Often people think of car detailing as the car enthusiast meticulously cleaning their “show car” in preparation for the next car show. However that is only a small percentage of the car detailing market. There are over 23 million registered vehicles in Canada. The average working parent has only 90 minutes of free time daily. When you combine these 2 statistics its easy to see the market for car detailing. Not only are there a lot of cars that require cleaning, more & more car owners either just do not have the time to clean their own vehicles or their limited leisure time is so valuable that they do not want to spend it cleaning their cars.
So you have been detailing your own car and love doing it or you have just heard that the detailing industry is a good one to get into so you have decided to start your own business. That's great! Our company spent 5 years operating a 5 bay detail shop and the past 8 years as one of Canada's largest supplier of detailing products & equipment so we have experienced quite a lot over the past 11 years. This article will help you avoid many of the pitfalls we have seen new detailers fall into and will help you set yourself up for success as opposed to failure.
The good news is that compared to many other businesses a detailing business is pretty inexpensive business to start. The bad news is it's not quite as simple as going to Canadian Tire, buying a few products then calling yourself a professional detailer. Sure, if you want to just detail friends and neighbors cars on the weekends for extra cash that may be all you need, but if you are serious about starting a viable, profitable company you need to become a business person, not just a car cleaner! You may be great at detailing cars but unless you learn how to run your business as well you will not be a successful as you can be!
We see many new detailers every year in our store and one of the major problems we see is people starting their business without doing any prior research into even how their business will be structured, what services they will offer etc.
Whether or not you are going to seek a business loan or not one of the first things you should do is develop a Business Plan. Most major banks have business plan templates that you can download for free. You may not have all the numbers you need right at the start to fully complete a plan but as you begin to plug in numbers regarding rent, product costs, labor, transportation etc. you will be able to determine what sales volume and prices you need to charge need to turn a profit.
If your business is going be just a part time weekend gig you probably do not need to register an HST account with the CRA but once you reach a certain threshold in sales you will need to do so.
Mobile or Brick & Mortar?
One of the first things that you need to determine is whether or not you are starting a mobile detailing business or are you going to to rent a shop? There are pluses & minuses to both...
Mobile
Mobile businesses are less expensive to start (no rent etc.) but keep in mind that mobile businesses are very seasonal so if you are doing the business full time you better make sure you allocate funds in the busy season to tide you through the winter months. Also remember that unless you invest in a canopy even in summer months you will have days where inclement weather will prohibit your ability to make money. Note: If you are planning on providing car polishing and/or ceramic coatings you will need a canopy even on good weather days because you cannot do these services on hot paint or under direct sunlight.
You will also need either a pickup truck, van or trailer to carry your supplies and equipment.
In addition it is recommended that you have commercial insurance on your vehicle(s) which can be substantially more than personal insurance. Many detailers overlook this. Yes if you have no issues you may get away with just having personal insurance but keep in mind if you do get in an accident and the insurance company investigates and finds out the accident occurred while you were using the vehicle for work purposes they may deny the claim.
If you are going the mobile route and want to portray a level of professionalism you should also strongly consider having the vehicle(s) wrapped with your logo etc.
Another thing to remember is customer perception. Many consumers will not hesitate to have a mobile detailer come to their house to shampoo their carpets but may feel more comfortable going to an actual shop to have a $2,000.00 polish & ceramic job done.
If you do go the mobile route you will also need a method of accepting payments (unless you take only cash). There are several companies out there that offer this service. Square is one of the more popular ones.
Shop:
Obviously the biggest drawback to opening a shop is the cost. You will have rent & TMI to pay every month along with hydro, gas, commercial liability insurance etc. And you will most likely need to commit to at least a 3 year lease. If you are going to to make this type of investment you will have to have set business hours and in order to maximize earning potential should be open on weekends (at least Saturday). Although mobile detailers should always be prepared to the work when the customer's want the hours are less structured than if you have a physical location.
A good compromise (if you can find one) is to approach another business in the automotive industry willing you rent you a bay or space in their warehouse to detail cars in. Often you can work out a month to month rent with them (avoiding the long term lease commitment). If you want to go this route just keep in mind that not just any warehouse will do. Many municipalities have strict zoning laws regarding where automotive businesses can operate. As well you will need a space that has drain. Putting in a drain if you need to is usually not an overly expensive project and if you are signing a lease most likely you can negotiate with the landlord to put one in for you.
