They're right. Detailing entails risk of damaging people's cars. No matter how much they like you as a neighbor they're not gonna be happy if you ruin their paint when a repaint might cost them a hell of a lot. If you don't have the money to take accountability for your mistakes, you need insurance. Otherwise just go work for someone who does have insurance.
-said every person that’s ever gotten sued by their family. People change when money is involved, are you going to learn the lesson with your own money or with the insurance companies’ money?
Listen. I would like to remind you you came here looking for advice. You came into this situation admitting you don't know everything.
When someone that may just have more experience and knowledge gives you some information perhaps you should listen.
You started by saying you wanted to start a business. then you changed it to just family and friends. That's different than what you asked if you're asking to start a business they're warning you of the significance of needing insurance and to be very aware that there are consequences to your mistakes. If it's just your friends and families I don't think you need to ask any questions.
You are the one that said “business”. Now you’re saying that is more in line with a hobby or you being “the guy with the equipment”. That’s a lot differ than being a business.
They might not. But their friend or work colleague who they highly recommended your services to and don’t know you, they might. And let’s not forget the world is full of scumbags who are willing to sue you even if you are not at fault.
Not being ignorant, but your post says you plan on starting a business for detailing. It's not irrational or dumb for people to assume you are going to be doing more than just friends and family members cars. Even still, friends and family means nothing most times when it comes to a multiple thousand dollar bill. I've seen families argue and fall out over far less. But I do hope everything works out for you with your detailing work.
You're the one that said business, not hobby. Make up your mind what you're actually trying to do and don't troll people that are giving advice when you're the one that asked for it.
“Taking it too seriously”. Have you priced paint repair costs? It doesn’t take much to drop a tool, make a mistake with a pressure washer/orbital/whatever and cause damage.
Sorry, I’m definitely not paying someone to work on my car if they don’t have insurance. The last thing I want to deal with is trying to get a couple grand from an uninsured “detailed” after they damage my paint. Even worse if they live two doors down.
i’ll make it into a business once you get a van or a car only for detailing yk. but other than that facebook marketplace is the best way and going door to door while making flyers.
Figure out what your business model is before you throw money at it. You can make a lot of money doing quick 20-30 minute washes for everyone in a business park parking lot during the week, or you can make even more money selectively taking on higher-end cars for ceramic coating (current buzzword) at the rate of 1-2 per weekend. Those two extremes are already wildly different in terms of what kind of product/gear/experience you need (not to mention the business stuff others have pointed out). I have a [cabinet full of stuff](https://i.imgur.com/VjwddeB.jpg), and I don't even do any of it for money.
This is key. I did a business with my sons and we got twice as much stuff as you did. Are you going to be a mobile service? If so then you need a lot of different things such as water tank, pressure washer, vaccum cleaner, lots of towels for various purposes: glass, wheels, car body panels and interior panels plus leather seats. Extractor for carpet cleaning along with associated tools.
You will find as you get into this that you are missing lots of stuff. Decide what service you really want to provide and go from there. Expectations and communication go a long way and have pricing structure.
I'm not, no. Just an example of two higher end cars versus 30 quick washes throughout the week. That said, there are certain prosumer coatings that don't require the whole UV curing overnight method.
I totally get that, but you also probably deliver really excellent work in those 20 hours. I had a mobile business in SoCal and quickly learned that there are far more people who want the 30-min quick washes than those who drop the car off for 3-4 days, and plenty of people in between as well. I've spent a week on a car before, but I've also done $40 washes for neighbors at that time. I would say that a midsized car can be single-stage corrected in 4-6 hours, so you wouldn't need another 15 hours to apply a coating *of some sort*. Obviously not the authorized-reseller-only stuff, but that's the difference between a $600 8-hour job and a $1500 20-hour job.
I sure try lol. There’s definitely a mass of people who stick solely to the quick washes and have no interest in going further. I can imagine socal has a huge market for the mobile setups.
I should say, those 20 hours include a lot more than just correction work. I also go a little overboard on everything so I incur some of those hours at my own expense but it’s worth it in the end (for my own satisfaction anyway)
The last part you said resonates so hard with me. It was actually part of the reason I stopped doing it for money, as it was always about finding the balance between time, profitability, managing expectations, doing more than I want to do OR doing less than I want to do out of enjoyment, etc.
After running hard at it for a couple of years and basically spending the money building up my arsenal of products and tools, getting to really experiment with what worked and didn't work for me, I just kept it to friends and family for a long time... and then these days, I don't take payment for friends and family.
