Opening car detailing shop..!

[Joe's detailing]

This spring I'm opening a detailing shop, I use meguiars of course.
What's the detailing steps one should do.
I normally wash then apply paint cleaner, than wax followed by quick detailer to remove any dust and cars look like new.
I'm asking all you pro's for the best possible detailing steps to provide me knowledge.
I been detailing for 5 years but only used consumer products not (PROFESSIONAL)meguiars products or other big league products..

If my steps are wrong, please feel free to point me in right direction ...

[PorscheGuy997]

Re: Opening car detailing shop..!

Here is what I use for my details:
Wash - GC, NXT, #00, etc.
Clay - Professional Mild clay
Cleaner - #83 (if needed)
Fine Cleaner / Polish - #80
Wax - GC, NXT, #26, 16, 20, 21

You can find everything on ADS

[jarred767]

Re: Opening car detailing shop..!

A lot of it is what you feel works best and what you get the best results from. First off, I'd say make sure that you have a PC or Rotary, definitely a much better option than the arms. You never mentioned anything about clay, but it too is an option you must have. You don't have to clay every car you detail, but you definitely want it there for customers who want their cars clayed, plus it's one of the easiest upsells, especially if you can show them. Are you doing this mobile or do you have a location. If mobile there's some other stuff your gonna want to make sure you have like tents and vehicles to transport all your stuff.
One of the biggest steps is taking it up now. Make sure to get excitement out there before you actually open up shop. I would say that was one of the biggest mistakes I made when I started was that excitement from other people wasn't there. It took those first few months to really get the ball moving and getting customers. Talk yourself up now and then once you do start you'll have lots of customers waiting for you.

Originally posted by PorscheGuy997
You can find everything on ADS

Great tip, they're almost all I use.
Good luck with everything. It's a fun business to be in.

[Renny Doyle]

Re: Opening car detailing shop..!

Many think that opening a shop is an easy deal and for that very reason many shops or mobile businesses die before they really get going!

From reading your post, I would start with a solid training. You can find trainings from basic to full scale depending on what your buget is? In addtion I would be looking for mentors; both from the business side and detail side of our industry. Mentors will offer you a giant leap within your success.

The processes of detailing are one thing but the processes of running a successful business are another! We have six shops and have mentored dozens and dozens of others launching thier own businesses and its a very challenging task for even those that are seasoned detailing pro's.

Do your homework and learn all you can about your localized market and then have fun, work hard and more importantly work smart!

This spring I'm opening a detailing shop, I use meguiars of course.
What's the detailing steps one should do.
I normally wash then apply paint cleaner, than wax followed by quick detailer to remove any dust and cars look like new.
I'm asking all you pro's for the best possible detailing steps to provide me knowledge.
I been detailing for 5 years but only used consumer products not (PROFESSIONAL)meguiars products or other big league products..

If my steps are wrong, please feel free to point me in right direction ...

[JG_Detailing]

Re: Opening car detailing shop..!

When opening a detail shop make sure you know what a customer wants done before doing it. Go over the vehicle before and after detailing it with them. Just because these days people might say you damage something in or outside there vehcile's.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Opening car detailing shop..!

Renny's right, it's not enough to know how to buff out a car and clean the interior, if you want to be successful you need to master the business side, this is where it's important to find someone that can show you how to work smarter, not just work hard.

As far as process goes, you can segment car detailing into two basic groups,

• Production Detailing
• Show Car Detailing

With production detailing you'll be offering the basics at a price that competes within your geographical area for the average person.

With show car detailing you'll tend to focus on paint polishing for special interest cars for customers that are into their car a lot more than just the average car owner. For these types of customers you can charge a lot more but you'll also have to educate them on what you're going to do and why that will justify a higher price and you'll also have to do more steps to the paint to get a show car finish.

Production detailing is more common and there is a larger market for this type of work. Show car detailing is more limited and you'll need to build your reputation up by demonstrating you can walk the talk and then find a way to get this information in front of your market. With the Internet, you can do this by using discussion forums and by having a website.

Joe aka SuperiorShine and Richard Lin aka OctaneGuy, are both good examples of people that can do both kinds of work and know how to use the Internet to showcase their work and attract customer's to them.

[Coupe]

Re: Opening car detailing shop..!

This spring I'm opening a detailing shop, I use meguiars of course.
What's the detailing steps one should do.
I normally wash then apply paint cleaner, than wax followed by quick detailer to remove any dust and cars look like new.
I'm asking all you pro's for the best possible detailing steps to provide me knowledge.
I been detailing for 5 years but only used consumer products not (PROFESSIONAL)meguiars products or other big league products..

If my steps are wrong, please feel free to point me in right direction ...

Im having a hard time understanding this. You want to open a detailing shop but you dont know how to detail? I mean you are seriosly asking how to do it. How are you going to open a shop and not know how to do the skilled work that is detailing?