Mobile detailing with a partner?

craigcaski

craigcaski

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Hey, to the mobile guys, have you tried working with a partner? do you find it more efficient?

I'm starting up a business this summer with a friend of mine. We both have worked as detailers at a shop a couple years back, but usually on separate cars.

I would imagine people appreciate having their car back a bit quicker. And having another set of eyes to check the car over can't hurt.

The thing is, I've been spending far more time and money working on the business and might just try to do it on my own...
 
Working with friends is a bad idea IMO. Business can turn best friends into mortal enemies if it goes bad. I would make sure you both have the exact same ideals and goals for the business. Also get everything in writing and have it signed. That way it won't end in a he said she said sort of thing.

I've known my best friend for over 20 years and I wouldn't go into business with him if you paid me. Its not worth our friendship.

As to detailing, you may get finished more quickly, but you will also only get half of the profit. Not to mention someone will usually end up working harder or doing more work. I just don't think there are enough benifits to outweigh the negatives.
 
The best way to lose that friend is to go into business with him.. I agree that you should get a helper..
 
Wow, so many haters. But I see what they talk about ALL the time.

Partnerships ARE a good idea, if you lay out the ground rules ahead of time. Your work load is less, your stress level is diminished, and your productivity increased.

I run a partnership with my brother. We both understand what we are trying to accomplish and are both willing to sacrifice to get there. Greed is the killer of partnerships.

Goals, jobs, plans all must be set in stone not by mouth.
 
Rafimos said:
Wow, so many haters. But I see what they talk about ALL the time.

Partnerships ARE a good idea, if you lay out the ground rules ahead of time. Your work load is less, your stress level is diminished, and your productivity increased.

I run a partnership with my brother. We both understand what we are trying to accomplish and are both willing to sacrifice to get there. Greed is the killer of partnerships.

Goals, jobs, plans all must be set in stone not by mouth.
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Having a partnership between relatives is a totally different beast then a partnership between friends IMO

Even between family though, I've seen relationships go south. Just ask my friend whose family member embezelled 300k
 
Flash,
I understand the difference and this is not a first partnership for me. However the advise is sound. Know your role in the partnership. Set boundaries and job roles. Set things in stone vs going off a friends good word. This will make any partnership run more efficiently.

You can not 50/50 a partnership without eventually stepping on toes or hurting someones feelings.

From the original post it sounds like he is investing all the money and time and that is not a good partnership. You have to have a partner in line with you instead of wanting to ride your shirt tails to success, family or not.
 
Rafimos said:
Flash,
I understand the difference and this is not a first partnership for me. However the advise is sound. Know your role in the partnership. Set boundaries and job roles. Set things in stone vs going off a friends good word. This will make any partnership run more efficiently.

You can not 50/50 a partnership without eventually stepping on toes or hurting someones feelings.

From the original post it sounds like he is investing all the money and time and that is not a good partnership. You have to have a partner in line with you instead of wanting to ride your shirt tails to success, family or not.
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I'm not totally against having investors/partners. If your dealing with a large sum of money, its the only way to go. Any partnership I've been in, what I've found to work best, is to have someone who thinks totally different from me. Some areas of the business they are stronger in (knowledge) and some areas I am stronger in

As long as you have a common goal, thats all that really matters IMO

Now, having said that....someone wanting to start a mobile detailing business I feel would be better suited to be a sole proprietorship. There is only so much pie to serve :hungry:
 
I'm going to agree with others here and say that you need a helper more than anything.

I too have thought about having a helper, especially now that I'm full time. I find that I'm wearing myself out much quicker. Also, by myself I typically can only bang out 2 cars a day. I average about 4 hours per car for a detail. And I still end up putting in a 10+ hour day between unloading, loading, and traveling to and from. I think having someone that would be able to assist me would make work go much quicker, it's another set of eyes, granted less money in my pocket but if I can get an extra one or two cars done in a day it more than makes up for itself.

I have yet to get a helper...but there are some days when I feel I could really use one. That being said I'm going to continue to operate without a helper for now. But I have a feeling in the near future I may try to find one.
 
I have taken a helper on a few jobs with me and only find that it is rewarding after he/she gets the hang of things. Up until then it's usually start buffing, stop buffer to answer questions, start buffing, stop buffer to answer more questions, start buffing, stop buffer to go to lunch. You get the point.

My opinion is that you should go at it alone until you can get an EIN., workmans comp. in addition to your liability/garage policy and hire an employee when the time is right. You do the dangerous stuff like rotary polishing and have them do the carpet scrubbing, wheel wells, tires, interior wipedowns etc. etc.

P.S. If you have your employees do any LSP application, be sure to have a clear product such as UPGP or Opti-Seal. If you don't you'll be sorry after all the wax in the cracks dries and turns white.
 
Wow, lots of no's for the partner idea.

Well for one I'm not worried about losing my friend. We've worked together 3 of my 4 jobs. I've known him for 18 years. There simply isn't enough money involved to cause any real issues. Besides, he has detailed cars for years, so no training or anything.

This isn't my sole source of income. I want to try and have fun with this, and not get burned out.
 
Hire people don't have a partner unless you want them to be a manager and have multiple mobile detailing rigs.

Sometimes I hire my nephew or niece to help me out on daily drivers. I have them do the grunt work while I do the detail work. I do the nice finishing touches and always thinking of head of what they can do next and looking over them to make sure they are doing a good job. Its great to have some help. I don't like claying or doing windows. They make 6 hour jobs into 4 hours and 12 hour jobs into 8 hour jobs. Its great having the help, but they just don't have the same attention to detail as I do.
 
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