First detail

route66detail

route66detail

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I did my first detail as a mobile detail business owner today. I live in NE Florida. 2007 Honda crv. Interior had some stains but pretty easy to remove with all purpose cleaner, carpet and seats/ upholstery cleaned with degreaser. Turned out great! Had to use bristle brush/ other tools to remove the normal amount of dirt, grime, etc. Exterior washed and polished with a da polisher using one step cleaner wax, no major issues with paint. I charged $135.00. What are your thoughts on that amount?
 
I don't know much about your particular location, as far as competitive rates go, seems extremely light!
 
Seems very light. I would have charged that for the interior alone, depending on just how bad it was. As stated by previous poster, depends on what your location's going rate is.

Regardless of price, if the client was happy, it was a success. Congratulations!
 
for the exterior alone i would have charged 120. Seems light but i'm up in canada
 
Congrats on the first detail. That rate is fine for a first detail as long as it is t "set in stone".

One question I'd be interested in was how much time you spent. If this was a 3 hour job you made $45/hr whereas if it was 10 hours you made $13.50/hr. I'd suggest keeping some notes on starting condition of the car and how long it took and what your resulting rate per hour. While you may have left some money on the table today, you gained some experience dealing with a customer, honing your skills/technique and experience working mobile with a client that will all benefit you as you continue growing your mobile business. Good job and best of luck with your business!
 
Thank you all sincerely for your input. Very helpfull!!!

AnthonyGXP- Good point. I definitely do need to do more local market research as to what is the going rate for what I did.

BinOregon- True! Locations going rate is key. The customer was extremely happy. Actually, when I quoted him the $135.00 he DID express he thought is was a bit high (I'm from the car business, a customer NEVER said they paid too little... AND I've so far learned that most detail customers don't really know what goes into or what it takes to actually "detail" a car). He was worried about a big stain on the front passenger seat that I was able to handle with not much effort. The rest was basic... He was happy and paid with a smile on his face and posted on all the local swip swaps on FB how happy he was. Thank god! Good customer.

Ryan509- Perhaps I did charge too little. LOL... or I'm moving to Canada. Kidding, we ARE gearing more towards Marine / RV business and have been doing a lot of local market research as far as pricing goes so I just need to dial in to the local car/truck scene figures.

nyjetfan- J-E-T-S.. JETS, JETS, JETS!!! Rockland County NY native here... so yeah... it took 3.5 hours. With that perspective I did ok. We (my wife and I both work together in the business) took LOTS of notes and it was an IMMENSE learning experience. We had a few shortcomings as far as some minor tools that will help in the future. We also assessed some ways to be more efficient so that we can operate more "lean" so we can be more PROFITABLE. Overall.... yes... it was a great success in the way of breaking in to the business, dealing with a detail customer and learning what we could do better.

Thank you ALL for your responses. Really! It does warm my heart to get your input because I DO plan to do this full time soon. Just need to dial in to prospecting, finalizing tools and mastering the techniques.

Thanks again. Rob
 
If you don't mind me asking what tools and products did you use. 3.5 hours seems light but if it was two people that would be 7 hours total, for a one step with interior seems like you went pretty quick. Speed doesn't matter if customer was happy.
 
3.5 hours X 2 people is 7 hours. That works out to $19.28/hour. What are the other local competitive rates? I agree with that being on the low side but hey, not bad for your first gig!
 
Figure out your $ overhead and time involved then charge hourly. My goal is $25 per hour after taxes, insurance, rent, utilities, chemicals, and tool replacement. I try to quote around $50 per hour to meet that goal. When I was starting though I just wanted to make $10 an hour and had way less overhead (just product cost and taxes) so I was charging around $20 per hour. Just like any other job give yourself a raise when you feel more experienced.
If you're happy with the rate you're at now stop in to some dealerships. Not a ton of room for profit at 125-150 per vehicle but definitely good for getting experience under your belt.
 
Exactly. It was two people. My wife and I. As for the hourly pay it isn't great but it was the first gig so..... I've been focusing soooo much time concerning with the local RV / boat rates that I was caught off guard with the auto equation. I guess I was being a little naive to think I would not be doing cars but hey... I AM new at this so I knew I would learn a bit. We used a multi purpose cleaner and degreaser for the carpets and upholstery, assorted tools to get difficult access areas inside and the Meguiares quick interior detailer cleaner for the dash steering wheel etc... but exterior... used DP Xtreme Foam Formula for the wash with a foam cannon attached to my Dewalt 3200 PSI with a boars hair brush and Pinnacle XMT 360 with the 7424XP. White LC pad.

Pics on the way.. thanks for your input on everything!!!! Please tell me what I should have used... if I went cheap with products etc... I do intend on using the best products I can in order to help me get the results customers (and seasoned detailers) look for.

Rob - Route 66 Mobile Detail
 
Rob, congrats on your first 'mobile' full detail. :applause:

Did you go light? Well that's only a question you can answer. Personally... as I was reading out loud what all you did, then got to the price... my wife said "He charged WHAT? I'd have charged more than that for the interior alone."

I've done work for $20 an hour, and it really doesn't hurt my feelings. But I don't do it often, and I always quote much higher than anyone around here does. But... I don't have to feed my family doing it, as I do it for the love of it, and I do it HERE. (As in not mobile.) My interior starts at $195, exterior would be depending on what I do, but a basic wash/decon/nanoskin/spray wax runs $75~$100. Throwing in an AIO buff would be another $75 and up.

The important part is ho satisfied the customer was, and did he tip, AND will he send you more business. Once it starts rolling you'll be able to determine how to manage cost/vs expectation vs/realization. ;)
 
cardaddy said:
Rob, congrats on your first 'mobile' full detail. :applause:

Did you go light? Well that's only a question you can answer. Personally... as I was reading out loud what all you did, then got to the price... my wife said "He charged WHAT? I'd have charged more than that for the interior alone."

I've done work for $20 an hour, and it really doesn't hurt my feelings. But I don't do it often, and I always quote much higher than anyone around here does. But... I don't have to feed my family doing it, as I do it for the love of it, and I do it HERE. (As in not mobile.) My interior starts at $195, exterior would be depending on what I do, but a basic wash/decon/nanoskin/spray wax runs $75~$100. Throwing in an AIO buff would be another $75 and up.

The important part is ho satisfied the customer was, and did he tip, AND will he send you more business. Once it starts rolling you'll be able to determine how to manage cost/vs expectation vs/realization. ;)
Click to expand...


Thank you cardaddy. Yeah I will say for the level of detail, I did think I may have quoted a bit on the light side. Im a bit OCD so I couldnt look further from each aera without getting all the tight spots as clean as I would have expected (having a detailer come out to do MY car). For sure I will continue to research the local detailers to see what people are charging but... I am pretty detail oriented so I may (will) charge more when I get more experience. At work with my full time job, I build aircraft canopies etc.. all kinds of delicate processes... sealant...etc... and it requires extreme attention to detail to not only look great for the end customer but, make sure aircraft dont drop from the sky. I will be going full time soon but details like this need to get knocked out to get me where I can set sail with the knowledge and confidence I need to be profitable and efficient. Thanks for your help BIG time!!!

Rob - Route 66 Mobile Detail
 
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