Bottom line is there is no right or wrong answer to shop vs mobile. Many detailers will start as mobile but after a year or two of building their business and capital will then invest in a brick and mortar location.
Services:
What services you offer will go a long way towards your earning potential. Since almost every daily driven vehicle in Canada will get dirty there is a big demand for interior detailing.
There are a lot people out there with dirty interiors. But keep in mind there are also a lot of detailers out there offering these services. And remember there is a ceiling for what you can charge for interior detailing. Although many people don't have time, physical ability or just can't be bothered to do it themselves there is a limit on what you can charge to detail an interior. No one is going to pay $500.00 for you to clean their interior (no matter how dirty it is). Reality is most people have the skills required to do it themselves if they really wanted.
Where the "big money" is in the types of services that the average consumer does not have the skills or equipment to do on their own. The 2 biggest earning potential services you can offer are car polishing and ceramic coatings. These services require a skill level that most of your customers do not have and/or dont want to be bothered to learn.
Keep in mind that detailing is a labor intensive business. Once you have purchased your initial equipment (vacuum, polisher etc.) your actual product cost per car is nominal. Using the right products the actual product cost for your chemicals to perform an interior detail is only about $10-$15.00/car. Product cost/pad wear & tear is only slightly higher than that to do a pant correction (polishing job). To apply a 6 year ceramic coating you may charge say $1,500.00 (this varies based on the amount of prep work required before applying the coating), but the cost of the bottle of ceramic coating is under $250.00. You are not there to make money on the products needed to do the work, it is made on your labor & skill.
Lets put this in perspective. The numbers used below are just a general guideline (prices charge will vary based on geographic area, what the competition charges etc.) but the numbers used below are pretty close to what the average detailer charges using say a 4 door sedan as our comparison vehicle....
Interior Detail (with shampooing): charge $150.00. 2 hours labor = $75.00/hour
Scratch Removal (car polishing) : charge $400.00. 4 hours labor = $100.00/hour
6 Year Ceramic Coating: charge $1,500.00 (4 hours polishing + 2 hours applying the coating) = $250.00/hour.
As you can see the more skill the job takes the higher your hourly rate becomes. And reality is learning to polish a car or to install a ceramic coating are both skills that are not overly complicated to learn. Yes it takes practice to become a real pro at either but you can learn the basics fairly easily. Our company offers free seminars on both car polishing and ceramic coatings. Attending these would give you more than enough knowledge to get you started!
Also make sure you look through all of our blog posts. There is a lot of information there on how to perform various detailing tasks.
Detailing Packages:
Most detailers offer set packages to their customers making it a simple choice for them to pick A, B or C. What services you offer and what is included in each package will of course be set by you as the business owner but the following is a good representation of what services many detailers offer:
Interior Packages
Note: Many detail shops will include an exterior wash with their interior packages. Many detailers also include a trunk cleaning/shampoo with their full interior detail.
Basic: A basic interior package is a service similar to what you may get at a full service car wash. What you are providing here is more of a cleaning than an actual detail. This package would include a full vacuuming of the vehicle, window cleaning and a wipe down of the vinyl. This package would be for customers whose interiors are in good shape other than maybe dirt & debris etc.
Full Interior Detail: A full interior detail would include everything above plus a full shampooing of the matts, carpet, upholstery, leather, headliner etc. Note: If you have a vehicle that has pet hair you must charge extra for removal. We have seen instances where just the pet hair removal alone can take as long as the detail.
Shampoo Only: You may have customers that clean their own vehicles but don't have the equipment available to shampoo their carpets. This service is popular in the spring for salt removal.
Odor removal: Often customers will bring you a vehicle because they have an odor they want removed. Do not offer this service unless the customer is willing to pay for either a full detail or at very least a shampoo service/headliner cleaning as well. Often an odor cannot be removed without a full fabric cleaning first.
Exterior Packages
There are many exterior packages you can offer from just a wash to a full vinyl wrap of the vehicle and everything in between. Here are some of the more popular services...
Hand Wash: Many customers avoid automatic car washes in order to prevent paint swirls. Some of these people also cannot be bothered or just don't have location to hand wash their vehicle so will bring it to you for this.
