Potential Issues with Mobile Detailing

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mechanic380

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I am interested in opening a mobile detailing business with a partner. My strategy is somewhat different than many members here so I would like a little feedback. I have a somewhat fulltime job that has no set schedule. My partner is the same. We both work in the construction industry. So I plan on using employees to do production detailing. I will have time to check in on them and maintain quality standards as will my partner. We probably will not even offer full paint correction in the first year unless we find a really experienced detailer who works for peanuts.

My first question is how do you mobile detailers deal with working in a business lot? Say on a customers car while they are at work. Do you ask permission from the property owner or just show up do your deed and leave? Most businesses in the area are small and personal, but there are several large corporations that we would like to target so we can do multiple jobs at one site.

Do you think my plan of using employees is practical? I am of the impression that the services we will offer should be something we can train employees to do. We plan to offer an AIO polish as our top of the line detail service, at least to begin with. Can any joe off the street learn to do a competent job doing an AIO service with training?

So those are my two main sticking points at the moment. I think if we can overcome them then we have a real shot at running a profitable small business. We see this as a cash-flow operation that we will manage. We understand that margins will be lower when paying employees for all of the labor. I think the best analogy is we would be like the local car wash but mobile. The biggest wash in town you usually have to wait 30min to an hour for a tunnel wash and wipe down on a busy day which includes Thursday during the day not just weekends.

I look forward to your input.
 
I am not mobile, and although I have employees they work side by side with me, so please take my post for what it is worth.

First, let me address my biggest concerned which is a lax supervisory schedule of less than qualified personel (that you can get on the cheap) which are representing your company. One mishap and your name is tarnished. Unless you are ready to come inspect and put your final seal of approval BEFORE you relinquish the vehicle back to the customer, I don't see this as viable option in the long run. Those employees have no vested interest and WILL cut corners..... and that will tarnish your reputation, not theirs

This leads me to my second thought on the matter. If they are working for you (for a reduced fee); and do all the work independently; and they are good enough to keep as employees; etc.... then what prevents them from hanging their own shingle and cut out the boss's take? Don't you think they will be tempted to "steal" those accounts to make extra money on the side? Don't you think they will know or find out how much you charge for the job THEY do? I guess my question is: "what incentive do they have in getting YOU paid (the person not sweating it off)??

As for your question about working on someone else's property, you will need a release of liability waiver for ALL places you work at. Each business is required to have a General Liability insurance to cover any medical or material loss while on their private property (which includes the parking lot). You will need a GL yourself and will need to release them from harm in case a mishap happens on your watch. Lord knows those GL will shoot any claims down if they learn that the incident happened at the hands of another party working in their parking lot.
 
What you guys are looking into may be best served by buying a carwash. I have found that in mobile detailing, you are the one that the client is buying the majority of the time. I had two guys working for me, that when I was there, they did great work, but when I was not there, to them it was just another job. For what you are talking about, each unit would need a manager who would be vested in making sure that the jobs were done correctly and that you are getting the most ROI on your workers, i.e. that they are not taking an hour to do a 20 minute job.
You also made a comment about getting an experienced detailer who works for peanuts. That does not exist, if you are going to do paint correction and you are contracting another detailer to do it, that person needs to be compensated, point blank.
As far as the permission to do your work on a business property. That is also your responsibility to secure that permission in writing would be best, but sometimes verbal is fine. Some businesses will not allow anything to be done on their property due to insurance liability.
I think you are asking some great questions, but I also think that you and your friend may be going at this in a wrong direction. You both should think about starting this on your own part-time until your client base dictates hiring more people or at least one of you going full time with it.

HUMP
 
Both what Hump Diesel and DR pain said are absolutely true!!!

Have you ever done mobile detailing? Its quite a bit different than detailing at your own place, you have to consider your surroundings , temperature , weather , etc. These all play a big factor in how long the job is going to take and with you not being on site all the time that could become a big problem real quick .

My advice would be start small and slow just you and your partner. Take on what you can handle , do quality work and build your rep.
 
The ONLY way to be successful in the model you've proposed is to follow the franchise model. Read the E-myth and Dont invest a dime until you and your partner are both on the exact same page.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using AG Online
 
I think that your business model does have an application, you're just looking at the wrong market. If you are set on the business model (you bring in business while others are providing labor), I think you would be better off targeting dealerships and fleets where you can have multiple people working on multiple vehicles at one site. A single person can oversee many workers. The business transaction can be directly with the customer without your staff being involved, or even talking to the customer. Your staff will have a hard time 'stealing' customers from you. Having multiple workers on one site means you can easily establish a quality standard and workers are naturally encouraged to outperform eachother, providing a better result.
 