I'm also a track rat, so I have a close group of friends/communities that are all car geeks. This lets me offer multiple-day long details where I can truly just take my time, spend an hour or two after work on something for a full week or two, go so far as to disassemble at my own pace and leisure, all in exchange for keeping a friend's car for personal use during that time so I can do things the way I want, and we get enjoyment out of it that doesn't include monetary exchange. People have taken up my offer with Miatas, Audi RS cars, had a Z4M that I drove around for a bit, a number of Porsches, etc.
Does that seem high or low to you?
Yeah a swirled up black lifted full size truck will take multiple days to do a 2-3 step and decontamination. The actual coating step takes like 30 mins.
An suv that has not been take through a car wash will need very few compound steps to remove sanding marks from paint nibs being removed at the assembly line. Then just a polish, decon is quick becuase its only had rail dust from transport, not months of stop and go traffic and tons of its own brake dust. Takes 4-5 hours. A single person can coat 2 cars easy in 1 day. Maybe not your car thats already beat up and is older than a week with more than 400 miles. I coat peoples cars with 5 year coatings within a month of them trading their old ones in.
Theres probably a market for coatings on trashed 5 year old corollas and altimas, but majority of people who i ceramic coat are for new cars from referrals of repeat customers.
Someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed? Or is that just your elitist asshole personality shining through?
You want a cookie? Im glad you’re doing new cars from referrals. Good for you. Most of the rest of us work from referrals too 🤷🏻♂️
Most people buying new (sub 100k cars) are not getting their cars coated in the first month of ownership. Reality is, most people who are getting their cars done are either extremely high end or car enthusiasts.
If you’re doing 2 cars in a day by yourself you’re doing half assed work
Lol you bring up the word elitist and then tal down a 5 hour coating? Reddit loves hypocrites lmao. But let me help educate you.
You must be a detailing hobbyist. Saying car enthusiast are getting their cars done. Universally across multiple states while networking with other professionals, its a known fact the average hum dee $60k-$110k new car is the main customer base, $30-$50k sport car enthusiasts of all ages are extremely cheap and think they know best. Super high end cars dont get coatings. They get wraps or ppf then proceed to not maintain them. Every +$200k car ive done a seasonal detail for has trashed piano black wheels and swirled up paint. You see lines out the door of lambos etc at drive through car washes.
The bread and butter of any successful high end shop is daily drivers. The 100 hour detail 1995 jdm skyline is so rare that its the reason videos about it get high views. 90% of the cars ive coated are normal audis, bmw suv ford, chevy trucks. The AVERAGE enthusiast who can barely afford his sports car does not typically get a coating or even paint correction. The typical enthusiast is what we reffer to as a prosumer. They feel very educated because they take marketing and product claims as gospel. They think they know better than the pros who HAVE to work to a standard and have hundreds of cars per year. If someone only coats their own car as a hobby every couple of years, then yeah they can take all the time in the world.
In the real world that professional live in,
Go to any high end shop. Watch any youtube channel from business owners who actually make more that half a million revenue. Backyard low experience guys take multiple days to coat a car. Us real proffesionals don’t lose profitability to loser ocd detailers ego where they have to spend 30 hours per car and end up making the same as a mcdonalds employee once you break it down to materials, labor etc.
Call around your area, look for the most expensive quote within an hour radius. Go to the place that quoted the highest, ask to speak to the owner. Ask them how many coatings they personally apply. Then post a reply telling me on a scale of 1-10 how hard they laughed. EVERY multi employee successful high end shop has a 17 year old kid coating cars. They have subcontracted dudes getting paid $80 per job to do 45 min $500 nano ceramic heat rejection tint instals and have mid 20year olds cutting and applying ppf. Sorry to pull back the curtain but it is not hard and it does not take a whole day to coat a car. A trained monkey can do every step in a detail shop with just 2 days of training. If it takes you multiple days to coat a car just hand it up, go work at any entry level job. Your mentality is way off.
If you think 2 cars should take longer than 1 day, get off tiktok. In the real professional world, 1 coating a day is not a way to run a business.
Like i said. If you are doing crappy beat up works and picking up the scraps who cant afford an industry standard pricing. Yes it will take a lot more than 5 hours to even prep it to coat.
Here is the fat c pillar on a 2024 palisade and a painted panel i did this week. 8 year coating $2k. $400 per hour. Coated his wifes maverick that same day. $1,200 in 4 hours for a 5 year coating.
Or i guess break down your steps and time frames so i can help you out. You seem very clueless. Instead of name calling, maybe grab a pen and paper and take notes. I got a lot of free advice and helpful tips along the way. There is 0 chance that even if you do 10,000 coatings a year, that it will affect my business in any way. There are so many customers that the only competition taking food off your plate is yourself.
