Home Based Legitimate Detailing Business?

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001jigsaw

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Hey everyone,

I've been detailing as a hobby and as a part-time side gig in Long Island, NY for some time now. I'm seeing an opportunity to make the move and go full time. I work by myself out of my at home 2 car garage. I have everything set up pretty well in there, and I plan on investing some further time and money to get in set up with A/C and heat. I'm looking for some advice about starting up a legitimate business working from the garage.

I do not plan on hiring any employees.

Some questions:

• Would you recommend a sole proprietorship or an LLC? Is one or the other better suited for doing this work at home?

• What could I do for insurance? I want to be sure both myself and my client's vehicles are covered and protected in case of any unforeseen incidents.

• Health insurance - does being a small business owner open up any different options for health insurance?

• Any recommendations on books or other sources of information to further educate the accounting side of the business, such as bookkeeping, taxes, etc? Do you guys do everything yourselves or do you have an accountant?

I'm looking to take several steps forward and bring this business to a new level. I'm very motivated and willing to do what it takes. Any further recommendations or advice is much appreciated.
 
The first thing you need to do is find out of your locality allows you to run a business out of your home, it's one thing if you're doing it on the side and they stop you, it's another thing if you quit your regular job, pour money into garage upgrades, then find out it's illegal. But maybe you've already researched that and made a decision.
 
I would first go to your town hall and speak with them. I run a full time legitimate detailing business out of my home as a sole proprietor. My town is very good about home based small businesses and my accountant had me file a DBA with the town hall then open up a business checking account. Then of course I have liability insurance and garage keepers insurance.

My accountant said that unless I am doing six figures there's no reason for a llc yet. I send my accountant my numbers every 4months and he handles my estimated tax payments to the state and federal government.
 
I started a sales rep business and met with an accountant to get started. She recommended an S corporation where your personal assets are protected in the event of a lawsuit. Your business expenses and income get added into your personal income tax return. Meeting with an accountant is a lot cheaper than an attorney. Whatever you decide to do, make sure that it is a professional, legitimate business with the proper licenses, insurance, training and credentials.
 
001jigsaw said:
Hey everyone,

I've been detailing as a hobby and as a part-time side gig in Long Island, NY for some time now. I'm seeing an opportunity to make the move and go full time. I work by myself out of my at home 2 car garage. I have everything set up pretty well in there, and I plan on investing some further time and money to get in set up with A/C and heat. I'm looking for some advice about starting up a legitimate business working from the garage.

I do not plan on hiring any employees.

Some questions:

• Would you recommend a sole proprietorship or an LLC? Is one or the other better suited for doing this work at home?

• What could I do for insurance? I want to be sure both myself and my client's vehicles are covered and protected in case of any unforeseen incidents.

• Health insurance - does being a small business owner open up any different options for health insurance?

• Any recommendations on books or other sources of information to further educate the accounting side of the business, such as bookkeeping, taxes, etc? Do you guys do everything yourselves or do you have an accountant?

I'm looking to take several steps forward and bring this business to a new level. I'm very motivated and willing to do what it takes. Any further recommendations or advice is much appreciated.
Click to expand...

How to Start a Home-based Car Detailing Business, car detailing book, best auto detailing books
 
001jigsaw said:
Some questions:

• Would you recommend a sole proprietorship or an LLC? Is one or the other better suited for doing this work at home? You can start easiest with a DBA (Doing Business As) as Justin mentioned. Otherwise you create a LLC and have it taxed as an S Corp which will save you money for paperwork/maintenance and on your taxes.

• What could I do for insurance? I want to be sure both myself and my client's vehicles are covered and protected in case of any unforeseen incidents. Garage Keepers and Liability Insurance are the two I would stick with.

• Health insurance - does being a small business owner open up any different options for health insurance? Check out Health Care Insurance Coverage for Self-Employed Individuals | HealthCare.gov or 10 Affordable Self-Employed Health Insurance Options When You're on a Budget - Careful Cents

• Any recommendations on books or other sources of information to further educate the accounting side of the business, such as bookkeeping, taxes, etc? Do you guys do everything yourselves or do you have an accountant? Definitely get an accountant
Click to expand...

Congratulations on taking the dive to full time business owner! I have answered above in bold.

Do you have clients lined up from part time that you can carry over and keep a consistent flow of new customers from recommendations? If you haven't already, reach out to your past customers and let them know that you are pleased to announce that you are going full time and are available list your days/hours. Also ask them to spread the news to their friends and family. Hopefully this helps! I look forward to hearing how it's going for you in the coming months.
 
Hey there I also operate a process service out of a home garage. I love that I can save money for clients and create less away time from family as this career can constantly pull you in that direction. A couple things I’ve learned work to effectively operate out of a home as far as a consumers perspective and achieving their trust and satisfaction are listed below.
1. I always tell any new callers, or perspective clients in person that I run a professional service with intentions of low overhead in interest of my clients, and try to give them a very good idea of where my neighborhood is located.

2. I always have a garage door open waiting for new clients to arrive no matter what. If I’m expecting them, I’m trying to create an inviting environment. I also usually offer clients to come inside the shop and look around, verbalizing how I want them to be comfortable.

3. Keep front yard, driveway super clean, and cut grass! I think I actually had some driveaways when I let my grass get really high last summer when I was super busy, it’s like going to do a mobile detail in a muddy dirty car.

4.offer help with drop off pick up. Considering you are going against the grain of modern business practices for the most part, make yourself more accommodating than other local options. I always make sure they don’t have any kind of logistical problems with dropping off, and getting back here and will always eat the cost of a little gas money to make the day for them super easy, this ride is also a great time to upsell coatings, care products, or explain your services better.

5. Emphasize how you will be there for them, this kind of also separates you from a “franchise” or “established storefront business” if you will. Your personal interactions and occasional text check ups and email promos will help you establish a great personal relationship with them. I also offer $50-$100 off any vehicle they bring back within 60 days to establish my own business consistentcy as well as my rapport with the client.

6. Always have good lighting in shop when expecting clients, a single mother doesn’t want to walk into a dark home garage by herself, and most men don’t either

7. Keep water bottles on chill to put in the car or offer while talking and doing estimates, again it’s being overly accommodating to the client to take mind off them being at a home.

7. Maintenance care folder for detail clients, one for them, and for me, so I can write notes, to over things and give them advice of maintenance to save them money. Also have a more intricate for my ceramics and the warranties that accompany them.

8. Offer free express mobile touch ups on days with appointments that it’s raining, no one wants a fresh detailed car only to have to clean it a day later. No charge for my business doing this service

9. Receipts!!

10. Give a botttle of onr to higher cost details at the least, it’s hard to mess up anything with it, and people feel taken care of


Sent from my iPhone using Autogeekonline mobile app
 
I love how customer centric you are. You remind me of myself. It's refreshing when you read other mobile detailers saying things like "Oh, I charge $30 to the cost of the job to drive to your their house." YOU'RE A MOBILE DETAILER. It's right in your name. Stop charging for services that should be included in your pricing. Stop wanting your cake and eating it too. You don't have RENT, that's your cost of doing business. All I can say is they must not have much or any competition.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
The first thing you need to do is find out of your locality allows you to run a business out of your home, it's one thing if you're doing it on the side and they stop you, it's another thing if you quit your regular job, pour money into garage upgrades, then find out it's illegal. But maybe you've already researched that and made a decision.
Click to expand...

Yes, I found out that it was not zoned for business at my house so my whole business model changed. I bought a trailer and went mobile instead.
 
001jigsaw said:
• What could I do for insurance? I want to be sure both myself and my client's vehicles are covered and protected in case of any unforeseen incidents.



• Any recommendations on books or other sources of information to further educate the accounting side of the business, such as bookkeeping, taxes, etc? Do you guys do everything yourselves or do you have an accountant?
Click to expand...