Employees are really expensive. Even if you can find them cheap (paying them $8 or $9 hour) your cost is going to be much higher. I've had the same "helper" for 2 yrs now but I still can't afford to hire him.
 
I can show you several businesses in the metro DC area that operate in this fashion.

Bona fide high income business model that you are suggesting :props:

Edit: As far as any Joe...turn over rate is extremely high using said model.

Can any joe off the street learn to do a competent job doing an AIO service with training?
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Water Containment one of the most important factors in mobile Detailing. Water containment, detailers and the EPA

Whether you are Mobile or stationary you should be in accordance with EPA regulations. This is a high cost area for the detailing industry. Even the "green" products in the detailing industry falls under these rules.

If you can not spend the majority of your time with your employees you should have a Manager/Head Detailer that is constantly checking with the employees and keeping an eye on them. With the situation you are talking about you will not be able to spend enough time at each location to ensure the quality you want is ensured. On top of making sure customer service and satisfaction is being done at the level you and your customers expect.

These will be two costly areas in the business model you are talking about.

Another option would be to find a third partner who can put in the time and commitment that it takes to start off a small business and run it successfully especially in the detailing industry.
 
First, thank you for all the comments. I really appreciate all the great advice. Just to clear things up I am not planning on paying the employees I have on the cheap. In fact to attract the kind of employees I want I am planning on offering very competitive wages. I think some took the "detailer who will work for peanuts" as a knock. I certainly didn't mean it that way. It was mostly a joke. I know from reading these forums what a skilled detailer would like to make. I also know like all skilled trades employees expect to be compensated appropriately. I should have properly stated it, "I think it will be difficult and impractical to find a detailer who can do full corrections that we can afford."

I have planned for a lot of the additional problems mentioned, and think I have good solutions for them. VP Mark and Audio S6 both touched on integral parts of my plan. I am basing my model off of the franchise model. However, I have no intention of buying into a franchise. I do see this more as a "production car wash", but purchasing a car wash is out of the question financially. However, it is a direction I think we may pursue in the future. I checked amazon and the E-Myth seems like a good idea. I will check it out as you advised. Also, the advice about the business partner is well received. As soon as I started working on this I realized it may be an issue. There is a quote about the Over/Under odds of a business partnership.

Any other advice is always welcome. I am sure I will come up with more questions in the future. Either way I will keep everyone up to date on my progress.
 
I can tell you right now save your money and don't bother. Any Detailer that is good enough to do paint correction is not going to be working for peanuts, and the thought that you can work construction and own a detail business on the side is a joke. Owning a detail business is a full time job sorry to break it to you.
 
Vegas Transplant, is one of those companies Doctor Detail operating in the Northern Virginia area? I really like this graphic that makes choosing a package easy for the customer. Detailing Packages | Doctor Detail Inc. - Mobile Auto Detailing Not sure if it is the way they advertise, but I get the impression they are a large successful business. They have a huge market though, around 2.6 Million people.

Mr. Philips recommended Renny Doyles book to another prospective business owner. I picked it up last night. I haven't gotten that far and already he is reiterating a lot of what the above comenters said. I am going to finish the book before I bombard you with more questions.

Thanks Love's Auto for the blunt comment, but I addressed the "working for peanuts" in the post right before yours. As to the time commitment I think I understand what it is going to take to make this business a success. My partner already runs a business with eight employees, and as many as fifteen during peak season. In many ways the management of this business will be similar to the one he and I are both already familiar with. He wakes up at 4-5am to handle paperwork and often works till 10pm. I follow a similar schedule, but have been spending my extra time devoted to researching this business and making plans.

Don't get me wrong I don't know everything I need to know about this business. Actually I know relatively little. Which is why I am here. If we decide to do this we are going to have systems in place before we get started. This is the main reason I have decided to start by limiting our offering to AIO as our top detailing package. I feel it is a process that most people can become proficient at and also do safely with less risk of damaging a vehicle. Which is why it was one of my first questions to you all.
 