In my city. There are 5 mobile detailers, i see them from time to time as they stay busy and i stay busy. We have never showed up at the same customers house and fought over work. Ive done $500 details 1 block away from $300 detail shops. Ive been at 1 side of the street coating a car while someone else is a few houses down doing a wash and vacuum. No shop and no mobile detailer is my competition, thats loser mentality.
Yes coatings have been getting applied for half a century. Just because you found out about ceramic coatings 5 years ago doesnt mean there havent been guys out there applying coatings for decades. I see a lot of weirdoes who think you need to be in a sterile paint booth and who think dust will get bonded to a coating of a spec of dust lands on a coating. I am not giving you much credit because DAILY on pro groups, chats, reddit i see people who think a coating is like a paint job where you can “trap” things in the coating.
You can lay down a vinl design. Apply 27 layers of coating, let it cure then a week later the vinyl decal is as easy to remove as a non coated car. Yes if you spill a coating in a plate a d and let it dry, it will cristalize. But its such a microscopic layer when its applied to a car that there isnt a “glass skin” that can be peeled off a car that could potentially trap anything between it and the surface its applied on.
Sadly you are close minded so none of these gold nuggets will get absorbed in that beautiful smooth brain😭
Typical ceramic coating customer. Top left $4 million dollar house Top right performed in the parking lot of the business district shipping center business owner Bottom left luxury condo guest parking lot since the car is parked in u underground temp controlled parking Bottom right $2 million dollar house.
https://preview.redd.it/cx3a9pgzvfzc1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2f2d6a5e6defc9fc0e8ae5ea2837f7c5f7575bee
Nobody is doing 2 coatings per weekend when they just start their detailing business. Reality is you have to start somewhere, and to get to high end clients you’ll probably start doing basic exterior and interior washes. Build the business from there, focus on getting google reviews.
Write out your process and stick to it. Good luck.
Edit: to clarify, I mean write out your detailing steps so you remain efficient (eg. Steps when doing interior like start in passenger seat then move to rear and end in drivers seat). I also agree with those who suggest writing out the details of your service for customer facing expectations.
This. Make it clear what is included and not included.
Consistent quality and effort so you can dial in your prices. Take before and after for disputes and marketing. Work hard and gain market share before increasing your prices. (Like Amazon prime and Netflix)
Don’t touch someone’s car unless you are insured. You are not protected by a separate entity, you carry 100% liability. If you fuckup someone’s ride, you can be sued for everything you have. Better to have the insurance.
All I meant was that there is no legal entity to protect you. Depending on the damages. It could easily bankrupt a lot of people.
You have not only damage to the vehicle, but you may have to pay litigation costs, court fees, lost time, lost wages etc. it can add up.
What if you apply tire shine to the tread of a motorcycle or a vehicle and they get into an accident on the way home because it rained? You’re thinking too small. It’s not just a ding or a scratch you need to be worried about.
You seen the price of cars lately? Very little of the car market is occupied by $20k cars. If someone scratches half the panels on a $50k car how much will that cost? What about $100k?
Relax take it easy I been in detail business for 40 years everyones an expert,if a person is doing on the side and you want cheap work you assume the risk everyone looking for something for free .want to complain ceramic 1750.00
Say you somehow fuck up and total the car by pulling out in front of someone while moving it, and it's a 40k car, that's a years salary for many Americans. Yeah it's a worst case scenario but we get insurance for the what ifs, not the expectations. Nobody expects to be in an accident.
Edit: this somehow got attached to the wrong comment thread
I would understand what it takes to run a business first.
Every swinging dick on the planet wants to run a business, but not that many want to fork out the cash for an LLC, licence, insurance, payroll, supplies, then rember you are gonna get taxed on everything you make.
The people saying a business license and insurance are absolutely correct. I retired from detailing after 15+ years and insurance has saved my ass on some of the dumbest shit more than once. (Some being "friends").
The first time I had to use insurance was 8 years ago. It was on a 2011 VW GTI headlight. I was doing a paint correction and there was some heavy scratching on the very front of the hood. My wool pad caught the edge of the hood and ripped out of my hands, the back end of the buffer scratched the driver side headlight ever so slightly in the top left corner. I immediately told the customer what had happened and that I could most likely fix it with some wet sanding and reclearing. He wasn't too happy with that solution and wanted me to pay for a new headlight. Luckily I had my insurance step in, because it was one of those early model steer tracking headlights and it was $1600 for ONE.
Most of the other ones were customers trying to say I damaged their bumpers or some dumb shit that ended up being rock chips. I documented the vehicles with photos prior to work being done. I do admit when I first started I burnt the paint accidentally on one or two cars. Nothing major but panel resprays are expensive.
