Starting my Mobile Business But super scared

Motogoon

Motogoon

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Ok i recently became a member of this amazing site! The more i read the more i bought and the more videos i watched made me know that this is for me. Iv always liked cleaning cars fixing the little scuffs and such that owners didn't bother to touch. After speaking with members and building a nice starting block of product I'm ready to start this, no wait time just start. BUT:

I do not know where to start. Things iv done so far:
-Had a logo designed and made: Also in the process of copy-write
-Sent out for business cards- Name, logo, services, and such
-Facebook and twitter accounts
-My name is Detail Medic type it in on Facebook i think my logo came out pretty nice
-T-shirts made some extremely legit transfers using the logo with avery transfer sheets and black T's

I have been spending days on the computer watching videos, hearings horror stories of messing up cars. and so on. Id like some info on where to start what to do what i need tools (vacuums and such) and the rest that goes along with starting this venture. Id rather not take classes as i think i can learn by practice and I'm not to bad as of now just need some practice on the DA and paint restoration. Id like to stay with high end cars we all know its where the money is and id much rather rub a ferrari or Benz all day compared to a mini-van. Im located in central NJ in an area with many big homes and even bigger wallet's.

Any help would be great PS: let me know how the logo and Facebook looks
Thanks
Joe
 
You are going to need to figure out exactly how much it costs you to detail a car for each of your packages. Have you put together packages yet? A website is a good idea also.

Do you live in an area that enforces water reclamation? Do you have a system in place for this?

Do you have a solid set of products that you will use, and be able to figure costs on?

Insurance? License?

As for my advise...

You are not going to want to be practicing your skills on high end cars. That is just going to end badly most likely. It may not be glamorous, but daily drivers are the bread and butter of most successful detailing businesses.
 
No no no, i would never per-say practice on a higher end car its just my goal of my main cliental. I am in the process of looking into insurance and a license as well and seeing what i really need or how much insurance is necessary. as for water reclamtion, what the heck is that.

As for packages no i have not yet mostly because I guess i doubt myself. before i tell someone a 200.00 price for a wash and wax including clay and such i always feel like because I am new as a name i will not make the sale. and as for how much product sadly i have never paid attention to make an average that i use. I can say i do blow through interior dressing as well as exterior a lot.

Website is also going to be 100% up soon my buddy has a BA for graphic design so getting sites and logo's was super easy
 
insurance,insurance,insurance.

and being licensed is 2 biggies for me.
 
so you have no idea of how to detail or what products to use and your going to start a business?

your gonna need a TON of work before you become a business trust me i do this for a hobby im constantly cleaning cars but its not easy to get business
 
you obviously skipped my whole paragraph because no where did i say i don't know what products nor did i say i don't know how to detail? lol take a look at the pictures on my Facebook pretty sure i can make a car pop
 
oh lol i read it but i guess i took the part where you said i dont know where to start what tools to start this venture the wrong way lol my bad


good luck though
 
Could you post a link to your Facebook page? I tried searching for it and couldn't find it.
 
I'd start with finding some business parks and doing just clean ups on the work forces' daily drivers. tw33k2514 hit that right on the head! We have a guy that comes through and for $12 he washes, vacuumns and does the windows. Seems cheap plus you don't have to drive through a car wash going home. Where he makes the money is a wax job or "detail". Once you get a few places, try to make a route with other surrounding places. Remember, you're going mobile and that means GAS MONEY. Clean a car in point A then drive 45 minutes to clean car B = no profit. Sounds simple but people overlook the obvious all the time.

Good luck
 
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The Detail Medics - Complete Mobile Auto Detail At Your Home Or Office | Home

The name is already taken. You better hope its not trademarked.

If you would of done 1 minute of research you would of figured this out already. Honestly after looking at your fb page im not really sure im sold that you did them cars. I mean you have no proof you did them. You could of got them off somebody elses page and put them in yours. You have to prove to you customers you did this. You have alot to think about before starting a buissness. Sorry for being harsh but its the truth.
 
Hi Joe,

It sounds like you done some reading and if you haven't come across these links, they contain a wealth of information for you to read and try.

Everyone starts off as a beginner but with some reading, questions, and trial, error, and practice you'll be amazed how much you'll be able to do. After reading and understanding some of the basics, the more hands on your are the quicker you'll build your knowledge and gain experience.

This link contains articles written by Mike Phillips and has allot of great reading within.

Articles by Mike Phillips

Basic steps in order are:

  • Wash
  • Clay
  • Paint Correction & Polish
  • Seal
  • Wax
Foam Pads

To simplify pad usage, I've given a generic usage of pads and products.

Compounding

Compounds or aggressive products are generally used on firmer pads, Yellow, Orange, and Green.

Polishing

The White and Gray pads are generally used with polishes.

