Mobile business owners
- Thread starter Jon TDS
- Start date
camaro2ssblack
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- Nov 9, 2012
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I see mobile detailers in mall parking lots early in the morning.
It would be hard to do a proper coating without a garage. Most coatings need to be kept out of the elements fir 24+ hrs after application, not to mention doing a correction & final pre-coating wipe down outside would be a PIA. Oh and many coatings can’t be applied in the sun.
Calendyr
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- Jun 9, 2013
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McKee's 37 coating works very well outside. Never had an issue. As for the 24 hours thing. I apply a ceramic sealant on top of the coating to protect it from the elements during the cure period. Again, never had an issue.
As for the sun, it can make the work a little harder but with McKee's I have been able to coat directly in the sun and again, not issue. Just do smaller sections and you will be fine.
Finally. A portable instant canopy can resolve most weather issue you don't want to deal with.
sudsmobile
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- Jan 10, 2018
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I have also used McKee's outside and I recently switched to another product that is not sold here. No problems noted with either product even in the heat of summer. I've advocated a portable canopy many times on here, over and over and over, but let me tell you this. It gives you shade, it doesn't make it any cooler. If you can't stand the heat and you live somewhere hot, stay out of the mobile detail kitchen because you'll be hating life.
sudsmobile
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- Jan 10, 2018
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I'm not sure I understand your question. Mobile detailers do 99% of their business in the customer's driveway or on the street in front of the customer's house. I'm here to tell you, don't focus on selling your services to businesses. They don't pay worth a crap. You'll end up a fancy mobile car washer doing cut rate washes. They think they're getting a deal because they're doing you a huge favor letting you wash 10 cars at one location. Eff that. You can go make $300 on one job with a regular customer at their house, you don't need to sit in a parking lot washing every dirty ass Toyota Corolla for $300 a day. I'm not saying you can't find a good business that wants 3 or 4 higher end jobs done once a month. I'm saying that typical businesses want cheap, fast, volume. Stuff like "Oh don't worry about the inside, I just need it sprayed down." No, these are my services, you don't make my services up as you go along.
Thus the reason I used the term ‘many’ & ‘most’.
McKee’s 37 is one of the few and more forgiving coatings. I love using there stuff.
sudsmobile
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- Jan 10, 2018
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It's not really an untapped market. It's a market that's really hard to reach because when people are at work they tend to focus on work and in a typical office setting you're not getting past the receptionist if the business didn't invite you. If the business is involved with bringing you in, that frees the employees up a bit to interact with you, but again if the business is involved they're typically looking for a deal to do multiple cars.
I mean here's the question you should be asking yourself. How many people, out of a thousand, get their car detailed? 1? 5? I really don't know, but it's not a lot. Sit at a gas station with a drive thru car wash some day when you can't give away a detail and watch how many cars drive thru that thing. That's what people want, $5 car washes. The untapped market of hitting up people one at a time is really needle in a haystack stuff. You need to advertise directly to those 1 or 5 in 1000 that are actually looking for your services.
I mean here's the question you should be asking yourself. How many people, out of a thousand, get their car detailed? 1? 5? I really don't know, but it's not a lot. Sit at a gas station with a drive thru car wash some day when you can't give away a detail and watch how many cars drive thru that thing. That's what people want, $5 car washes. The untapped market of hitting up people one at a time is really needle in a haystack stuff. You need to advertise directly to those 1 or 5 in 1000 that are actually looking for your services.
It’s possible. The investment firm I used to work at had a detailer there every wed or thurs. We had a flyer in the break room and the 25-30 employees of the firm had him booked pretty solid on his day. My Cayenne was the cheapest car in the parking garage. Most were getting basic details (wash, wax, basic interior cleaning). If you wanted corrections or coatings he did those at his shop only.
sudsmobile
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- Jan 10, 2018
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That's probably a good point about what kind of businesses are in your local area. If you have a lot of really upscale businesses where the owners are driving very expensive cars, that probably lends itself to this plan better than other communities. I've got to imagine though that those types of businesses aren't untapped markets.
The reason I'm somewhat down on this idea is that we tried something similar when we first started. Nicely dressed (I actually bought my son a company button down shirt) going to businesses and trying to schedule jobs. If you couldn't get the boss onboard it was basically "thanks but no thanks" or "okay, leave us some information and we'll take a look at it." If you could get somebody up the chain of command onboard, then it started to turn to "what kind of deal can you give us for 5 cars?" The more we talked, the more I could see dollars flying out of my pocket. We pretty quickly abandoned that approach.
The reason I'm somewhat down on this idea is that we tried something similar when we first started. Nicely dressed (I actually bought my son a company button down shirt) going to businesses and trying to schedule jobs. If you couldn't get the boss onboard it was basically "thanks but no thanks" or "okay, leave us some information and we'll take a look at it." If you could get somebody up the chain of command onboard, then it started to turn to "what kind of deal can you give us for 5 cars?" The more we talked, the more I could see dollars flying out of my pocket. We pretty quickly abandoned that approach.
Calendyr
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- Jun 9, 2013
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Well... if the sun is shining down on the panel, the panel will get much hotter than ambiant temperature. This is especially true on dark or black vehicles. I have seen panels at 170+ degrees.
sudsmobile
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- Jan 10, 2018
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Look at you, all recommending a portable canopy and ####. 
Please, tell me more.
Please, tell me more.
Calendyr
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- Jun 9, 2013
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Look at you, all recommending a portable canopy and ####.
Just saying, shade does more than make it cooler for you
I received my canopy today. Took me 30 minutes to set it up and about 10 mins to store it in it's bag. Now that the tarp is installed, it should be faster to setup, but even if it says 3 mins on the bag, I don't see how it can take less than 10 minutes. It is pretty huge being 16 X 16 (smallest I could find). Parked my Dodge Caravan under it and it covers it completelly. The legs are close to the vehicle, maybe a foot of clearance on each side maximum.
Eager to try it out, but all my jobs this week are inside garages ;(
Have you had your company info printed on the canopies you own?
Calendyr
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- Jun 9, 2013
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LOL!
Yes, it's a little difficult to expand the frame alone. Once that is done, lifting it is easy.
I have not had any opportunity to use it at a client's location yet, but my only concern is that once opened, it's reallly be moved if I am alone. So I will be forced to move the car. Set up the canopy then move the car under it. Which is a waste of time. But if it's gonna be a very hot and sunny day, or if light rain is expected, it is worth the extra effort.
Yes, it's a little difficult to expand the frame alone. Once that is done, lifting it is easy.
I have not had any opportunity to use it at a client's location yet, but my only concern is that once opened, it's reallly be moved if I am alone. So I will be forced to move the car. Set up the canopy then move the car under it. Which is a waste of time. But if it's gonna be a very hot and sunny day, or if light rain is expected, it is worth the extra effort.