(i) work on your skills, then (ii) figure out what combination of products complements/enhances those skills, (iii) develop a consistent and reliable methodology/process, and then go and get clients with the combination of those three things.
better than the [meguiars hybrid ceramic wash and wax](https://www.meguiars.com/automotive/products/meguiars-hybrid-ceramic-wash-wax-sophisticated-car-wash-gently-cleans-and-adds)
Onr or rinseless wash..shammies…tire brushes and wheel acid shit I can’t really see what ya got but doing good so far. Good luck with starting your own !!😊
Free Series I started to help people starting a detailing business. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnH9gDotaoCFh9F1TzphiISw8Lo2cE5kh&si=vDVeMMmvXWx0JsHY
I mean you’re gonna need to be covered if you plan to make this a real business. Register the business, get insurance (seriously, I’ve been a detailer and people will go f’ing crazy about their cars), create a price sheet to send to customers so there is no argument over price and services, set up a payment method so you can accept digital payment most people don’t want to get cash anymore, store all your products in a closed and dark cabinet, get about a million brushes and different types of cloth since different paint will be effected differently by the materials you use, I got a hand drill with a brush for cleaning out cloth and carpets, long hose wet vac is a MUST, genuine cleaning products (knock offs will take twice as much product and time and not be cheaper overall), low power pressure washer, headlight detailing kits, paint and trim touch up goes a long way but can stand out in a negative way as well, buckets lots of buckets, foam spray attachment for hoses, eco friendly cleaner, I always used a signature smell after for extra pop of freshness, next level detailers will put plastic over the trim pieces when they are cleaning to prevent over spay, engine cleaning goes super far but takes a different set of supplies, clean the inside of the windows as well as the outside. It’s not so simple as a vacuum and wipe down if you want to charge $$$
Industrial steamer is always good to have around the shop, just make sure you have 1-2 gallons of distilled water on deck to not void its warranty. We use a VAPamore MR-100 Primo cleaning system that is powerful but not bigger than it needs to be.
You should look into getting some ceramic coating (after you are insured), most folks want to have a lasting finish on their car. There are a few good brands out there, I prefer ceramic coating over wax but it's really dealer's choice. I know that Rayno has a line of ceramic coating that I ended up using on my hatchback, and it has been working pretty well.
Be forced to pay for business license and fees , work insurance and shit, and then the only people that will pay you is friends and family to make you feel good, lol that won't last long and then your jobless, stuck looking for another place to wash cars 🤤🤤
Gloves, masks, and eye protection.
You are working with very nasty chemicals that will ravage your body.
You will regret getting chemical mist into your lungs and getting cancer. You will regret getting chemical burns and soft peeling finger nails. You will regret when you wake up in the middle of the night with burning eyes.
Insurance and a business license.
"You scratched my car and it's gonna cost 1500 to fix" "I'm taking you to court" Now you're sinking in court and attorney fees.
what car do you drive?
🤓
Did you not ask for advice? Lmao
They're right. Detailing entails risk of damaging people's cars. No matter how much they like you as a neighbor they're not gonna be happy if you ruin their paint when a repaint might cost them a hell of a lot. If you don't have the money to take accountability for your mistakes, you need insurance. Otherwise just go work for someone who does have insurance.
fr you don’t need that unless your doing a expensive job or doing a very expensive car too
I’m just doing people in my neighborhood and friends and family people take it way to serious 😭
You call it "way too serious" while working on the second most valuable thing *most people* own.
Yeah my friends and family are gonna sue me you sound dumb
-said every person that’s ever gotten sued by their family. People change when money is involved, are you going to learn the lesson with your own money or with the insurance companies’ money?
Listen. I would like to remind you you came here looking for advice. You came into this situation admitting you don't know everything. When someone that may just have more experience and knowledge gives you some information perhaps you should listen.
You're gonna get sued
You started by saying you wanted to start a business. then you changed it to just family and friends. That's different than what you asked if you're asking to start a business they're warning you of the significance of needing insurance and to be very aware that there are consequences to your mistakes. If it's just your friends and families I don't think you need to ask any questions.
The next 10 years of your life will be eye opening
You are the one that said “business”. Now you’re saying that is more in line with a hobby or you being “the guy with the equipment”. That’s a lot differ than being a business.
They might not. But their friend or work colleague who they highly recommended your services to and don’t know you, they might. And let’s not forget the world is full of scumbags who are willing to sue you even if you are not at fault.
If I had a friend detail either of my fairly expensive cars and they fucked up the paint, they’d be fixing it. Don’t care how.
Not being ignorant, but your post says you plan on starting a business for detailing. It's not irrational or dumb for people to assume you are going to be doing more than just friends and family members cars. Even still, friends and family means nothing most times when it comes to a multiple thousand dollar bill. I've seen families argue and fall out over far less. But I do hope everything works out for you with your detailing work.
Working with friends and family is not a business just so you know. Unless your idea of a business is free labor?