Sealants & Waxes

Blue and Red foam pads work nicely for applying sealants and waxes.
These are a very good choice of pads for the Porter Cable stye dual action polisher..

Here's some great information by Mike Phillips that will help you get started polishing

Here are a few examples of polisher, compounds and polishes, sealants, and waxes.

I prefer to put my own package together. The links below will take you to the Flex 3401 and a few paint correction products I like to use.

Flex 3401 Dual Action Polisher

Polishes

Sealants

Wax

Collinite 845

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...e-845-definitive-how-guide-legendary-wax.html

Windows

I've settled on Meguiar's Glass Cleaner. It's a great product and because it's recommended dilution is 10:1 it is very economical.

Always clean the glass using two waffle glass towels. Towel 1 is used to clean the glass and towel 2 wipes it down leaving the glass streak free.

This site is just an example of how different packages are laid out, what they consist of, and the associated prices for each.

Mobile Auto Detailing services&pricelist Los Angeles,San Fernando Valley,South Bay California
 
Motogoon said:
you obviously skipped my whole paragraph because no where did i say i don't know what products nor did i say i don't know how to detail? lol take a look at the pictures on my Facebook pretty sure i can make a car pop
Click to expand...

I'm not convinced of your detailing skills based on the pictures you've posted. There are no sun shots to show a true paint condition. A clean car will always look good in the shade.
 
@jacob Perry did my research, 100% all of it. The detail medics, first off go do your research and get their trademark as well. Not the same name and third if you knew anything about names & companies you would know that there is more than 100 places with the same name. Im in NJ they are in CA, and i did see them when making my name. as for the pictures of the cars to be honest i could care less if you feel that they aren't mine the photo of the chevelle is in the same background as my profile pic on auto geek. Seems like you need to do your research as well go find that SL500 on the internet good luck. Lastly on what site did you find a car detailed with the owner or the workers holding logo's with copy write on them is that a joke? How would one add photos of cars they do when they are a mobile shop and do not have a platform or place that every photo is in?

Lastly for everyone else i just started this 4 days ago i wasn't looking for you guys to tell me i didn't do the cars or the quality of my work. this was about the business end. And these were shots in the sun? its pretty clear it was mid day in the open. The ML500 looks exactly like i does in person. I have much more time to post photos and do more cars. Thanks for everyone with helpful input
 
Joe, welcome, you're right, this is a truly amazon site. I don't for this to sound harsh. Where I got confused in reading your first post was it started out saying all the "correct" things; and then your last paragraph was asking "what tools do I need, and the other stuff needed to start your venture"(paraphrase). Well that's the first place to start in finding the info. Your questions have been asked and answered many times. Type in your question in the search box. The link BobbyG posted about Mikes articles is a great place to start. Honestly I think, folks don't want to reply to these questions because answers are so easily found when using the search feature.

Search, then purchase, then practice on family and friends cars.
Best of luck.
Derek
 
Motogoon said:
And these were shots in the sun? its pretty clear it was mid day in the open. The ML500 looks exactly like i does in person. I have much more time to post photos and do more cars. Thanks for everyone with helpful input
Click to expand...

Just for clarification on a sun shot. The sun reveals all defects that would otherwise not be visible in indirect light.
Swirl-Marks-300x225.jpg
 
Motogoon said:
Id like to stay with high end cars we all know its where the money is and id much rather rub a ferrari or Benz all day compared to a mini-van.
Click to expand...

High volume is where the "real" money is, but it's very doable to earn a decent living on high end cars if you play your cards right. It's harder to enter that market segment though, so beware.

This business is not always as glamorous as some guys make it out to be.


Past that I would suggest looking into some business classes at the local Community College. It is a documented fact that 86% of small business start-ups fail within a year. You will need to get some business skills if you don't want to become a statistic. :dblthumb2:
 
Looks like you forgot to clean the barrels on the black mercedes' wheels.

I dont mean to nit pick, but paying attention to the little details such as that are what will set you apart from the non autogeek detailers.
 
Welcome to AGO. My wife and I had a Portrait Studio for 15 years. One thing we really benefitted from was a small business group that got together for breakfast meetings every 2 weeks. It was a great place to network, discuss local business laws etc. Also got encouragement from each other. I would check with your local SBA to see if there is such a thing. The other thing was using a top notch online industry specific users group and you have that here. As for the name you want to register it in Your state. Our biz was Say "Cheese" Photography. There were others but we were the first to register it as a DBA with the state. So when someone complained we could tell them cease and dissist because we legally had the name. Same with a website. When we had to close due to my 4 back surgeries we were able to sell the website URL for a nice profit because we had it first. So I would do that because you have a good easy to remember business name there. Good luck. Spiney
 
You can have the "high end cars" as far as I'm concerned. Just leave me a few big rigs and some rv's along with my DD regulars. Happy trails...and good luck!
 
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