A small percentage of car owners actually enjoy cleaning, shampooing, polishing, and waxing their cars. They take pride in the hours they commit to maintaining their cars in like-new condition. Many of them have taken this hobby and started a part-time and even full-time business detailing automobiles professionally. If you are considering making the jump from amateur to professional, there are some basic equipment upgrades you must make, some techniques you must master, and some very important marketing strategies you must be familiar with.
First, upgrade your equipment to professional grade. The wet/dry vacuum you have is probably adequate for basic vacuuming and shampooing. But if you wash with just a water hose, you will have to invest in an electric or gas powered pressure washer with a max output of about 2000 psi. Only a pressure washer will satisfactory clean engines, door jambs, wheels and wheel wells. Standard water pressure is not adequate to get into the tight spots in these locations. Next, if you polish and wax by hand, this will not produce the results expected of a professional. Buy a Cyclo dual head polisher for compounding, polishing and waxing–very safe to use and easy to learn.
Next, you should add some crucial skills to your arsenal that you don’t have as a hobbyist. Odor is a frequent complaint of customers: dog scent, tobacco scent, and food aroma. You need to know how to get rid of the source of the odor first, then apply a chemical to permanently eliminate the aroma from the interior of the vehicle and its heating and cooling system. Also typical is dog hair. Practice removing pet hair with latex gloves or a dog rock hair remover. It’s a time staking job that you can perfect ith repetition.
Stain removal is yet yet another typical service requested of pros. Foods stains, ink stains, regular dirt, and in many cases food coloring stains discolor leather, carpet, floormats, and fabric surfaces. You will need to do your research (the Internet is a excellent resource) on how remove every single type of stain completely. The ability to completely detail a car, however, isn’t as critical as the single most essential element inside success or failure of a detailing organization: marketing. If you don’t have a steady supply of customers, you will not make money, regardless of how good a detailer you are.
Small businesses with small budgets are getting fantastic results on Craigslist. Submit a professionally designed ad as often as possible to Craigslist’s automotive services section and you will get plenty of customers to get your business started. Yahoo and Google are heavily searched resources for automobile detailing items and providers. Make a simple site and optimize it for essential research terms in your City (ie, “Automobile Detailing in Phoenix).
Ask your consumers for Internet reviews. Hand out flyers in upscale neighborhoods. Distribute flyers to your customer’s neighbors. Let them know that you just serviced their neighbors’ car (“have a look”) and leave a brief message about openings you have that week. You should introduce your self to every automotive business business in your service area. The automotive community relies on referrals among mechanics, body shops, brake retailers, transmissions retailers, tint retailers, car washes, and so on. You must be a recognizable face. Detail a shop owner’s car at a discount to display your knowledge.
To conclude, you must initially equip yourself for professional service. Then master the unique problems that you will be asked to fix. As soon as you’re confident in your skills, you can publish an advertisement on Craigslist and create a web site that ranks great in research engines. Introduce yourself to automotive businesses in your area. If you offer a quality service and gain a reputation for excellent customer service, you will be a profitable and busy automotive detailer within 6 months.
Source by Bob Keppel