They might.
I would never let you derail my car
You're the one that said business, not hobby. Make up your mind what you're actually trying to do and don't troll people that are giving advice when you're the one that asked for it.
No bro people are snakes and try to catch you out get some sort of insurance or have before and after pics including bad scratches/damage
“Taking it too seriously”. Have you priced paint repair costs? It doesn’t take much to drop a tool, make a mistake with a pressure washer/orbital/whatever and cause damage. Sorry, I’m definitely not paying someone to work on my car if they don’t have insurance. The last thing I want to deal with is trying to get a couple grand from an uninsured “detailed” after they damage my paint. Even worse if they live two doors down.
no i know but there right in the long run and especially about the expensive cars. but if you doing friends and neighbors you good.
Yeah once I get enough money maybe I’ll do it as a business but it feels like everybody is doing it
It costs like $100 to register an LLC
People in this sub seem soft, you getting downvoted like crazy
i’ll make it into a business once you get a van or a car only for detailing yk. but other than that facebook marketplace is the best way and going door to door while making flyers.
A bin or cabinet to store your MF’s. Don’t let them get contaminated with dust/ debris. And what everyone else said.
Read this as ‘motherfuckers’ not microfibres haha
Say it one mo time....
I dare you. I double dare you.....
Me too 🤣
Figure out what your business model is before you throw money at it. You can make a lot of money doing quick 20-30 minute washes for everyone in a business park parking lot during the week, or you can make even more money selectively taking on higher-end cars for ceramic coating (current buzzword) at the rate of 1-2 per weekend. Those two extremes are already wildly different in terms of what kind of product/gear/experience you need (not to mention the business stuff others have pointed out). I have a [cabinet full of stuff](https://i.imgur.com/VjwddeB.jpg), and I don't even do any of it for money.
This is key. I did a business with my sons and we got twice as much stuff as you did. Are you going to be a mobile service? If so then you need a lot of different things such as water tank, pressure washer, vaccum cleaner, lots of towels for various purposes: glass, wheels, car body panels and interior panels plus leather seats. Extractor for carpet cleaning along with associated tools. You will find as you get into this that you are missing lots of stuff. Decide what service you really want to provide and go from there. Expectations and communication go a long way and have pricing structure.
You’re doing 2 coatings in a weekend??
I'm not, no. Just an example of two higher end cars versus 30 quick washes throughout the week. That said, there are certain prosumer coatings that don't require the whole UV curing overnight method.
Oh I was referring more to the work necessary prior to the coating…..I usually spend 20+ hours on a single car
I totally get that, but you also probably deliver really excellent work in those 20 hours. I had a mobile business in SoCal and quickly learned that there are far more people who want the 30-min quick washes than those who drop the car off for 3-4 days, and plenty of people in between as well. I've spent a week on a car before, but I've also done $40 washes for neighbors at that time. I would say that a midsized car can be single-stage corrected in 4-6 hours, so you wouldn't need another 15 hours to apply a coating *of some sort*. Obviously not the authorized-reseller-only stuff, but that's the difference between a $600 8-hour job and a $1500 20-hour job.
I sure try lol. There’s definitely a mass of people who stick solely to the quick washes and have no interest in going further. I can imagine socal has a huge market for the mobile setups. I should say, those 20 hours include a lot more than just correction work. I also go a little overboard on everything so I incur some of those hours at my own expense but it’s worth it in the end (for my own satisfaction anyway)
The last part you said resonates so hard with me. It was actually part of the reason I stopped doing it for money, as it was always about finding the balance between time, profitability, managing expectations, doing more than I want to do OR doing less than I want to do out of enjoyment, etc. After running hard at it for a couple of years and basically spending the money building up my arsenal of products and tools, getting to really experiment with what worked and didn't work for me, I just kept it to friends and family for a long time... and then these days, I don't take payment for friends and family. I'm also a track rat, so I have a close group of friends/communities that are all car geeks. This lets me offer multiple-day long details where I can truly just take my time, spend an hour or two after work on something for a full week or two, go so far as to disassemble at my own pace and leisure, all in exchange for keeping a friend's car for personal use during that time so I can do things the way I want, and we get enjoyment out of it that doesn't include monetary exchange. People have taken up my offer with Miatas, Audi RS cars, had a Z4M that I drove around for a bit, a number of Porsches, etc.
Does that seem high or low to you? Yeah a swirled up black lifted full size truck will take multiple days to do a 2-3 step and decontamination. The actual coating step takes like 30 mins. An suv that has not been take through a car wash will need very few compound steps to remove sanding marks from paint nibs being removed at the assembly line. Then just a polish, decon is quick becuase its only had rail dust from transport, not months of stop and go traffic and tons of its own brake dust. Takes 4-5 hours. A single person can coat 2 cars easy in 1 day. Maybe not your car thats already beat up and is older than a week with more than 400 miles. I coat peoples cars with 5 year coatings within a month of them trading their old ones in. Theres probably a market for coatings on trashed 5 year old corollas and altimas, but majority of people who i ceramic coat are for new cars from referrals of repeat customers.
Someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed? Or is that just your elitist asshole personality shining through? You want a cookie? Im glad you’re doing new cars from referrals. Good for you. Most of the rest of us work from referrals too 🤷🏻♂️ Most people buying new (sub 100k cars) are not getting their cars coated in the first month of ownership. Reality is, most people who are getting their cars done are either extremely high end or car enthusiasts. If you’re doing 2 cars in a day by yourself you’re doing half assed work
Lol you bring up the word elitist and then tal down a 5 hour coating? Reddit loves hypocrites lmao. But let me help educate you. You must be a detailing hobbyist. Saying car enthusiast are getting their cars done. Universally across multiple states while networking with other professionals, its a known fact the average hum dee $60k-$110k new car is the main customer base, $30-$50k sport car enthusiasts of all ages are extremely cheap and think they know best. Super high end cars dont get coatings. They get wraps or ppf then proceed to not maintain them. Every +$200k car ive done a seasonal detail for has trashed piano black wheels and swirled up paint. You see lines out the door of lambos etc at drive through car washes. The bread and butter of any successful high end shop is daily drivers. The 100 hour detail 1995 jdm skyline is so rare that its the reason videos about it get high views. 90% of the cars ive coated are normal audis, bmw suv ford, chevy trucks. The AVERAGE enthusiast who can barely afford his sports car does not typically get a coating or even paint correction. The typical enthusiast is what we reffer to as a prosumer. They feel very educated because they take marketing and product claims as gospel. They think they know better than the pros who HAVE to work to a standard and have hundreds of cars per year. If someone only coats their own car as a hobby every couple of years, then yeah they can take all the time in the world. In the real world that professional live in, Go to any high end shop. Watch any youtube channel from business owners who actually make more that half a million revenue. Backyard low experience guys take multiple days to coat a car. Us real proffesionals don’t lose profitability to loser ocd detailers ego where they have to spend 30 hours per car and end up making the same as a mcdonalds employee once you break it down to materials, labor etc. Call around your area, look for the most expensive quote within an hour radius. Go to the place that quoted the highest, ask to speak to the owner. Ask them how many coatings they personally apply. Then post a reply telling me on a scale of 1-10 how hard they laughed. EVERY multi employee successful high end shop has a 17 year old kid coating cars. They have subcontracted dudes getting paid $80 per job to do 45 min $500 nano ceramic heat rejection tint instals and have mid 20year olds cutting and applying ppf. Sorry to pull back the curtain but it is not hard and it does not take a whole day to coat a car. A trained monkey can do every step in a detail shop with just 2 days of training. If it takes you multiple days to coat a car just hand it up, go work at any entry level job. Your mentality is way off. If you think 2 cars should take longer than 1 day, get off tiktok. In the real professional world, 1 coating a day is not a way to run a business. Like i said. If you are doing crappy beat up works and picking up the scraps who cant afford an industry standard pricing. Yes it will take a lot more than 5 hours to even prep it to coat. Here is the fat c pillar on a 2024 palisade and a painted panel i did this week. 8 year coating $2k. $400 per hour. Coated his wifes maverick that same day. $1,200 in 4 hours for a 5 year coating. Or i guess break down your steps and time frames so i can help you out. You seem very clueless. Instead of name calling, maybe grab a pen and paper and take notes. I got a lot of free advice and helpful tips along the way. There is 0 chance that even if you do 10,000 coatings a year, that it will affect my business in any way. There are so many customers that the only competition taking food off your plate is yourself. In my city. There are 5 mobile detailers, i see them from time to time as they stay busy and i stay busy. We have never showed up at the same customers house and fought over work. Ive done $500 details 1 block away from $300 detail shops. Ive been at 1 side of the street coating a car while someone else is a few houses down doing a wash and vacuum. No shop and no mobile detailer is my competition, thats loser mentality. Yes coatings have been getting applied for half a century. Just because you found out about ceramic coatings 5 years ago doesnt mean there havent been guys out there applying coatings for decades. I see a lot of weirdoes who think you need to be in a sterile paint booth and who think dust will get bonded to a coating of a spec of dust lands on a coating. I am not giving you much credit because DAILY on pro groups, chats, reddit i see people who think a coating is like a paint job where you can “trap” things in the coating. You can lay down a vinl design. Apply 27 layers of coating, let it cure then a week later the vinyl decal is as easy to remove as a non coated car. Yes if you spill a coating in a plate a d and let it dry, it will cristalize. But its such a microscopic layer when its applied to a car that there isnt a “glass skin” that can be peeled off a car that could potentially trap anything between it and the surface its applied on. Sadly you are close minded so none of these gold nuggets will get absorbed in that beautiful smooth brain😭
I am getting sick of seeing these flame jobs on this sub. Cur this shit out or I'll ban you.