Decontamination Wash/Wax: This is a service you can offer to customers that have paint that is in good shape (don't require polishing) but want their paint "smooth & shiny". This service would involve removing any contamination (chemically, clay bar or both) from the paint then providing some type of wax for protection. Note: We recommend using a ceramic wax (not to be confused with ceramic coatings) as your final step. Ceramic waxes are available in either liquid or spray-on versions, provide very high gloss, are easy to apply and even a spray-on ceramic wax will give your customers 6+ months protection.
Engine Cleaning: This is popular, quick and easy service that can be done in about 20 mins (you should have a pressure washer & air compressor)
Headlight Cleaning: This is another very popular service & if you have a polisher most headlights can be cleaned in about 20 mins.
Paint Correction: Paint correction is essentially car polishing/scratch removal. Depending on the severity of the paint damage this service can take anywhere from an hour or two to up to 4+ hours. Because of this you should always see the vehicle to provide a quotation. Many detail shops will list on their website "from $XXX.XX" or "starting at $XXX.XX" for this reason. As a general rule you want to be charging approx. $100.00/hr. for paint correction. When you are first starting out do not worry too much if you end up only making $30.00/hr. You may under quote a job or it may take you twice as long to complete the job than an experienced polisher. These "errors" are ok. Remember you are essentially being paid to learn. When you are first starting out do your own car, neighbors, friends etc. The more cars you work on the faster you will get.
Similar to how a car rental company does a walk around with you before you take the vehicle you should do the same thing before starting any major paint polishing work. This ensures that both you and the customer are on the same page regarding the condition of the vehicle before you start the work and eliminates the possibility of you being accused of causing any preexisting damage.
Ceramic Coatings: Ceramic coatings are coatings that are applied to exterior (and interior) surfaces that provide protection (and gloss for paint coatings). Paint coatings fall into two categories:
DIY Coatings: These coatings are products available through retail channels (anyone can buy them). These types of coatings generally have a durability of 2-3 years. We do have many detailers that purchase DIY coatings and apply it for their customers but to be a true pro you should be offering professional grade coatings.
Pro Coatings: Professional grade coatings are not available to DIYers and must be applied by a certified installer. In order to purchase and apply these coatings you must be certified by the manufacturer of the coating. Many of these brands will have different levels of durability to their coatings, 3 year, 6 year, 10 year etc. Most pro grade coatings also come with a warranty that you can offer your customers.
Really do your research on what brand of coating you become certified in. Many of these companies will charge you a "training fee" (often in the thousands of dollars) to become certified. We have had some of our customers tell us that when they paid this fee that the training was not even hands on! Reality is that ceramic coatings are not that difficult to apply and most of the skill required is in the paint preparation (polishing) before applying the coating. Unless the company is including hands on both polishing training and coating application we would not recommend paying this fee. Another thing to watch out for is how many layers you need to apply to provide your customer the warranty. Some brands offer different thicknesses of coatings while some companies have only one thickness of coating but require you to apply multiple layers. If brand A has 3 different thicknesses of coatings in their product lineup you just pick the thickness of coating you need for the job and only need to apply one layer to activate the warranty. If brand B has only one thickness of coating available you may need to apply multiple layers to achieve the same thickness. Time is money so if you can get a 6 year durability to the coating after applying only one layer that is far less time consuming than to have to apply 3 layers to achieve the same durability.
The brand we recommend to our customers is System X. System X is manufactured & bottled in the U.S. They have 3 year, 6 year and lifetime warranty paint coatings (all require only one layer to activate the warranty). In addition they have glass, rim, trim, marine & aviation coatings, a matte vinyl wrap coating as well as an interior coating that can be used on all the fabric and vinyl on vehicle interiors. And the best news is to become certified there is no fee! In addition, every time you register a warranty System X will automatically register the customer's vehicle on Carfax. To become System X certified just fill out the application form below …
Tinting/Vinyl Wrap/PPF: Offering these services is a great money maker but when you first open your business we suggest focusing on the services listed above. Tinting & PPF installation require much more skill and practice than just applying a ceramic coating. What many detail shops will do is hire a specialist to come in and do these services for them. Find one willing to do the job at below what they charge retail. That way you still can make a bit of money & do not have to turn away business.
Add On Services
There are many up-sells that you can offer your customers. If they are getting an interior detail offer a fabric or leather protection package. If they are getting a ceramic coating on their paint offer a trim, rim, or glass ceramic coating etc.
Pricing
What you charge for your services will vary based on your geographic area, competition etc. The best way to determine your pricing levels is to do the research! Google all the detail shops in your area. Check what services they offer & what they charge for them. Visit local shops and get them to quote you on services for your own vehicle.
Discounting: Many customers will ask you for a discount. No you don't want to lose a sale if you hold firm on your price but you also need to make a reasonable profit on your work. The best way to approach this is to offer a "throw in" as opposed to a dollar discount. For example lets say you quote a customer $350.00 for a polishing job. The customer tries to haggle with you. Instead of giving the customer a lower rate offer them an added service like throwing in a headlight cleaning for free. If you charge say $60.00 for this service that is $60.00 in perceived value to the customer but will cost you a lot less than a $60.00 discount on the polishing.
Also remember you can't run the business on “promises”. Often customers will say “I have 3 cars I need to get done so give me a good price”. Well unless those 3 cars are all there that day, that is just a promise. Rather than discounting the first car and hope they bring the other 2 a better reply is “I'll tell you what Sir. You do the first 2 cars at regular price and we will do the 3rd one at 1/2 price. If the customer is sincere they will be happy with that deal and you do not have to discount anything unless all 3 cars are done.
Use discounts to your advantage. Let's say a customer comes in to the shop or calls you for a mobile detail on a slow day (you or your staff has nothing to do) and wants a discount to get a detail job done. Instead of just turning them away a better reply is “Sir that price is way lower than what we ever do the job for. However Mondays are our slowest day. I'll tell you what. I'll do it for that price ONLY if you do it right today.” If the customer does the job right then it's to your advantage because it's better to bring in some revenue rather than none on a slow day.
Start Up Equipment | Supplies
Obviously if you are renting a shop or purchasing a trailer for your mobile business that is part of your start up costs but this section is focusing on the actual products/equipment you need. These costs can vary depending on your budget and/or needs but below is a general range of what you can expect to invest to get up and running. We highly recommend reading our other blog posts. Not only will they give you a great amount of knowledge on how to perform various service, you will also get a good idea of what products each service requires.
Interior detailing
Interior detailing costs can be as low as under $500.00 to several thousands. The bare minimum you will need are cleaners, dressing, towels, brushes & a wet/dry vacuum. These basic tools will allow you perform a full interior detail. This will get you started but as your business grows we recommending adding equipment like a carpet extractor, Tornador cleaning gun, steamer etc. to your arsenal of equipment. You can use the following as a general guideline regarding what equipment you need. See our blog post How to Perform a Full Interior Detail for more information on this topic.
Basic:
CLEANERS (You can use either and all-purpose cleaner you can dilute for cleaning all surfaces or use task specific products)
WET/DRY VACCUM (Purchase from Home depot, Rona, Canadian Tire etc.)
Recommended: (although not required to start your business the following are items you should consider having)
Exterior Detailing
This section covers what products you will require to perform basic exterior care (washing, decontaminating paint etc.) From a cost standpoint your pressure washer is the biggest outlay here. If you are on a tight budget you can start off with a small home use pressure washer (from Home depot, Canadian Tire etc.) but keep in mind these will not last long when used in a commercial environment. Depending on what pressure washer you get your initial investment here will be between $500.00 to $1,500.00
CLAY BAR (Use synthetic clay. It is much more economical for doing multiple cars)
Polishing
Your initial cost to get into polishing can be as little as about $300.00 up to thousands depending on your polisher of choice and variety of pads/products you keep on hand. If you are brand new to polishing we recommend starting with an entry level machine and simple to use products/pads. As you gain more experience you can always upgrade/add more products/machines to your line-up
Basic:
Nice to have:
Click below to check out our full line up of polishers...
Buy chemicals in bulk sizes: Buying your products in bulk sizes will dramatically cut down your product costs. That does not mean you need to buy drums of every product. But buying a gallon of a wax is a lot more economical than buying a 16 oz. bottle. The most economical way to buy your cleaning chemicals is in a 20L pail, but if you are on a tight budget many of these products are also available in gallon sizes. Also remember too that a good emulsion dressing (such as Pro Gloss) can be diluted to adjust the level of shine & can be used as a dressing for interiors, tires & engines. A dilutable all purpose cleaner (like Dirt Assassin) can be used for cleaning carpets, interiors, engines etc. An iron remover (like Rim Brite) can be used as a brake dust remover for rims and as an iron remover for paint. Having products that can perform multiple tasks not only lowers your product costs it also minimizes the number of products you have to carry around with you if you are a mobile detailer.