There are several threads on this forum about insurance. The general consensus was that insurance won't cover a mistake you make in your craft (ie burning thru a clear coat) and if you have an accident in your own driveway, insurance won't cover it (your state may vary.)

I have an intern from a local university who is a senior economics major. She does my social media, files and pays taxes, designs the website, comes up with marketing ideas and pays for the promotions. I have to write reports for her economics major advisor and she has to write papers and turn in research. It's a lot like this:

YouTube
 
Setec Astronomy said:
The first thing you need to do is find out of your locality allows you to run a business out of your home, it's one thing if you're doing it on the side and they stop you, it's another thing if you quit your regular job, pour money into garage upgrades, then find out it's illegal. But maybe you've already researched that and made a decision.
Click to expand...

^^^ this! After years of detailing my own vehicles as a hobby, I recently started detailing for-profit. I started small, first a co-worker's car, then another, then my neighbors, and word got out. Needless to say, if I wanted to continue this route, I needed to become legitimate. I looked up business license with the state, and found that the town I live in requires a business license as well. I'd be working in my garage, so not a disruption at all, right? Well, my town prohibits any type of automotive repair, including detailing, as a home business. I'm currently renting...and now this is motivating me to buy out in the county!
 
sudsmobile said:
I love how customer centric you are. You remind me of myself. It's refreshing when you read other mobile detailers saying things like "Oh, I charge $30 to the cost of the job to drive to your their house." YOU'RE A MOBILE DETAILER. It's right in your name. Stop charging for services that should be included in your pricing. Stop wanting your cake and eating it too. You don't have RENT, that's your cost of doing business. All I can say is they must not have much or any competition.
Click to expand...

I agree, I feel like for it being such an unregulated Industry with fluctuated scale of knowledge, skill, and price. some people’s price set ups and the way they present themselves reminds me of a designer perfume commercial, eau de toilette, but really most of us loose this job and we’re “in the toilet” lol, won’t quit my day job. When did the detailing become so “prestigious”? I don’t know about all y’all but I get dirty, dry hands, wake up with aches, and to be honest, don’t have much to turn to if my business would fall under, I would literally end up homeless quick with 2 months of no business, yet and I still feel sooo blessed, not “I’m the best”. we are all blessed to even be a part of a rising and open Industry that hasn’t been bleed to death by policy and raw materials price gouging, though trying to filter through the luminous circles of the celeb detailers and a never ending product carousel is the modern labyrinth. In other words, I feel so thankful for every single person that makes a CHOICE to call and receive my services, and pay hundreds of dollars for a service that isn’t fundamental to their survival, and could easily be dropped from a persons priorities, it is NOT a necessity, we aren’t digging ditches or delivering babies.Like, if the economy goes down again, and I were charging $30 to go to a home with a mobile service, guess who’s not gonna get called bc u gouged them the first time?. Just bc people pay it doesn’t mean it didn’t upset them either, they just won’t call you again. I’ve detailed cars a week after they took it to get detailed, and didn’t even realize it had been “serviced” until the client told me they charged more than I did. I try my hardest to think about how hard people have to work for that vehicle and things life, and I relate to every single person, everyone has a struggle and everyone needs to be accommodated, that’s what they are paying for, to not have to worry, that’s what we as detailers are responsible for, not correcting clients on formal technicalities and upcharging because we are smart enough to do it, it’s pompous. that’s why this countries pressed in the first place. Care for people, take care of them, and that energy and strong moral rapport will carry you when you need to be carried. Also, becoming a famous detailer is over rated. I’m happy with my working class income and my little home, let’s restore the middle class, instead of trying to extract it more


Sent from my iPhone using Autogeekonline mobile app
 
Yay for the middle class working man! LOL Even though my station in life has changed as I've gotten older, I still consider myself a blue collar working man. I was fortunate to stumble into money when I was younger and I married very well, but I've always worked with my hands. I agree with a lot of what you wrote. I value my customers and I appreciate their business.
 
