1MZsLastForever
New member
- Jan 14, 2011
- 193
- 0
Let me introduce myself; My name is Chris, and I just turned 17 last week. Been thinking about starting a business for about 6 months now. I first detailed my Avalon back in November, and have done other details since then. Mostly just done family cars, and most recently did a wash clay wax on my neighbor's Silverado.
I have a little bit of advertising going on right now. I just sent out about 40 flyers to my brother in law who posted them at many different fire stations around the area. (No, not detailing firetrucks, just the DD's
). I'm going to post on Craigslist today or tomorrow when I get everything figured out. Might put up a website depending on cost and ease of use.
So I'm going to try and get to the point. I'll also update this thread if I think of more questions.
1. Is a license and insurance absolutely necessary? I'm just doing this for extra cash for the time being. I have a part time day job and one more year of high school to worry about.
2. How do I convince people to let me work on their cars and prove to them how well I can detail a car? My concern is that they'll look at me and think "I don't want some teenager touching my car, let alone for that much money". I totally understand, because even I don't trust most teenagers :laughing:
However, I consider myself pretty mature and I can do it myself. I can also drive a stick shift, so no worries if I need to move a car from driveway to garage.
3. What if a customer refuses to pay, or tries lowballing me after I finish? Has this happened to anyone?
4. What if the customer doesn't have a water or power supply I can hook up to? (i.e. Apartment complexes) I'm planning on doing mostly mobile work, and maybe some work if they decide to drop it off at my house.
5. What is the best way of cleaning interior carpet and cloth seats? No way I can afford to spend $700 on a hot water extractor. Right now I have a gallon of Megs APC+, a steam cleaner, and a carpet brush attachment for PC 7424XP. Plus I got a Rigid shop vac which I can use. Is there a better/easier way of cleaning carpets?
Since I'm going to be taking this shop vac around with me, I'll probably end up using my dad's truck when he's not busy since it won't fit in my car.
I'll post my pricing menu tomorrow since Pages is acting up. Stupid Mac :laughing:
I have a little bit of advertising going on right now. I just sent out about 40 flyers to my brother in law who posted them at many different fire stations around the area. (No, not detailing firetrucks, just the DD's
). I'm going to post on Craigslist today or tomorrow when I get everything figured out. Might put up a website depending on cost and ease of use. So I'm going to try and get to the point. I'll also update this thread if I think of more questions.
1. Is a license and insurance absolutely necessary? I'm just doing this for extra cash for the time being. I have a part time day job and one more year of high school to worry about.
2. How do I convince people to let me work on their cars and prove to them how well I can detail a car? My concern is that they'll look at me and think "I don't want some teenager touching my car, let alone for that much money". I totally understand, because even I don't trust most teenagers :laughing:
However, I consider myself pretty mature and I can do it myself. I can also drive a stick shift, so no worries if I need to move a car from driveway to garage.
3. What if a customer refuses to pay, or tries lowballing me after I finish? Has this happened to anyone?
4. What if the customer doesn't have a water or power supply I can hook up to? (i.e. Apartment complexes) I'm planning on doing mostly mobile work, and maybe some work if they decide to drop it off at my house.
5. What is the best way of cleaning interior carpet and cloth seats? No way I can afford to spend $700 on a hot water extractor. Right now I have a gallon of Megs APC+, a steam cleaner, and a carpet brush attachment for PC 7424XP. Plus I got a Rigid shop vac which I can use. Is there a better/easier way of cleaning carpets?
Since I'm going to be taking this shop vac around with me, I'll probably end up using my dad's truck when he's not busy since it won't fit in my car.
I'll post my pricing menu tomorrow since Pages is acting up. Stupid Mac :laughing:
