Old Dog Looking For Something New

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johnathansmith1969

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Hey Everyone,


I am 50 years old and thinking about trying my hand in auto detailing. I am so new to this and learning so much from AutoGeek but I am thinking about setting up a detailing shop out of my house next years and I would like to hear form others each step I need to take to setup a shop and cover me from errors. please give me any help you can..
 
Welcome to AGO John!

You are asking for years of info here.

I would second Billy's recommendation and do quite a bit of reading first.

Then, if you have any more specific questions, ask away.

JMO.
 
It's not a detailing business. It's a business. A sales business. Have you owned your own business before? Ever been in sales? Give us your background.
 
Welcome to AG! Your location and level of experience will help us give you the best information. You might consider investing in one of Mike Phillips detailing classes before you set your sights on opening a business. Detailing is hard on your body. Starting at 50 is not impossible, but it will take some muscle building before you start 8 hour days.
 
rlmccarty2000 said:
Welcome to AG! Your location and level of experience will help us give you the best information. You might consider investing in one of Mike Phillips detailing classes before you set your sights on opening a business. Detailing is hard on your body. Starting at 50 is not impossible, but it will take some muscle building before you start 8 hour days.
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So, so true. The first couple months, well maybe more than a couple, I thought I was going to die. Add to that the summer heat and the winter cold and it definitely takes a toll.
 
I second the attending classes that a few others have said. Depending on where you are you could be close to one. Florida? Mike Phillips. Ohio? Esoteric, So Cal? Jeremy @ Shine Supply. I know the Shine Supply class like half of if focuses on how to start and run your own detailing business. None are cheap, but if you want to do this for a living it would be something to look into. I also know people fly from all over the country for all the ones I mentioned, and there are others I'm forgetting. So you might have something in driving distance from you. I'm considering the Shine Supply one, it's $1,900 for 3 days but there's so much on the business side I need to learn it would be money well spent imho. The Renny Doyle book that was suggested is a definite must. I think Renny still offers one on one classes up in Big Bear (So Cal) Not many people are on his level anywhere.

One thing about starting a detailing business, your potential customers won't be detailers, so their standards will be much lower than a typical person on AGO. When I first started detailing on the side, a simple wash with Chemical Guys Wash & Gloss had many people in my area beyond happy. They don't care about swirls and marring and they don't notice any of the BLEH things I'd see right off the bat. To them if it looks clean and is shiny they will be back. I dunno where you live, but I suspect people are the same pretty much everywhere. If you learn some basic techniques from people on here and a watching few YT videos. You'll already be better than all but a few people out there.
 
Welcome! Plenty of information and guidance on this site. One suggestion,as mentioned above, is to take a detailing class from Mike P. Nothing beats hands on learning with the tools and “goods” needed to deliver a knock it out of the park quality product to your customer.
 
johnathansmith1969 said:
Hey Everyone,


I am 50 years old and thinking about trying my hand in auto detailing.
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I'm 58 and I'd highly recommend it.

Not only do you get the satisfaction of doing the job yourself and doing right, something you cannot count on from others calling themselves "detailers", or from taking it to a dealership, but it's also rewarding in the results are usually impressive if you use good products.


johnathansmith1969 said:
I am so new to this and learning so much from AutoGeek but I am thinking about setting up a detailing shop out of my house next years and I would like to hear form others each step I need to take to setup a shop and cover me from errors. please give me any help you can..
Click to expand...


For the last 4-5 years, I've had a LOT of people take my 3-day Bootcamp class and my 2-day Roadshow class that are retiring from their career job and starting a part-time or full time detailing business. This trend continues with my latest class just a few weeks ago with 4-5 people that fit this description.

They take my class for these reasons,

1: To make sure they know what they are doing so they don't screw-up someone's car.

2: To figure out how to make money. They are smart enough they are not going to let their buddies say, "Hey I'll give you a six-pack of beer to detail my Corvette"

3: To use all the popular tools BEFORE They start investing in tools, pads and products only to find out they chose wrong because they didn't have any hands-on experience before making substantial investments.


Read a lot here, there's more great info on this forum than all the facebook groups combined. And the format makes taking the information and getting it into your brain easier.


:)
 
Good on you for stepping out of your comfort zone and trying something new! I have 15 years experience running a detail business and the first 5 years was the hardest (This was pre-social media era and the likes). Developing your service offering and client base is the obvious initial uphill battle. My suggestion would be to start detailing friends & family vehicles for dirt cheap or free. This will help develop your detailing skills, the services you'll eventually offer and the opportunity to take pics/video to create a portfolio of your work to post on social media for future clients.
 
sudsmobile said:
It's not a detailing business. It's a business. A sales business. Have you owned your own business before? Ever been in sales? Give us your background.
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Great point and often over looked by some when starting a business, any business. In addition to what has been recommended to reading Renny Doyle's book, do educate yourself on business principles. One of the main reasons business's fail is failure to understand business practices. Also, it sounds like you may be new to detailing, if so I recommend after practice and learning on your own vehicle, offer to do family and friends and ask for feedback from them.
 
rlmccarty2000 said:
Welcome to AG! Your location and level of experience will help us give you the best information. You might consider investing in one of Mike Phillips detailing classes before you set your sights on opening a business. Detailing is hard on your body. Starting at 50 is not impossible, but it will take some muscle building before you start 8 hour days.
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That's for sure. I'm 70 years old, but still at, just slower. 50 is as good as 30 if you're in good shape.
Do 3 complete corrections and sealant in one week. If that doesn't kill your drive, then go for it.
It's a complete different ball game when you step up full time from a hobby.
 
sudsmobile said:
It's not a detailing business. It's a business. A sales business. Have you owned your own business before? Ever been in sales? Give us your background.
Click to expand...

Definitely agree here! I hope Johnathan visits us again to give us some more information. That's what I see most in my area is someone likes to detail cars and decides to make money off of it without thinking about it as a full-on business. Then after grinding for a year they look up and realize they need to sell more, market more, set a proper foundation for their business, etc. before they go belly-up.

Also I would recommend to stay away from debt as much as possible when starting out, even if you are a perfect salesman/saleswoman, your stress will be lower if you know you are working for profit and not for debt payments, just my opinion though :)
 
StartAutoDetailing said:
Definitely agree here! I hope Johnathan visits us again to give us some more information. That's what I see most in my area is someone likes to detail cars and decides to make money off of it without thinking about it as a full-on business. Then after grinding for a year they look up and realize they need to sell more, market more, set a proper foundation for their business, etc. before they go belly-up.

Also I would recommend to stay away from debt as much as possible when starting out, even if you are a perfect salesman/saleswoman, your stress will be lower if you know you are working for profit and not for debt payments, just my opinion though :)
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Agree 100% about the debt. It's super easy to string together 11 or 12 huge weeks and think "hey I can afford this or that, put it on a credit card." If you can't pay cash, don't buy it. You're not a Fortune 500 company with shareholders, you're a small business usually a one man show. We recently financed the start up of a new shop out of our own pockets (me and my son). Stressful as hell, the money was pouring out the door. But it's over now and every cent that comes in (minus rent and a few small monthly bills) goes straight into our pockets, just like with the mobile.
 
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