Detailing for profit w/out garage?

04accord

04accord

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Hi Guys,

So, i've been thinking ahead to this coming spring/summer and I am very motivated to make a small detailing 'business,' along with my part time job. (College Student) I'm going to be offering normal services, washes, clay, 1 step polishes, etc. The issue is that I don't have a garage to work out of where I live. Have space, shade from trees over driveway, and hose access at my home. Is there a way to make this work? Im mostly worried about doing any polishing outdoors. Another option would be to use my grandparents garage, but they don't have access to water.
Feed back please
 
Get a canopy for sure. I detail from home and still have a canopy for when its super hot and sunny. Plus its good for mobile :D
 
If you don't have space to work in, absolutely go mobile. You can get a pretty decent setup for a relatively low price. Obviously that depends on what you want to have in your mobile shop. There's a ton of mobile detailers here that have listed their setups. Check them out!
 
The majority of detail work I've done in my life was when I was mobile.

You'll put the most money in your pocket by being mobile because you have a LOT less overhead.

Mot of the guys I know that have made a career detailing cars are mobile. So there's nothing wrong with being mobile.

I've had three shops in my life and while it's great to have a shop because all your tools, equipment products and supplies are in one place having a shop tends to force you to do production work because you'll detailing anything that pulls into the parking lot or take any job that calls on the phone as it's a numbers game as you need cars to pay for the overhead.


Keep reading this forum and asking questions, you'll get it all figured out.


:)
 
IM detailing from my garage,thinking about maybe being mobile,shop rent here is high,since you detail from home is it possible to ask a neighbour if he can help you out and in return you could offer to do a basic wash on his car,and should they want a more detailed work offer a small discount just a thought...have fun keep detailing....AUTO ONE DETAILING....on facebook
 
thanks for the input guys. I don't have to pay rent at either possible 'set' locations. What Im really wondering is if its feasible to be polishing a car without a garage. I guess mobile is always an option if the answer to that is no.
 
04accord said:
What Im really wondering is if its feasible
to be polishing a car without a garage.

I guess mobile is always an option
if the answer to that is no.
Click to expand...
The way I look at it is this:
If a person can't polish a car, without it being
inside a garage...why would they think that
being mobile somehow would become a viable
option for car-polishing purposes?

Wouldn't the car-polishing still have to be
performed while the car's sitting outdoors?


Bob
 
Polishing outdoors is not a problem most of the time.

You might not want to do it at certain times in the spring when pollen levels are really high, or during harvest times if you live near a large agricultural area.

It is the sun that you will fight the most often with.
 
not sure if i can post this, but I saw this. 10 ft. x 17 ft. Portable Garage

not sure if there would be enough room on the sides to work and whether or not this is better or worse than a canopy with no sides.
 
jcaustin87 said:
Only concern is time to set up? and how much space do you really get when working the sides?
Click to expand...

this would be set up in part of my driveway and I wouldn't take it down between spring and the end of summer. space on the side is my concern. I like the sides though because stuff won't be flying around on most of the car.
 
04accord said:
not sure if i can post this, but I saw this. 10 ft. x 17 ft. Portable Garage

not sure if there would be enough room on the sides to work and whether or not this is better or worse than a canopy with no sides.
Click to expand...

not gonna be wide enough. my canopy is 10 feet wide and theres not enough room for me to walk around the car if there were sides. plus... im sure it'd be a pain to set up by yourself
 
I do. I have this very setup. I use 6 5 gallon buckets that I fill with water when I set it up for counter weights and they pull double duty as acting as hose guides. I also have hanging bluetooth speakers, clip on fans, and mounts for my lights that I use for correction work. And I got it all to fit inside of a Shetler Logic Store It roller bag. The set up time for this tent takes some practice, but I found that using some color coded stickers helped lable the parts for faster setup/takedown. Total time with everything hung and ready to start working is about 20 minutes by myself without breaking a sweat. Once it is up, I am able to drive a full sized quad pickup truck under it as long as there is not a lift kit on it. You cannot go wrong with that for the money.
 
Dapper Don said:
I do. I have this very setup. I use 6 5 gallon buckets that I fill with water when I set it up for counter weights and they pull double duty as acting as hose guides. I also have hanging bluetooth speakers, clip on fans, and mounts for my lights that I use for correction work. And I got it all to fit inside of a Shetler Logic Store It roller bag. The set up time for this tent takes some practice, but I found that using some color coded stickers helped lable the parts for faster setup/takedown. Total time with everything hung and ready to start working is about 20 minutes by myself without breaking a sweat. Once it is up, I am able to drive a full sized quad pickup truck under it as long as there is not a lift kit on it. You cannot go wrong with that for the money.
Click to expand...

Does it fly away easily without weights at the corners? Most likely I would set it up and leave it up.
 
That would all depend on the weather where you are at. I have seen some guys go that route with these and they work surprisingly well. Only you would need to beef up the weights to something more substantial like filling those 5 gallon buckets with concrete and an achor bolt with some ratchet straps. Just remember that they aren't bulletproof.
 
Get one of those collapsible tents people buy for camping.... cost about 80 euros around here from super home center don't know how much it will cost where you live.... this will take care of the sun problem, and you can still be mobile since it is collapsibe and easy to carry... if you want to cover the sides, get some shower curtains :o) it looks funny but it works....
 
Humidity is a big promblem for me in south fla,I can deal with the hot sun no promblem but add those 2 together and if your not careful you maybe visiting your nearest hospital.
 
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