Concentrating on Showroom Detailing Part-time

[gibersot]

After lurking on the forums for a period of time, I've been fortunate to learn an incredible amount more about detailing ranging from techniques to business operations coupled with Mike's show room finish detailing PDF. After years of amateur detailing, it has long been a goal of mine to have a dedicated part-time business detailing along with my full-time career. With that said, I wanted to bring up a thought I had regarding operations.

I've been reading about various price points many of you have in production detailing. While the price points themselves are good and fair to the consumer (I'm undecided whether they are fair to the detailer but that's another story), I personally cannot justify from a part-time detailer perspective mainly doing work for family, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances the lower price points associated with production detailing.

With that said, has anyone approached part-time detailing from the focus of showroom detailing only? There are different levels of paint correction and required services needed on each car and prices would be adjusted accordingly. My goal is not to rip off any clients either offering services they do not need as well. I would like to be perceived down the line as the guy you go to for the "full" detail.

I imagine it would take longer to develop business and I would be less busy but I thought it would be interesting to only take on Showroom type work. I'm curious if anyone else on here has approached the work this way. I recall a detailer somewhere in New Jersey who only did high end work and was regarded as the authority in the area. Thanks for reading.

Tim

 

[Audios S6]

It's not my intent to discourage you, but there are a few things you should consider before targeting only high level detailing.

1. Learn to walk before you run. There are plenty of guys here that do very high end work and it has taken them years to hone their skills. I've seen local guys that pass their work off as top notch only to find compound residue everywhere, filthy door jambs, etc. Perhaps you are very skilled at paint correction already, but keep that in mind. Profitability at a high level takes practice.

2. Even ferrari owners have minivans. This is a business of building a client base. Even if those clients have very nice cars and want premium services, they likely also have a minivan for the kids or an SUV to haul a boat and they probably don't want a full paint correction for that vehicle. So be prepared to build relationships with clients and take care of ALL their vehicles.

3. Performing at a very high level can require a substantial investment in equipment, on the order of $2-$3k to start. Certainly it can be done for less, but productivity will suffer greatly as a result. There was a thread here a few years back about starting out for around $400 and that was enough to be set up for basic paint correction. One can also easily drop $400 on a single polisher.

The typical progression is: car owner starts detailing own vehicle and likes it, starts doing friends cars, starts doing other's cars for money and gains experience, reinvests profits and starts doing higher level work, continues to reinvest and do higher level work.

That's not to say it's the only way, but many of the most successful guys in the industry have gone this route rather than jumping in the deep end.

 

[gibersot]

Audio S6,

Thank you for your detailed reply and no discouragement would ever be taken even if it was blatantly telling me not to pursue. The goal is to learn and develop from the ideas of those who have much more experience and time in the trade. I would like to clarify a few thoughts I had and if you have a chance, would like feedback.

When I discussed high end showroom detailing, I misspoke. What I intended to do with it was to focus on 'regular' vehicles that needed the gamut of services such as wash, clay, compound, polish, seal, etc. More of the idea that I can restore the car to its former glory focused to enthusiasts or those who would like to sell their vehicle, attempting to increase their sale profit margin with a clean car. Also, I am not looking to work on high end cars in the foreseeable future. I would like to stick to daily driver's or the weekend vehicle (minus high end and exotic). Perhaps I am reaching for straws concentrating on a narrow market but these are my initial thoughts. I guess my overlying thought behind it is that if I have a detail job lined up, it is something that will be more time consuming/worthwhile so that I am not doing smaller jobs.

Equipment is definitely something that I would like to develop. I have been running a PC 7424XP for years and love it but I have seen so many products available now that most likely surpass PC's abilities. Thanks again for responding, you've made me think a few things over and how I want to proceed from here.

Tim

 

[dcjredline]

What you described in yer last post sounds exactly like what most people here do. Lol. We don't have only a handful of more production oriented detailers here. What you originally were posting sounded like what the first responder said.

 

[Audios S6]

With the clarification, yes many guys here do just that.

Get a copy of Renny Doyle's book, it will help you start thinking more about the business side of detailing.

If focusing on enthusiast, start making contacts with members and organizers or local car clubs. Contribute to the groups, don't just be a Detailer.

Network with local specialty motorsport shops. Do a car for the owner at a reduced rate, if they are pleased, ask for referrals.

Doing it part time is great way to start. You can build the business at your own pace. It's nice supplemental income. And you can manage many of the primary causes of new business failures (grow slow/fast, under capitalized, etc.)

 

[gibersot]

Thanks to both of you for the additional knowledge. There are many points I didn't think about that will certainly help me progress on this venture. Thanks again.