I pay.
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:applause:Great explanation SIR!
 
cleanmycorolla said:
So youre going to do production detailing with pricey Menz polishes when you can just use a quality AIO? I don't know, IMO I wouldn't be doing that. Seems like overkill for production detailing. Show car detailing, different story but if you're going from lot to lot multiple cars a day your really going to rip out Menz polishes and pads, or just go an AIO that works and be done? Maybe I'm wrong who knows, again just an opinion. But if I was starting a business I wouldn't be buying $40 32oz bottles of polish when I could get a gallon of d151 and do quality work? Anyways.....
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I don't know if you're using a super-elite brand of sarcasm to inject a little humor in here that I'm just not catching... but nowhere in this thread have I or TundraPower said anything about using Menzerna products for production detailing.

Yes, Menzerna products were featured in a photo.

Yes, it would absolutely be overkill.

Yes, I will be using an AIO for production detailing.

TundraPower said:
There is more to this than meets the eye. I will explain. Look at my web site and how I explain my products and processes. I promote them and brag about them. I don't say "I wash your wheels darn good". I say ".....I wash your wheels with Sonax Full Effect that is imported from Germany.....". When I walk a customer through my shop and show them what products I will be using on their vehicle they are impressed. Just the other day a guy said to me "You know it's nice to see someone that uses high-grade products. I can go down the street myself and buy Meguiar's." Perception is reality. Consider Paul Dalton. Mr. Dalton could get 99% correction with a toothbrush and a can of $8 rubbing compound. But he has always used only the best products. I'm not sure where you get $40 for a container of Menzerna. That's certainly not what I pay.
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Exactly. :xyxthumbs:
 
I know that "Perception" Is what a lot of people let themselves believe. After 20 Yrs in the military, I know that line very well. I am here to say and ask you How many times has your perception been incorrect? I'm not knocking your imported stuff, It It does give detailers a certain clout to charge more (we all want to make money and marketing is marketing) for exotics and catches the eye of the person who drives the Gucci car and wants everyone to know he has money (this of course is a generality) but it does not mean that less pricy products used are no good. Based on your theory,, I could very well get plain containers, have some cool looking stickers made, and line my shelves with them. In the untrained eye, I now look like I have lots of custom products. Is that right and honest? No but I bet I could sell a lot of 15 dollar optimum spray wax and call it "custom blended" Hell If I take it, and split it 50/50 with mothers, It is now truthfully "custom blended" and sell it for $25 bucks. I actually saw that tag line on a site today "custom blended past wax" It may be true it may not. Did you like its finish? was it worth what you paid to you? if yes then I guess its good.
 
beamerstrumpet said:
I know that "Perception" Is what a lot of people let themselves believe. After 20 Yrs in the military, I know that line very well. I am here to say and ask you How many times has your perception been incorrect? I'm not knocking your imported stuff, It It does give detailers a certain clout to charge more (we all want to make money and marketing is marketing) for exotics and catches the eye of the person who drives the Gucci car and wants everyone to know he has money (this of course is a generality) but it does not mean that less pricy products used are no good. Based on your theory,, I could very well get plain containers, have some cool looking stickers made, and line my shelves with them. In the untrained eye, I now look like I have lots of custom products. Is that right and honest? No but I bet I could sell a lot of 15 dollar optimum spray wax and call it "custom blended" Hell If I take it, and split it 50/50 with mothers, It is now truthfully "custom blended" and sell it for $25 bucks. I actually saw that tag line on a site today "custom blended past wax" It may be true it may not. Did you like its finish? was it worth what you paid to you? if yes then I guess its good.
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Did you just define Capitalism in 1000 words or less? Sounds very much like what the originator of the Wizards line of products did. Everyone laughed at her for fooling around mixing stuff together, seeing what she liked, scrapping ideas, adding her own stuff, then making her own labels. I can assure you that no one is laughing now :dblthumb2:
 
@ TundraPower
Well thank you for your pat on the back LOLOL(this is in good humor I asure you) I have never studied Capitalism. But its nice to know that what I have picked up along the way can be considered a defination.
Never heard fo Wizards, maybe I should look into her story closer. You have given me a new lightbulb to squint my eyes at:props:
 
beamerstrumpet said:
@ TundraPower
Well thank you for your pat on the back LOLOL(this is in good humor I asure you) I have never studied Capitalism. But its nice to know that what I have picked up along the way can be considered a defination.
Never heard fo Wizards, maybe I should look into her story closer. You have given me a new lightbulb to squint my eyes at:props:
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LOLOLOLOL. I don't like all of Wizards products, but I don't like all of anyones products. But I do admire their hundreds of wins on the show-car and especially show-bike circuits. :xyxthumbs:
 
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