how to get customers? already had one business failed

[rightaway]

since i cant find a job and have been out of work for awhile, i have started detailing cars again. I'm only getting one car maybe every 3 weeks. i got nice card to hand out, i go to car show and friends to hand out.i try to promote on local forums.

i had a small tire shop and lost all my money in there. i had radio, newpaper, flyers, cards, signs all around the building but couldnt get people through the door. so before i jump head first in, i want to make sure that I can get customers. what should i look into?

I

[ChevyNick]

I keep hearing "word of mouth" over and over and over again. I don't detail as a job, but a guy at my work spread the word to his friends that Im a detail nerd haha, and I ended up detailing a few cars for cash this summer.

[jarred767]

Word of mouth for sure. I started cheap with Craigslist, but you gave to know that you'll definitely get bargain hunters there. The biggest way for getting customers is to let your work (and the way you interact with customers while working on their cars) speak for themselves. Traditional advertising isn't nearly as economical, but a website definitely helps as it can show potential customers your work right away. Then follow up with customers and maybe do some Adwords stuff as it is economical

There's a thread a few down in this subforum with a lust of stuff that is extremely helpful; look it over for sure. Good luck getting going.

[Showmob]

Hit up all the directories like yelp,manta,merchantcircle,local they will help customers find you! Also see if there are any networking groups in your town they are very helpful and can generate alot of biz

[Detailing by M]

YELP!
put your self on there it's free! And don't buy anything but the picture slide show uf you'd like.
Also google "detailer" and see what other websites your compatition is on.
Get a facebook page, google maps and when you can a website. Goodluck!

[rightaway]

Re: how to get customers? already had one business failed

does the detailing business stay busy during the fall and winter months?

[Showmob]

The first one may be slow I detail rental cars for enterprise rent a car when they get smoked in during the winters and that helps! Also flipping cars can keep you pretty busy. But retail biz slows alot from october to march here in oregon

[jarred767]

Re: how to get customers? already had one business failed

does the detailing business stay busy during the fall and winter months?

It really depends on your area. I stay pretty busy through the fall and winter (usually from Thanksgiving to New Year's is slower because people have so many other things on their plates). I find that I do a lot of interior jobs (not nearly as fun) in the winter and then start back up with more exterior stuff in the spring. Working in Seattle, it gets dark at like 4pm in the middle of winter, so I can't work as long anyway and kind of know that. I find that during this time I spend a little more time catching up on paperwork, updating my website, researching new ways to make my business better and simply having a little more free time. The industry is somewhat seasonal (unless you live in a place like Southern Cali where rain is minimal) and you simply have to prepare for that through the summer months - but if you work at it, you should still be able to stay somewhat busy through the winter months, although every market is different.

[DrdetailNashville]

Re: how to get customers? already had one business failed

I've found that with most paid marketing (mailers, newspaper or magazine ads, etc.) the best I do is make my money back. Do as much FREE advertising as you can. Make a decent website, get on as many FREE review sites as you can (Yelp! is a good one). Post your on flyers in as many places as you can. Also use your local small business administration as a resource. They usually have lots of FREE or very cheap classes aimed at helping a small business owner. Hope this helps!

[Socal Mobile]

Re: how to get customers? already had one business failed

Been in business for 7 years. I'll be honest with you. If you aren't on the front page of Google, it is a tough task getting work. Get a website and pay someone to get it to rank for you. We do about $1000 a day in business and have for about a year now and 95% of my business comes from the web. My site crashed for 3 days about a month ago and I got ZERO calls and had no business. The day it went back up, I booked $2500 worth of bizz.