help:how to split profit 2 person details

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specv10

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so me and my bestfriend have been going on about the idea of making extra money on the weekends doing some details for some cars

His idea is he will do interiors and ill do paint correction/exterior etc
Problem is i own most of the equipment and products and he owns a water extractor and thats about it.

I have done a couple of cars and i actually have 6 customers waiting for me to do their cars. I own a restaurant and work mon-friday 8-9
i take saturdays off and work half days on sundays so i can use the extra help.

I can honestly say i have never done much work on interiors such as heavy dirt and stain removals and it doesnt sound appealing lol

The dilemma is how should i split profit amongst each other .
I really think he is pushing for 50/50.

Like i said he is a very good friend of mine and is currently in debt so im trying to also help him out but just dont want to overwork myself and spend money on product and make close to nothing.



My idea: both of us wash the car and dry it off and after that if paint work is needed ill work on it while he cleans interior. Im aware i could do all this by myself but like i said im trying to help him out a bit
 
I would strongly recommend against this, chances are the money will come between your friendship. Plus your doing all the heavy work. Cleaning interiors is easy and generally most people just want a vacuum and a wipe down. Either way you go, it's definitely not 50/50 more like 70/30. I wouldn't do it all. If you can polish paint you can definitely do interiors and keep all the profit. One thing for sure, if you just spent 2-3 hours on the exterior and your walikng away with $50-$60.00 how are you going to feel about that? That's not worth your time. Why don't you give him a job at your restaurant?
 
custmsprty said:
I would strongly recommend against this, chances are the money will come between your friendship. Plus your doing all the heavy work. Cleaning interiors is easy and generally most people just want a vacuum and a wipe down. Either way you go, it's definitely not 50/50 more like 70/30. I wouldn't do it all. If you can polish paint you can definitely do interiors and keep all the profit. One thing for sure, if you just spent 2-3 hours on the exterior and your walikng away with $50-$60.00 how are you going to feel about that? That's not worth your time. Why don't you give him a job at your reastaurant?
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see this is my actual thought process and how i have been feeling about the whole thing . 4 out of the 6 cars will need full details inside and out including heavy stain removal so ill deff need his help on those

bad situation to be in


restaurant isnt doing so well and i have my youngest brother working there so he can get some school money
 
custmsprty said:
I would strongly recommend against this, chances are the money will come between your friendship.
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:iagree: i've seen the almighty $ come between two friends that were best friends since kindergarten and no longer talk to each other. it's not worth it IMO...
 
Interior cleaning is along the lines of janitor work. Paint correction is specialized work. 50/50 is very generous. Hire a high school kid for minimum wage for your interior work and to help out.
 
Money splitting should be a talk. Agree on something.
Hiring someone: You need insurance and get bonded and incorporate as an LCC. What if an employee gets hurt on the job your screwed. What do you do if they damage a car.
I work alone. The detail takes whatever time it needs to make my customer happy within the expectations and what you are getting paid for. I do one car at a time unless I'm doing a quick return client wash.
Personally I don't lift a finger for less then $100 on a new client. If it's a return client I will do work for under $100 it's free advertising and return clients are the one's you want to keep. You know when talking to a possible client if it's gonna be a one off. If I'm slow I might take a cheaper job but it's a lot of set up and clean up for anything under $100.
 
I see two possible solutions that are fair and equitable for both of you:

1) if they are using their own tools and chems then just let them do the entire interior and pay them the full amount for the interior detail.

2) if they are using your tools and chems, pay them for doing the interior minus a percentage for the usage of your products.

This will eliminate a ton of stress (compared to paying per hour) because if they do things in ways that you might not agree with (like taking way longer than normal) you won't be paying them by the hour and pointlessly wasting money. This also allows you to hire them as a subcontractor since you aren't technically specifying how they are to perform the work and only making them accountable for the results.

Just my 2 cents...
 
I agree. I would treat him as a sub contractor. Pay him for the actual job that you would be doing.

Have it set up so you have a set price for normal vacuum and cleaning/dressing. Add in extras for spot or pet hair etc.

Whatever your overhead is make sure you take that into account.

If I need help, I usually pay 15%-20% of the ticket. The work is usually helping with wheels, interiors, removing tape, and IPA wipe downs.
Remember, it's your name, your risk, your customers, marketing, etc. So there is no way I would do 50/50..

-Scott

Sent from my HTC One X using AG Online
 
I'd like to share my experience and hope that this helps you with your decision. When I was in high school and my first year of college, one of my best friends and I would detail cars. It started when I realized he saw how I kept my car (he at this time did not have one) and how meticulous I was with everything that I did around the car. I always liked doing exterior work, while he preferred interior work. He would do a final wipe-down of the exterior, while I would shampoo all mats and upholstery, so it wasn't completely split but it's not like we "cared".

I never did it for the money - I worked for my dad part-time and make crazy amounts of money (for a kid) doing that and trading stocks online (yes, I was doing this in high school). He always was in need of a couple bucks and had to do everything on his own, despite his family being very comfortable. It was never a question that we would split the funds 50-50. Heck, at the time, I was doing it just to try out new products and so I wouldn't have to go to the gym that night (looking back, I can't believe how hard we worked - sometimes 3 cars a day from 6am till 2am or whenever we got done). Everything was done by hand, and believe it or not I managed to do a lot of correction. Some of my customers liked that I did everything by hand - they were "scared" of machines like many of us are before we have a proper education.

