Starting my own detailing side business

I'm thinking about starting my own detailing side business since I have a lot of people asking me to detail their car. People at work have seen my car and want theirs to look the same!

Anyways, I consider the quality of work I do to be at the professional level, I just don't have all the fancy equipment and warehouse to work in.

I put together this "brochure" with pricing and description of each step. Does the pricing seem reasonable? And is there anything I left out? Any other input is welcome.

This is just something I want to do on the side for extra cash, so just small scale for now, maybe 2 vehicles a week.

Prices are pretty dependent on locality so if they are close to what is normal in your area you should be fine.

My only recommendation would be to offer a "Package" deal for like $300 for exterior and interior or something like that. People love to feel like they are getting a deal :thumbsup:

I wouldn't go into as much detail with processes or specific chemicals used as your layman customer wont care. Keep it short and sweet. Prices seem fairly standard, are you planning to do a package interior/exterior detail price or just keep them separate?

Agree with others. Combo interior/exterior.

See what others in your area charge, so you know where to be at price wise.

I've been thinking of something similar myself. I get lots of people at work and around town asking me what I use and how I keep my car clean.

While I'm not a detailing professional by any means, is something I've long been interested in. My father was a detailed with his own business for over a decade.

I think I would just start out with simple waterless wash exterior and interior quick detail and vacuum for like $50.

But yeah like others have stated. Keep it simple. They don't care about the products. If they do they'll ask. Of course offer a full detail (inside and out) for about $50 less than the two would be combined.

eurocars said:

I wouldn't go into as much detail with processes or specific chemicals used as your layman customer wont care. Keep it short and sweet.

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This. From a marketing perspective it's just noise. Shorten the descriptions to 3-4 bullets each. You can trim a lot of that info out of there and get the message across much more effectively.

Good luck to you. I've considered getting into that business as well but haven't found the time to practice the craft enough lately.

You should really think about getting some insurance, too. What happens if you drop a random-orbital buffer on a customer's brand new hood and dent/scratch it? Accidents can happen which could wipe out 6 months of profit from your business.

I know a guy who started a mobile-detailing business. He started small, working private customers out of a trailer hitched to his truck, picked up a bunch of car dealers as clients, and now has a very busy shop. Once he had to go to a nondescript warehouse and when he walked in, he was asked to detail the 3 exotic cars stored there that the owner wouldn't even let him take pictures of. For that job, he REALLY needed insurance, and the owner wanted to see proof of insurance before he was allowed to touch the cars. Needless to say, he made a lot of money that day.

Thanks all for the input. Ill make a few changes to it. But it seems like the prices are reasonable when compared to the places like Delta Sonic and the higher end custom detailing shops.

Buy yourself one of those paint inspection gauges that measure paint thickness. You will be in a world of hurt if you polish through some paint. I have a friend that does nothing but high end exotics & he tells me that more than a few times he has had to tell the potential customer no because there just isn't enough paint on the car.

Good luck.