Starting a new side line *Need advice*

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JohnDumas

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*Warning* Might be long to read

Hey guys,

I've been *creeping* the forums for a while now. I'm amazed by how much great information is on here. I've been researching products, technics, reviews and general conversations to grasp as much info as I can. It's exciting to say the least.

I'll bring you guys up to speed on my current situation. I live in a community in Northern Canada, there's 9 towns all together connected by road. I use to clean cars when I was 12 years old for my neighbours and made a pretty good dollar at the time, over 200$ a car. Now I only use store bought products like Armor All ( I know I know haha) and I would use Q-tips to get all the nooks and cracks... stuff like that. But my clients were always amazed and grateful.

As the years went on, I moved to the big city got into construction and open up a company. It went great until I did a contract for the government and they refused to pay the 1.2 million dollar extra they asked for. Needless to say... I lost pretty much everything so I decided to move back to my home town and live the simple life.

Now I work on snow clearing and realized that there is a potential for a detailing shop. There's a population of 5000, no detailing place or place to cleans one vehicle. Almost everybody is driving around in a new car, truck, snowmobile, atv, boat, etc. So I believe there's a interesting opportunity up for grasp.

I made a list of products based on reviews and posts I've red. Now I need a little help to make sure I'm on the right track. I would use meguiars products on my personal vehicle but I'd like to kick my game up a notch. I'll just be cleaning interiors and doors jams for now since it's snowing almost everyday... I'll look into exteriors at a later point.

So here's what I was thinking:

RUBBER & VINYL

Cleaning tools
-Tornador black (used one in the past, really like it)
-Soft brushes
-Microfiber towels

Cleaning products
- 303 Aerospace multi-surface cleaner
- 303 Aerospace protectant
* will use different ratios depending on vehicle state ex: 1:10,1:40, etc.
* should I use distilled water?


LEATHER CARE

Cleaning tools
- Natural horse interior brush

Cleaning products
- Lexol leather cleaner & conditionner ( for quick cleaning )
- Pinnacle Leather cleaner & conditionner ( for a treatment type job)
* Should I go with combo kits?


GLASS & WINDSHIELD CARE

Cleaning tools
- Microfiber towels
- Maybe a Glass master

Cleaning products
- Stoner Glass cleaners
* Again is a combo kit a good option?
-Dp high performance glass restorer (for glass treatments)


CARPET AND UPHOLSTERY CARE

Cleaning tools
- Tornador black and my trusty shop vac for now
- Assorted scrubbing brushes

Cleaning products
- 303 aerospace spot cleaner and Multi-surface cleaner


Side questions:
- Would meguiars APC be a good product to use as well ?
- As far as microfibers towels, should I buy a bundle kit to get started as apposed to try to buy individual ones?


That's all for now haha. I have to get back to snow clearing. Again, I love this site and can't wait to be part of the crew.

Thanks,
John

P.S Don't mind the grammar errors... I was kinda in a rush.
 
Sounds like a good plan,sorry your down on luck right now but things will get better.keep your detail plan simple and affordable you don't need every product under the sun.scratch out the lexol cond and cleaner and 303 products.use a general apc for everything and keep the pinnacle for leather conditioner,as you move along you will know what to buy and what works best and is affordable for you to maximize a more of a profit.
 
I understand I don't need all kinds of products but I always use quality products and equipment. It worked well for my construction business until well... Yeah.

What Apc would you suggest? I have a 500$ budget. I'm keeping it modest.
 
Inside, my uncle has a snowmobile and atv dealership. It has heated floor, awesome lighting, compressors, access to tools, etc. Great spot, he won't charge me nothing giving my situation.
 
I agree with the above comment of forgetting the Lexol. I don't have any experience with 303s cleaner (just the protectant which is great stuff), but I would look into Meguiars D108 Super Degreaser. Dilute it down to 10:1 for interior use and heavy soiled areas like door jams you can use it 4:1 for an extra punch. You might want to look at a host of Meguiars Professional Detailer line of products. They are super cost effective for someone on a budget and yet still perform great!!
 
JohnDumas said:
Inside, my uncle has a snowmobile and atv dealership. It has heated floor, awesome lighting, compressors, access to tools, etc. Great spot, he won't charge me nothing giving my situation.
Click to expand...


Consider yourself extremely lucky. I would die to have a situation like that.
 
JohnDumas said:
Inside, my uncle has a snowmobile and atv dealership. It has heated floor, awesome lighting, compressors, access to tools, etc. Great spot, he won't charge me nothing giving my situation.
Click to expand...

Floor drains? Can you wash inside?
 
I'll pick up the book! Thanks man!

