FAO Pro Detailers and Valeters

[BIFCAIDS]

Hi, reeto im thinking about starting up my own business as a Valeter as i really enjoy washing my car and other peoples cars and also do some detailing work for a pretty penny. Now how hard is it to start up and what advice would you give to anybody thinking about doing so.

Regards Biff

 

[Bluebeard]

Sit down and work out your start up costs,

Van, fuel, maintaining the van, tools, insurance, chemicals, advertising, clothes, wages, tax, NI , accountants fees, etc etc etc.

Double it.

Then work out how much money you need to live off yourself.

Then realise its a really bad idea.

Seriously, you need to think loooong and hard about it. And as for my 'double it' joke, its actually serious. I worked out that I needed to earn about £6k a month just to break even. Turns out I need to clear £10k per month just to break even! There are expenses EVERYWHERE!

 

[VIICarCare]

I looked into this, but not going into it for a while yet. Deffo on the cards in the future. Look on dw, theres a good guide on there.

 

[theduck]

Start it part time and build from there if you think its worth it. Seriously dont give up your day job though!

 

[Tony Hunter]

Turning a weekend hobby into a worthwhile business is very hard indeed,as Dan say's just sit down and work it out,you'll find that you will have to do about 10 cars a day or something silly like that,where do they all come from?.But good luck anyway.

 

[BIFCAIDS]

Start it part time and build from there if you think its worth it. Seriously dont give up your day job though!

Day job Ha thats why im thinking about it, i currently live at home and day jobs contracted 8 hours but i do extra.

ill have a sit down with pops and have a chat thanks for the advice guys

 

[Revels]

What you also need to realise it to most people and by this I mean the paying public, don't give a f**k about detailing. The fact you're using 84 polishes, brushes to get in the tightest cracks, cloths smoother than the Queens bedsheets, they don't care.

All they see is clean or dirty. Not clean and OCD clean using heated water. So they're happy to pay £5-10 while someone does it at the supermarket while they get their shopping or nip into the garage and let someone do it. The people that pay the mega money are few and far between.

Look at the job done by Ali/JD. They spend hours, sometimes split over days doing it. You can't base any figures on working constantly because you might go a week without a customer. If it takes you a full day, so say 8 hours to do a car. That's a full day of graft. How much are you going to want for that? £100? Take out all the things Daniel listed and you're not getting much more than you would in Tesco. The market is saturated with part time detailers. JD will do it for a bit of pocket money because he likes doing it, has all the gear and it means he can splash about in his wellies. But if you take it to the next level, the costs/hassle go 10 fold. Unless you get to the very top of the tree like those Polished Bliss guys that are charging a god-damn fortune, you're chasing a dream.

Are you going to have premises? Pick up some dudes Ferrari and take it back to your Mums to do on the drive? Will you be covered? What about the 364 days a year when it might rain?

You'd be a million times better off getting a van and going around industrial estates, big places where there's lots of cars and doing a quick wash for people for £5. Take you 15mins to do a quick wash over and rinse it. If you've got a full car park at a big office or something, you're golden. 4 cars and hour for 8 hours. 32 cars. At £5 each. £160. Much better.

 

[Gregg]

I don't know specifics about detailing but this site has some good info about starting a business

http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/home

 

[fUbAr]

What you also need to blah blah blah...

 

[BIFCAIDS]

its defo something that needs to be properly thought out

 

[Jimbo-Clio]

would tend to agree with revels do it as a hobby weekend pocket money thing mate.

Biff you graphic design s**t dnt ya? why not go on a tinting and wrapping course surely you would make more money doing wrapping, stickers, window tinting and valeting on the side rather than going all out on details?

J

 

[Dunn]

It would have to feature something different as there is a valeter on every corner now

my brother has just sold his valeting business in Manchester as it was very competitive

he landed a contract with a local company doing all the vans etc and made a good living

but when the company went under he lost the contract then struggled doing it for individual people

 

[Cliotoby]

Doing it properly no chance. not worth it.

I do it with a mate, bit of a hobby to earn a few bucks while were at it. 50 quid for a full interior and exterior clean, polish and seal by hand. Results are good and takes no time at all really, plus we use semi decent products that look good and last a while until the local car wash gets hold of it. We wet vac the seats, hoover the car and wipe down the interior with aerospace. Interior only is 30 quid which a fair few people we know locally opt for every 6 months or so, most of its word of mouth, its no regular thing, but its an easy 25 quid every so often to go in the petrol tank. We also offer machine polishes, although we rarely get these as 1. we dont have the time, and 2. people dont really understand whats going on/dont really care. Im also trying to get an unofficioal contract from a local business to maintain 2 new company cars we have recently protected for them. Bi weekly wash kind of thing, hoping to pick up a few quid from other people that work there too if they want their cars washing.

Wouldnt do it full time though. Like Dunn said, many people doing it out there, and i couldnt do professional detailing. Not a lot of money in it really.

 

[renclio]

well mate i do it part time at the moment whilst im at uni and i throughly enjoy it, i make a decent bit here and that and i would recommend starting it up that way and create a small customer base first and then try and expand, there is ALOT of competition believe me and costs keep going down all the time. People demand the best for basically no money at all. If you have any questions mate drop me a pm and i will try and help you out a bit but as said above, people dont mind paying a fiver but when you start charging £35 plus then thats when they start to get picky. Hope that helps.

 

[The Boosh!]

Without going into detail I wouldn't bother.

The detailing market is already saturated IMO so unless your going to do as good a job for dirt it's not really worth it. Especially when detailing is 90% about reputation and proven work.

EG Dave KG on DW - Well known and could (maybe he does?) make a fair few quid as he stands out from the competition - as do a few other detailers on there that can charge a premium.

 

[BIFCAIDS]

why not go on a tinting and wrapping course surely you would make more money doing wrapping, stickers, window tinting

Hmmm sounds interesting

 

[Jimbo-Clio]

then you end up dabbling in alot of different markets call your self Car Image + or somthing. Then even when wrapping and detailing is slow. stickers always sell along with sun strips and window tints no idea how much the stuff costs though mate iam an ideas man

 

[Dave..]

Never, turn a hobby into a business.
A. Because you lose your hobby
B. You get bored of it far too quickly
C. With hobbies, there's normally some one who can do it far better.

Big businesses are built around niche markets. That's how my parents started up, and my current boss at the moment. Trying to make a business out of something that is readily available already, will see you going bust within a year.

 

[JD]

JD will do it ... it means he can splash about in his wellies.

Without going into detail...

I liked these two quotes personally.

Mikey, if you want to do it, you can. There is a lot of sound advice in here, however, re the overheads, take a look at JimWD and RussZS. Their overheads are ... their websites. They use their own cars for transporting the products and machines to a customers house, do it on their drive and then drive away, on to the next job.

However, the point Dan has made about 99% of the population not understanding what the word detailing actually means is spot on. But there are still people out there that want this doing. If there weren't Jim, Russ, Clark from PB etc wouldn't have food on the table and a roof over their heads at night...

 

[JD]

Never, turn a hobby into a business.
A. Because you lose your hobby
B. You get bored of it far too quickly
C. With hobbies, there's normally some one who can do it far better.

Big businesses are built around niche markets. That's how my parents started up, and my current boss at the moment. Trying to make a business out of something that is readily available already, will see you going bust within a year.

This is also quite good advice, but to add to it, most businesses nowadays are built from niches within already well established markets.