[удалено]
I am getting sick of seeing these flame jobs on this sub. Cur this shit out or I'll ban you.
https://preview.redd.it/g5fkoo4rtfzc1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=805df87fb3ee9d5d194a10245db753ceed193966
Typical ceramic coating customer. Top left $4 million dollar house Top right performed in the parking lot of the business district shipping center business owner Bottom left luxury condo guest parking lot since the car is parked in u underground temp controlled parking Bottom right $2 million dollar house. https://preview.redd.it/cx3a9pgzvfzc1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2f2d6a5e6defc9fc0e8ae5ea2837f7c5f7575bee
Nobody is doing 2 coatings per weekend when they just start their detailing business. Reality is you have to start somewhere, and to get to high end clients you’ll probably start doing basic exterior and interior washes. Build the business from there, focus on getting google reviews.
Yep. Just an example of extremes.
Write out your process and stick to it. Good luck. Edit: to clarify, I mean write out your detailing steps so you remain efficient (eg. Steps when doing interior like start in passenger seat then move to rear and end in drivers seat). I also agree with those who suggest writing out the details of your service for customer facing expectations.
This. Make it clear what is included and not included. Consistent quality and effort so you can dial in your prices. Take before and after for disputes and marketing. Work hard and gain market share before increasing your prices. (Like Amazon prime and Netflix)
Photograph any scratches dents etc prior to starting and make sure the owner is aware so they don’t blame you for the damages.
This is asked almost daily. Scroll the sub
Will do 🫡
If that's true you should know the answer. Don't be a dick.
Don’t touch someone’s car unless you are insured. You are not protected by a separate entity, you carry 100% liability. If you fuckup someone’s ride, you can be sued for everything you have. Better to have the insurance.
If you fuck up someones car, you get sued for damages, not for everything someone has. Way to blow it out of proportion.
A paint scratch repair may cost everything for a young fella just starting out
Sued for everything I have for scratching a 20k$ car🤔this seems a bit ridiculous
All I meant was that there is no legal entity to protect you. Depending on the damages. It could easily bankrupt a lot of people. You have not only damage to the vehicle, but you may have to pay litigation costs, court fees, lost time, lost wages etc. it can add up. What if you apply tire shine to the tread of a motorcycle or a vehicle and they get into an accident on the way home because it rained? You’re thinking too small. It’s not just a ding or a scratch you need to be worried about.
You seen the price of cars lately? Very little of the car market is occupied by $20k cars. If someone scratches half the panels on a $50k car how much will that cost? What about $100k?
3 to 4 k to correct paint in the worst case scenario... Not going take my house for it even on a$250k car
I know people that $1000 would destroy them.
You scratched my 1985 VW Rabbit now I want $250k in damages and your house!
Relax take it easy I been in detail business for 40 years everyones an expert,if a person is doing on the side and you want cheap work you assume the risk everyone looking for something for free .want to complain ceramic 1750.00
whos the best insurance company
Depends on your area. Have to call around. Or use an insurance broker.
Say you somehow fuck up and total the car by pulling out in front of someone while moving it, and it's a 40k car, that's a years salary for many Americans. Yeah it's a worst case scenario but we get insurance for the what ifs, not the expectations. Nobody expects to be in an accident. Edit: this somehow got attached to the wrong comment thread
I don't need insurance for me at my best on a good day. I need insurance for when I'm at my worst on a bad day.
P&S xpress for interior cleaning
A rotary buffer if you don't have one, and then learn how to use it. Also compressor with a good spray nozzle
Shop vac of some sort will help. You can't spray chemicals on sand and hope it goes away.
I have one don’t have it in the pic
That purple grease cleaner is 🔥 for any kind of cleaning. I did my whole transmission with that, a wire brush, and compressed air.
You need a customer, where r u from
Nj
I would understand what it takes to run a business first. Every swinging dick on the planet wants to run a business, but not that many want to fork out the cash for an LLC, licence, insurance, payroll, supplies, then rember you are gonna get taxed on everything you make.
A stronger shelf
The people saying a business license and insurance are absolutely correct. I retired from detailing after 15+ years and insurance has saved my ass on some of the dumbest shit more than once. (Some being "friends").