If you aren't going into it full time; why not start a little smaller? Don't worry about employees, just do it on the side yourself. Or, just buy a car wash as was mentioned before and don't even worry about paint corrections for a while. When I hear these pros say they work on 10 or 15 cars a day, I imagine that a grand total of none of those are paint corrections! I'm not a pro but I imagine the bulk of the business is washing, waxing, and interiors. So buy a car wash and train a few employees on proper 2-bucket wash methods, using air dryers and rotating wash mitts so that the same wash mitt is not used on two cars without being washed first (just rotate them through, have a couple commercial washing machines on-site). You'd have one of the best hand-washes in the area, and could build up a high volume business. Eventually you could shift over into paint corrections and things like that.

However- I do think it'll be near impossible to manage employees 'from afar'. Do a little research into restaurant franchising, that's a business where a lot of people think they'll just put up some capital, work a few hours a week, and collect the profits. They find that they are needing to be there nearly every hour the place is open just to turn a profit, and THEN go home and do all the paperwork! One of my wifes tenants is a Subway restaurant, and rhe owner is often making sandwiches or working the cash register- so she can save on one minimum wage employee. It wasn't exactly what she thought it would be in terms of 'free money' by letting other people do the work and she just collects the checks. They have to own several franchises in order to become the 'absentee owner' that they wanted to be, because profit margins are so slim (and sometimes in the red) without the owner there nearly every hour it's open. Even then, the 'absentee owner' is bouncing around between locations, STILL working 60+ hours a week.

Can it happen? Sure. People win the lottery, have successful absentee franchise businesses, and make insane investments all the time. But the likely scenario is that you'll need to give it a serious time and energy investment in order to get any money out of it.
 
mechanic380 said:
Vegas Transplant, is one of those companies Doctor Detail operating in the Northern Virginia area? I really like this graphic that makes choosing a package easy for the customer. Detailing Packages | Doctor Detail Inc. - Mobile Auto Detailing Not sure if it is the way they advertise, but I get the impression they are a large successful business. They have a huge market though, around 2.6 Million people.

Mr. Philips recommended Renny Doyles book to another prospective business owner. I picked it up last night. I haven't gotten that far and already he is reiterating a lot of what the above comenters said. I am going to finish the book before I bombard you with more questions.

Thanks Love's Auto for the blunt comment, but I addressed the "working for peanuts" in the post right before yours. As to the time commitment I think I understand what it is going to take to make this business a success. My partner already runs a business with eight employees, and as many as fifteen during peak season. In many ways the management of this business will be similar to the one he and I are both already familiar with. He wakes up at 4-5am to handle paperwork and often works till 10pm. I follow a similar schedule, but have been spending my extra time devoted to researching this business and making plans.

Don't get me wrong I don't know everything I need to know about this business. Actually I know relatively little. Which is why I am here. If we decide to do this we are going to have systems in place before we get started. This is the main reason I have decided to start by limiting our offering to AIO as our top detailing package. I feel it is a process that most people can become proficient at and also do safely with less risk of damaging a vehicle. Which is why it was one of my first questions to you all.
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Not trying to discourage it's just I live this business day in and day out. You can train someone to be the best Detailer in the world and the second you're not around they are going to cut corners, steal customers, steal your chemicals. If you want a side business detailing should not be first on your list, too many things can go wrong and you will be getting phone calls all the time when there are problems. Our shop makes $20k-30k a month doing production and high end details and it is only myself and my partner. Reason why? Any good Detailer will already be working somewhere or have his own shop. That means you will have to train someone the way you want them. We don't even hire people anymore because no one wants to do the amount of work they have to do even if we pay them $10-$15! Detailing is hard work. I would start a different business if you want easy money. My .02
 
mechanic380 said:
First, thank you for all the comments.
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one more...
get off the internet , take a brake from your construction , detail full time for a month , and see how hard is to have a detailing business, how you get your clients , how you keep your clients and how the employee story goes, than come back and post your new business ideas about detailing , i bet you will know much better how to start second time.

what you try to do is a detail business by the ear , and have a bucket full of money overnight ... sorry but is not going to happen.
if you are not heavy in your pocket to invest than try and error is the way to go
 
Thanks Love's for the additional information. The concrete details especially about employees is very helpful. That is why it was one of my first questions. I have been concerned from the beginning that it would be difficult to find employees who do good work and would be willing to work for more than a month before calling in sick twice a week.
 
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