I always owned the equipment and would purchase the products out of my own pocket, and then reimburse myself before splitting the funds. I did it for the love of the work and the cars, he did it for the money. Despite this, because we were friends we always wanted it to be fair, which is what I would recommend for you. If you feel that 50-50 is fair, do that and defend your position. For me, even if I felt I was doing more work, I would swallow this in the interest of simplicity and to help a friend out.

Sorry for the long-winded story, but it was a similar situation. If you want to ask any other questions, please don't hesitate.
 
How are you charging for your work? Do you have levels of detail work?You should be charging a fixed amount for varying tiers of exterior detail and separately for interior detail.
Many detailers have varying levels of detail work for both exterior and interior.
If you don't have such a detail plan, then it might be worth your while to put in place such a scale.
What you each make should be simple enough once you have a pricing schedule in place...
 
imo if your trying to help him and still make a profit i would take your cost out of the quote and then do a 65/35 split you both make money and your still coming out on top as your cost is taken out. or since your hiring him on pay him a hourly rate.
 
I also suggest you keep your business to yourself in regards to ownership.

If you decide to use him, contract it or pay hourly. It must be clear that you are the owner/boss and what you say goes. Things go easier as long as everyone understands their roles. I have a few friends that will help me out from time to time on certain projects and they get that I am first and foremost the boss and when it comes to work, it's nothing personal. Fortunately, they are professional and I have never once had an issue with a friend(or my younger brother) who I've paid to assist me. When folks think they can call the shots and are not the one running the show, it becomes a big problem.
 
specv10 said:
so me and my bestfriend have been going on about the idea of making extra money on the weekends doing some details for some cars Very hard to be a part time detailer and only do "some" cars on the weekend. it takes new business detailers that are fully committed and ready to roll months till things start to pick up

His idea is he will do interiors and ill do paint correction/exterior etc
Problem is i own most of the equipment and products and he owns a water extractor and thats about it. what type of extractor does he own? besides the extractor, what about APC, towels, brushes, vacuum, dressing, etc.. charge hourly, however many man hours he puts in is how much he should get pai. OR let him run his own interior cleaning business :xyxthumbs:

I have done a couple of cars and i actually have 6 customers waiting for me to do their cars. I own a restaurant and work mon-friday 8-9
i take saturdays off and work half days on sundays so i can use the extra help. you dont really need help, you need to be more efficient of how you operate. needing extra help is when you are getting calls left and right or are working on an intensive paint restoration.. and even then..

I can honestly say i have never done much work on interiors such as heavy dirt and stain removals and it doesnt sound appealing lol

The dilemma is how should i split profit amongst each other .
I really think he is pushing for 50/50.

Like i said he is a very good friend of mine and is currently in debt so im trying to also help him out but just dont want to overwork myself and spend money on product and make close to nothing. not to sound rude, but can your friend not find a job? youll have to invest a good amount of money for proper tools/equipment (and to restock) before you even start making "huge" profit


My idea: both of us wash the car and dry it off and after that if paint work is needed ill work on it while he cleans interior. Im aware i could do all this by myself but like i said im trying to help him out a bit I did a wash and seal on a sedan last week with a simple wipe down/vacuum and 3 emblem/badge removal. took me 5 hours= $125. i dont see why you think 2 ppl are needed for the wash then break apart
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its cool to help out a friend, but maybe this isnt the best way?

just my .02


goodluck! :buffing:
 
I like to work in teams. I find it more motivating and it makes work go smoother. But past expériences have made me work alone as much as I can. People always find a way to make me regret working with them. I always have very high expectations both of myself and others. When I work I always try to do the best job I possibly can and waste as little time as I can. On the other hand, pretty much everyone I have worked with in my life try to work as little as possible and get away with the bare minimum effort. So for that reason I find it almost impossible to work with others unless I ask for help from a friend for doing things I could not possibly do alone, and in that case I don't care if they are lazy because they are doing me a favor and I feel I have no right to have any expectations.

So before you do a 50/50 deal, think about this. What if your friend does only a fraction of the work you do. How will you feel about that? From what I read here, pretty much all the pro detailers are OCD like I am. But that is not something most people are. If your friends have the same personality you do, then it might work but if you are OCD and he is not... I don't give you guys a month before it breaks appart.
 
Like others have said, money changes people...whether Family or Friend. If you are OCD and your friend is not, you will be doing his "part" of the job and like Calendyr said "I don't give you guys a month before it breaks appart."

When my friends do "help" which is very rare, it usually consists of me asking them "Hey hand me that!" I do hope it works out for the best if you do decide to go into business with your friend. :xyxthumbs:
 
Take it from somebody who's been around, has owned two businesses, and speaks from experience....NEVER, EVER go into business with family members or "good" frieinds (as in the kind you would not want to lose).
 
silverfox said:
Take it from somebody who's been around, has owned two businesses, and speaks from experience....NEVER, EVER go into business with family members or "good" frieinds (as in the kind you would not want to lose).
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+1 I worked for my best friend for 2 years and now we are not friends very bad idea.
 
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