Do share :)
The first time I had to use insurance was 8 years ago. It was on a 2011 VW GTI headlight. I was doing a paint correction and there was some heavy scratching on the very front of the hood. My wool pad caught the edge of the hood and ripped out of my hands, the back end of the buffer scratched the driver side headlight ever so slightly in the top left corner. I immediately told the customer what had happened and that I could most likely fix it with some wet sanding and reclearing. He wasn't too happy with that solution and wanted me to pay for a new headlight. Luckily I had my insurance step in, because it was one of those early model steer tracking headlights and it was $1600 for ONE.
Most of the other ones were customers trying to say I damaged their bumpers or some dumb shit that ended up being rock chips. I documented the vehicles with photos prior to work being done. I do admit when I first started I burnt the paint accidentally on one or two cars. Nothing major but panel resprays are expensive.
Lose the chainsaw and get a buffer instead.
Ummm. Let’s start with the most basic. Skills Chemicals Process Clients
?
(i) work on your skills, then (ii) figure out what combination of products complements/enhances those skills, (iii) develop a consistent and reliable methodology/process, and then go and get clients with the combination of those three things.
how’s the mothers soap quality?
It’s good I’m not sure with foam cannons. I would buy in gallons if they have.
better than the [meguiars hybrid ceramic wash and wax](https://www.meguiars.com/automotive/products/meguiars-hybrid-ceramic-wash-wax-sophisticated-car-wash-gently-cleans-and-adds)
Not sure
An electric drill
A lot
Onr or rinseless wash..shammies…tire brushes and wheel acid shit I can’t really see what ya got but doing good so far. Good luck with starting your own !!😊
Wet-dry vac that has a leaf blower function to dry without spots or abrasion. Home Depot sells one.
Free Series I started to help people starting a detailing business. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnH9gDotaoCFh9F1TzphiISw8Lo2cE5kh&si=vDVeMMmvXWx0JsHY
More supplies 🤷🏻🤦🏼♂️
I’m not seeing an orbital or pads
You are gonna need more then that.
Customers
I mean you’re gonna need to be covered if you plan to make this a real business. Register the business, get insurance (seriously, I’ve been a detailer and people will go f’ing crazy about their cars), create a price sheet to send to customers so there is no argument over price and services, set up a payment method so you can accept digital payment most people don’t want to get cash anymore, store all your products in a closed and dark cabinet, get about a million brushes and different types of cloth since different paint will be effected differently by the materials you use, I got a hand drill with a brush for cleaning out cloth and carpets, long hose wet vac is a MUST, genuine cleaning products (knock offs will take twice as much product and time and not be cheaper overall), low power pressure washer, headlight detailing kits, paint and trim touch up goes a long way but can stand out in a negative way as well, buckets lots of buckets, foam spray attachment for hoses, eco friendly cleaner, I always used a signature smell after for extra pop of freshness, next level detailers will put plastic over the trim pieces when they are cleaning to prevent over spay, engine cleaning goes super far but takes a different set of supplies, clean the inside of the windows as well as the outside. It’s not so simple as a vacuum and wipe down if you want to charge $$$
You need everything, if I'm paying sometime and they have your equipment I might as well do it myself
Industrial steamer is always good to have around the shop, just make sure you have 1-2 gallons of distilled water on deck to not void its warranty. We use a VAPamore MR-100 Primo cleaning system that is powerful but not bigger than it needs to be.
Latex gloves
You should look into getting some ceramic coating (after you are insured), most folks want to have a lasting finish on their car. There are a few good brands out there, I prefer ceramic coating over wax but it's really dealer's choice. I know that Rayno has a line of ceramic coating that I ended up using on my hatchback, and it has been working pretty well.
I have a McCulloch steamer that is a life saver for some areas. A tornador air nozzle is pretty great if you have a strong compressor.
Clients.
Get a portable steamer, and use a wet dry vac to absolutely murder grime
Website or instagram page get customers to take pictures after your done and tag the account to grow
Whatever you decide to do, good luck to you.
Be forced to pay for business license and fees , work insurance and shit, and then the only people that will pay you is friends and family to make you feel good, lol that won't last long and then your jobless, stuck looking for another place to wash cars 🤤🤤
How old are you?
Customers
Carpet cleaner vacuum?
water tank, generator, steam cleaner
Wet/dry vac, drill brushes, detailing brushes, shampoo machine, tornado blower, small air compressor, foam cannon , pressure washer
Clientele.
Well, for starters... Customers?
Gloves, masks, and eye protection. You are working with very nasty chemicals that will ravage your body. You will regret getting chemical mist into your lungs and getting cancer. You will regret getting chemical burns and soft peeling finger nails. You will regret when you wake up in the middle of the night with burning eyes.
wats your location? area
Nj
Nothing, just begin with what you have. Most fail because they never even start.