Check out our line-up of bulk products below..
Marketing
This is the one area where most detailers do not put an emphasis on. Sure when you first open up you may have friends, family, neighbors etc. that will give you work. But then what?
By far the best type of marketing is word of mouth. If your work is top notch you will get referrals from your customers. Many established detail shops get a huge percentage of their work this way. But until you are established you won't have enough customers to rely on this alone. We recommend you do all of the following:
Get a website. This may sound like a daunting task to many people but there are many companies out there that have pre-done website templates that you can use. Some, like Go Daddy not only have the templates but they will also host your website, provide email addresses etc. making it essentially "one stop shopping" Detailing shop websites are normally not overly complicated and if you (or someone you know) have some half decent computer skills you can add your text, pictures, etc. and have your website up and running in a day or so. Once you get a website make sure your get email addresses linked to your website. Bob@Bobsdetailing.ca is much more professional than Bobsdetailing@gmail.com. Note: when searching for a website template try to get one that has the ability to allow your customers to book an appointment right on your website.
Get a business Facebook & Instagram page. Don't just throw photos etc. up on your personal page. Having a business page looks much more professional and allows you to run ads on these platforms that you cannot do with a personal page.
Get a Google business page. This is critical! A Google page is free and it is where many customers will find you. A Google page will display your address, phone number, address & you can even add your services, post updates etc. If you want to show up on Google Maps you will need this page. Most importantly this page will be where customers will leave a "Google Review". Many potential customers will go by these reviews and if they see a bunch of 4 or 5 star ratings on your page will be more likely to use you. Encourage all your happy customers to leave you a review. It will go a long way in generating new business!
Customer Service
Customer service is a broad term that applies to many businesses but is particularly important to your detailing industry because you are entering a service based industry. Yes the quality of your work is the best customer service you can provide. But it goes beyond that. How we treat our customers and the image you portray to them is critical in the success of the business.
If a customer shows up to your shop and it and the lounge is dirty how confident will they be that you will do a good job cleaning their car? If you show up to the customer's house in a dirty pickup truck with all your equipment just tossed in the back what image are you portraying? Many high end detail shops keep the environment so clean you can almost eat off the floor. Yes it takes a bit more effort to keep your shop or vehicle neat and tidy, but it will be worth the effort
Its also a very good idea to invest in some t-shirts with your logo, tagline etc. Your image is very important & this is an inexpensive way to help convey a level of professionalism.
How you interact with customers is very important. If you are in a store and the employees act like they don't care does it make you feel like you want to spend your money there? I doubt it. If in a shop environment greet the customer right away, smile & whenever possible hold either the car door or store doors for them. All these things help show customers you want & appreciate their business.
Think for a moment about the food service industry... one of the largest service industries in the country. Where do you go to eat, and why? What brings you back to a favorite restaurant? Chances are it isn't just the low prices, or the good food. No one frequents a restaurant that is dirty, or where the waiters are rude, no matter how good the food, or how low the prices.
The reason we don't go back is because the service is poor. People like to feel at ease when they go to a restaurant. They like to think that the food is prepared and served by conscientious people in spotless conditions. They want to eat in a quiet, relaxed atmosphere, where the waiters are helpful, but not intrusive.
Your situation is much like a restaurant scenario. Most people are predisposed to be suspicious of all auto service businesses, however unfairly. Everyone has had a bad experience at a restaurant (bad food, poor service, unsanitary conditions, etc.), but somehow that doesn't make one suspect all restaurants of having the same faults. It seems the same does not hold true for the auto service industry. “One bad apple spoils the whole barrel,” seems to be the norm in many customer's minds. It could be because there is a lot more at stake. For many customers, their vehicle is their single biggest investment. Vehicle maintenance is not a trivial matter to anyone, no matter how wealthy. Canadians tend to identify with their vehicles, and it has been observed more than once in today's world, a person's freedom is defined (in large part) by their ability to go from one place to another at will. You need to instill confidence with your customers that they are leaving their vehicle in goods hands!
Remember the saying "practice makes perfect". When you first start out focus on the quality of your work, if you under promise but over deliver (always do that 10% extra to make your customer happy) you will gradually build a good solid customer base! There you go, you are now ready to start your own detailing business. Good Luck!
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