98low,
Thanks for the tip! I used meguiars protectant but I found it left a greasy residue witch attracted dust and would show finguer prints. Thats why I liked the 303 protectant, dad used it for years on his dumb trucks and equipment oddly enough. I will definitely look into the meguiars line though. Any suggestions for leather?
 
Setec,

Yes I can wash inside and there's floor drains. Plus the floors dry off in an hour since they are heated.

98low,

I'm grateful man, life has its ways of working out after all.
 
As some of the others have said, I would look into Meg's Detailer line. They are very cost effective. I picked up the glass cleaner, Super Degreaser and APC for my peronsal vehicles.

I would even say to cut Meg's APC to 20:1 for basic interior wipe down and make another bottle at 10:1 to stretch it a little further. Even if you use it at the recommended strength your still looking at 11 gallons of ready to use product which is a great deal in my opinion.

I would start with this and move on to testing other products once you build a client base and have started to turn a profit.

Personally I don't think that most clients would care that you've used Megs products to clean their vehicle as long as the results were good. I would definitely look into a higher end wax/sealant that will give the protection to get through the winters there (possible upsell?).

I've been using Klasse Sealant on my personal vehicles for the past 2 years and I get 6 months of protection going through Maine winters. I am sure your's are much worse there, but this could be another opportunity for an upsell.

A cheaper wax that works well is Collinite 845. For $20, you really can't go wrong with it and it gives good protection.

Invest in a good amount of high quality MF towels for working on paint. You can get a bundle of lesser quality towels for interior and areas where your not worried about creating scratches.

This would be my lineup if I were you:

D120
D108
D101
Megs Rinse Free Express Wash for use as clay lube, and Quick Detailer?

Collinite 845
CarPro Perl (Use on tires full strength or 1:1, Interior 5:1 and Trim 3:1) - There is probably a more cost effective option, but I really like the look.

Griots Utility Towel (50-pack, maybe 2 orders?)
A set of higher quality MF for paint.

Nanoskin towel or pad - I think this is a more cost effective option than traditional clay for decon.

Can't think of anything else you might need at the moment, but that should leave you with some money left over for tools and possibly some business advertising funds.
 
Huot25 said:
As some of the others have said, I would look into Meg's Detailer line. They are very cost effective. I picked up the glass cleaner, Super Degreaser and APC for my peronsal vehicles.

I would even say to cut Meg's APC to 20:1 for basic interior wipe down and make another bottle at 10:1 to stretch it a little further. Even if you use it at the recommended strength your still looking at 11 gallons of ready to use product which is a great deal in my opinion.

I would start with this and move on to testing other products once you build a client base and have started to turn a profit.

Personally I don't think that most clients would care that you've used Megs products to clean their vehicle as long as the results were good. I would definitely look into a higher end wax/sealant that will give the protection to get through the winters there (possible upsell?).

I've been using Klasse Sealant on my personal vehicles for the past 2 years and I get 6 months of protection going through Maine winters. I am sure your's are much worse there, but this could be another opportunity for an upsell.

A cheaper wax that works well is Collinite 845. For $20, you really can't go wrong with it and it gives good protection.

Invest in a good amount of high quality MF towels for working on paint. You can get a bundle of lesser quality towels for interior and areas where your not worried about creating scratches.

This would be my lineup if I were you:

D120
D108
D101
Megs Rinse Free Express Wash for use as clay lube, and Quick Detailer?

Collinite 845
CarPro Perl (Use on tires full strength or 1:1, Interior 5:1 and Trim 3:1) - There is probably a more cost effective option, but I really like the look.

Griots Utility Towel (50-pack, maybe 2 orders?)
A set of higher quality MF for paint.

Nanoskin towel or pad - I think this is a more cost effective option than traditional clay for decon.

Can't think of anything else you might need at the moment, but that should leave you with some money left over for tools and possibly some business advertising funds.
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the info man! I'll look into the products tomorrow and I'll more than likely come back with some questions.
 
Thanks for all the help guys, I tried to reply sooner but life was well... Wild to say the least. Long story short, I left my job and I'm detailing cars full time now. Making a pretty decent living.
I'll post a pic of the products I end up going with. In the mean time, here's a couple of jeeps I done. Not the best pictures but it gets the point across. Hopefully I uploaded them right loll. Here it is!

I'm only doing interiors for now since the snow is melting so there's no point in doing exteriors yet. Let me know what you guys think!

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ronkh57 said:
Glad things are working out for you.
Click to expand...

Thanks man.

I was working on snow clearing and a company called me to go work up north on heavy equipment. He took all my information, told me to pack my bags and get ready. I quit my job and bam! Buddy jipped me. Stuck with no job, no unemployment and bills to pay....
 
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