• Would you recommend a sole proprietorship or an LLC? Is one or the other better suited for doing this work at home?
A: I don't know about the rules in the US. Here in Canada, I feel that Sole Proprietorship has many advantages. You can deduct a part of your house as business expenses. For example, I deduce my office, my garage and half of a room as business space. I also deduct the same percentage of my electricity bills, half my internet access cost and half of my phone expenses. Insurrances can also be deducted the same way. So overall you are getting a lot of savings this way. The LLC would protect you more against lawsuits I believe. Would have to talk to a lawyer to see if it is really the case when it comes to detailing where liability is very low and the kind of damage you could potentially do is very low as well. Personally unless I was working regularly on multi-million dollar cars, I don't see the advantage.

• What could I do for insurance? I want to be sure both myself and my client's vehicles are covered and protected in case of any unforeseen incidents.
A: Insurrance is good. But it depends on the premiums. Here in Canada, getting covered for both garage keepers and general liability was over a 1000$ per year. So you need a lot of volume to justify that kind of expense. When you think about it, the potential for damaging a customer's car is extremelly low when doing detailing. And if you do damage a car, it's usually a low cost repair. The only exceptions would be: 1) If you drive customer's cars for some reason. 2) If you do more risky work like wet sanding and polishing with a rotary tool and wool pad. If you are just starting out, I suggest you put money in a saving's account and use that as a reserve to pay for any damage you might do. When business picks up and you start bringing in real money, then insurrance would just be the cost of doing business. But if you are doing 10,000$ a year in revenue from detailing, paying 1000$ insurrance is crazy.


• Any recommendations on books or other sources of information to further educate the accounting side of the business, such as bookkeeping, taxes, etc? Do you guys do everything yourselves or do you have an accountant?
A: I don't know any books, sorry. I took the charts for income tax and entered them in excel. I give everything to my accountant once a year and they produce the final work. Costs me 200$ to do that.

One thing you really have to do is make sure to put all the money aside that you have to. So calculate you typical tax rate and put that part aside in a bank account for tax season. Same for taxes you receive from customers, do not leave the money in you operations account... but it in the tax savings account. If you don't do that, you can have a very nasty surprise at tax time where you own a lot more money than you have!

When I do my taxes, I usually end up having a 4000$ to 5000$ return. I usually re-invest all of it in the business, buying new equipement and products. So that turns into more tax returns for the following year. This is how I was able to grow for the past few years, started with minimum equipment and every year added more. The biggest expense was the van 3 years ago. Now I have everything I could possibly need except a big hot water extractor. I don't feel it is needed but I will very likelly buy one next year because I have nothing else I need.
 
Calendyr said:
• Would you recommend a sole proprietorship or an LLC? Is one or the other better suited for doing this work at home?
A: I don't know about the rules in the US. Here in Canada, I feel that Sole Proprietorship has many advantages. You can deduct a part of your house as business expenses. For example, I deduce my office, my garage and half of a room as business space. I also deduct the same percentage of my electricity bills, half my internet access cost and half of my phone expenses. Insurrances can also be deducted the same way. So overall you are getting a lot of savings this way. The LLC would protect you more against lawsuits I believe. Would have to talk to a lawyer to see if it is really the case when it comes to detailing where liability is very low and the kind of damage you could potentially do is very low as well. Personally unless I was working regularly on multi-million dollar cars, I don't see the advantage.

• What could I do for insurance? I want to be sure both myself and my client's vehicles are covered and protected in case of any unforeseen incidents.
A: Insurrance is good. But it depends on the premiums. Here in Canada, getting covered for both garage keepers and general liability was over a 1000$ per year. So you need a lot of volume to justify that kind of expense. When you think about it, the potential for damaging a customer's car is extremelly low when doing detailing. And if you do damage a car, it's usually a low cost repair. The only exceptions would be: 1) If you drive customer's cars for some reason. 2) If you do more risky work like wet sanding and polishing with a rotary tool and wool pad. If you are just starting out, I suggest you put money in a saving's account and use that as a reserve to pay for any damage you might do. When business picks up and you start bringing in real money, then insurrance would just be the cost of doing business. But if you are doing 10,000$ a year in revenue from detailing, paying 1000$ insurrance is crazy.


• Any recommendations on books or other sources of information to further educate the accounting side of the business, such as bookkeeping, taxes, etc? Do you guys do everything yourselves or do you have an accountant?
A: I don't know any books, sorry. I took the charts for income tax and entered them in excel. I give everything to my accountant once a year and they produce the final work. Costs me 200$ to do that.

One thing you really have to do is make sure to put all the money aside that you have to. So calculate you typical tax rate and put that part aside in a bank account for tax season. Same for taxes you receive from customers, do not leave the money in you operations account... but it in the tax savings account. If you don't do that, you can have a very nasty surprise at tax time where you own a lot more money than you have!

When I do my taxes, I usually end up having a 4000$ to 5000$ return. I usually re-invest all of it in the business, buying new equipement and products. So that turns into more tax returns for the following year. This is how I was able to grow for the past few years, started with minimum equipment and every year added more. The biggest expense was the van 3 years ago. Now I have everything I could possibly need except a big hot water extractor. I don't feel it is needed but I will very likelly buy one next year because I have nothing else I need.
Click to expand...

For a home based business with low risk of liability like auto detailing I would go with a sole proprietorship. It’s easy to set up and cheap to maintain every year. Easy to file taxes as well


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Agree with the accountant thing. $268/year is what my guy charges me to do my business and my personal taxes. Each. Well worth the money.
 
LLC is likewise cheap... I think. It's less than $200 and that's thru the online registration, I bet it's cheaper if you go directly to the Secretary of State.

Insurance... I think I pay about $30 each month for $2m general liability coverage. I didn't get the garage keeper as I don't keep the client's cars in my garage.

Accountant... Mine is charging $300 I believe.

Good thing of all of these are you can list them as expenses for your business so your taxable income will be lower.

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Manifestingdetails said:
I agree, I feel like for it being such an unregulated Industry with fluctuated scale of knowledge, skill, and price. some people’s price set ups and the way they present themselves reminds me of a designer perfume commercial, eau de toilette, but really most of us loose this job and we’re “in the toilet” lol, won’t quit my day job. When did the detailing become so “prestigious”? I don’t know about all y’all but I get dirty, dry hands, wake up with aches, and to be honest, don’t have much to turn to if my business would fall under, I would literally end up homeless quick with 2 months of no business, yet and I still feel sooo blessed, not “I’m the best”. we are all blessed to even be a part of a rising and open Industry that hasn’t been bleed to death by policy and raw materials price gouging, though trying to filter through the luminous circles of the celeb detailers and a never ending product carousel is the modern labyrinth. In other words, I feel so thankful for every single person that makes a CHOICE to call and receive my services, and pay hundreds of dollars for a service that isn’t fundamental to their survival, and could easily be dropped from a persons priorities, it is NOT a necessity, we aren’t digging ditches or delivering babies.Like, if the economy goes down again, and I were charging $30 to go to a home with a mobile service, guess who’s not gonna get called bc u gouged them the first time?. Just bc people pay it doesn’t mean it didn’t upset them either, they just won’t call you again. I’ve detailed cars a week after they took it to get detailed, and didn’t even realize it had been “serviced” until the client told me they charged more than I did. I try my hardest to think about how hard people have to work for that vehicle and things life, and I relate to every single person, everyone has a struggle and everyone needs to be accommodated, that’s what they are paying for, to not have to worry, that’s what we as detailers are responsible for, not correcting clients on formal technicalities and upcharging because we are smart enough to do it, it’s pompous. that’s why this countries pressed in the first place. Care for people, take care of them, and that energy and strong moral rapport will carry you when you need to be carried. Also, becoming a famous detailer is over rated. I’m happy with my working class income and my little home, let’s restore the middle class, instead of trying to extract it more


Sent from my iPhone using Autogeekonline mobile app
Click to expand...

Celeb detailers and the product carousel...

Good points.
 
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