tuscarora dave
Active member
- Aug 21, 2009
- 5,408
- 12
Good day AGO members.
Most of the members here at AGO who really know me or have followed my posting history know that I am a guy who is struggling to survive in a self employed environment as a sole proprietor (in every sense of the meaning). Sole, as in...I'm the only one... Just me with an occasional hired in helper when the workload gets too much to handle by myself.
In my time on the forums, I have seen a lot of folks come on and post that they're going to start a detailing business. Energetic, enthusiastic, young entrepreneurs, some perhaps with a clear cut vision of how simple it will be to polish and clean cars for a living, laughing all the way to the bank.
Some of these folks still remain to post on the detailing boards and are doing quite well for themselves, but most have vanished, never to post again. I often wonder where they went, did they fail or perhaps they've succeeded to the point that they simply have no time for posting.
My assumption is that they tried, and they tried hard and when the cold weather rolled in they found themselves in an impossible situation of having either debt up to their eyeballs with no revenue coming it to cover the debt or, they started out with a bottle of polish, a polisher, some pads, a shop vac and extension cords in the trunk of the car (just like I did) and in short order, their clear vision of setting the world on fire quickly turned to an unclear vision of how to carry on when there's no phones ringing off the hook by customers wanting to procure their services.
For me it's been the later scenario. It's been a real tough road with the first few years, growing my business at the same time as holding down a 40 hour to 60 hour a week full time job. In addition to the full time job and doing whatever detailing work I could manage to get with no cash flow to speak of, there are the hours spent behind the computer trying to build an internet presence for myself, branding the name Tuscarora Dave.
At some point I took the leap of faith, rented a garage and quit the daytime job to go out and try to make ends meet to cover all expenses of overhead and keep a few bucks in the bank to operate with. I couldn't make ends meet with detailing alone so I had to draw upon my other life's experience and sort of mix things up, doing whatever I can to make a few bucks. For me I draw on my mechanical experience to generate more forms of income.
I have found a niche in the mobility service and repair industry (in addition to other mechanical services) to supplement my income of the detailing that I do. Here is my latest flier which targets a specific market besides detailing, but still leaves the detailing opportunity within the flier. Of course I also have my detailing specific fliers that do still get handed out or attached in emails to everyone I interact with that might enjoy a superior automotive finish.
I'd like to hear from other entrepreneurs that view this thread, about some of the ways they might diversify their services. Even if you are not currently doing this, what would you do or what could you do to diversify your services to fill in the gaps where auto detailing gets too slow to make ends meet.
If you have fliers made up to help generate business in these other areas please post them in this thread if you care to.
The intent of this thread is to generate ideas for all viewers of this thread who might be considering starting a detailing business on a small scale, where the need to diversify their services to make ends meet might arise. A think tank of sorts for surviving the tough times that can and do accompany the efforts of a small detailing business.
All comments or ideas are welcome.
Thanks in advance for any participation in this thread.
Most of the members here at AGO who really know me or have followed my posting history know that I am a guy who is struggling to survive in a self employed environment as a sole proprietor (in every sense of the meaning). Sole, as in...I'm the only one... Just me with an occasional hired in helper when the workload gets too much to handle by myself.
In my time on the forums, I have seen a lot of folks come on and post that they're going to start a detailing business. Energetic, enthusiastic, young entrepreneurs, some perhaps with a clear cut vision of how simple it will be to polish and clean cars for a living, laughing all the way to the bank.
Some of these folks still remain to post on the detailing boards and are doing quite well for themselves, but most have vanished, never to post again. I often wonder where they went, did they fail or perhaps they've succeeded to the point that they simply have no time for posting.
My assumption is that they tried, and they tried hard and when the cold weather rolled in they found themselves in an impossible situation of having either debt up to their eyeballs with no revenue coming it to cover the debt or, they started out with a bottle of polish, a polisher, some pads, a shop vac and extension cords in the trunk of the car (just like I did) and in short order, their clear vision of setting the world on fire quickly turned to an unclear vision of how to carry on when there's no phones ringing off the hook by customers wanting to procure their services.
For me it's been the later scenario. It's been a real tough road with the first few years, growing my business at the same time as holding down a 40 hour to 60 hour a week full time job. In addition to the full time job and doing whatever detailing work I could manage to get with no cash flow to speak of, there are the hours spent behind the computer trying to build an internet presence for myself, branding the name Tuscarora Dave.
At some point I took the leap of faith, rented a garage and quit the daytime job to go out and try to make ends meet to cover all expenses of overhead and keep a few bucks in the bank to operate with. I couldn't make ends meet with detailing alone so I had to draw upon my other life's experience and sort of mix things up, doing whatever I can to make a few bucks. For me I draw on my mechanical experience to generate more forms of income.
I have found a niche in the mobility service and repair industry (in addition to other mechanical services) to supplement my income of the detailing that I do. Here is my latest flier which targets a specific market besides detailing, but still leaves the detailing opportunity within the flier. Of course I also have my detailing specific fliers that do still get handed out or attached in emails to everyone I interact with that might enjoy a superior automotive finish.
I'd like to hear from other entrepreneurs that view this thread, about some of the ways they might diversify their services. Even if you are not currently doing this, what would you do or what could you do to diversify your services to fill in the gaps where auto detailing gets too slow to make ends meet.
If you have fliers made up to help generate business in these other areas please post them in this thread if you care to.
The intent of this thread is to generate ideas for all viewers of this thread who might be considering starting a detailing business on a small scale, where the need to diversify their services to make ends meet might arise. A think tank of sorts for surviving the tough times that can and do accompany the efforts of a small detailing business.
All comments or ideas are welcome.
Thanks in advance for any participation in this thread.
