robby246 Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 Been having some thoughts of starting my own valet and detailing business and wondered if anyone here had any thoughts on this? would there be alot of call for it and whats the market like for doing this sort of thing? i would obviously have to work out prices for different services and work out where to do it, either go to them or they come to me! any thoughts or feedback would be very apprieciated, cheers robby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter richards Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 been doing this for 7 years now , and tbh its really hard going ,not only is the job hard , the summers are wet , and winter even harder , and i class myself as established now , you will have to do a lot of research in your area , find out how many are there, the services they offer , the pricing . a lot of people see companys set up and think its easy , its not and if they say it is they are telling porkies, set up in summer gone by december at a huge loss due to the equipment cost . now all that might sound a bit negative , but i would not give you false information . you will need to sit down and work out a business plan , and dont expect to see any profit for at least 3+ years. mobile will be your option to start unless you have a lot of money and can afford premesis , but that then is the catch 22 , as they are very expensive and as said winters are quiet. this reply is only scratching the surface feel free to pm me if you need any more info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave finch Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 id ave thought mobile would be your best bet far less overheads to solve the winter problem a little bit 12'x12' tent might be able to get one from army surplus i always rob one from the stores to do mine in really shit weather there easy enough to put up quick then as you have quite low over head undercut the competition and try get contracts with companys who need vehicles valeted and detailed regular then advertise on as many owners clubs as you can for you local area and how ever far you are planing to travel when you start untill you get fully established just work alone or if you do require help get a youngster who you can pay super cheap and train to your way of doing things with kit you need try and get good quality products from source and negotiate for a good price for a van save money and get a cat c or d repairable and fix it yourself some of them are so simple to repair but super cheap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robby246 Posted July 18, 2011 Author Share Posted July 18, 2011 i was thinking more mobile tbh as like dave said you have less overheads! the crappy winter days tho i can imagine its really difficult tho! im very much a meguirs person and ive used it all the time doing my car and some other peoples cars, i would have to find out prices and stockists where i could perhaps get bulk discount on it! thanks peter the more info the better would be awesome cheers! did you get those pics of my wheels dave? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robby246 Posted July 18, 2011 Author Share Posted July 18, 2011 i was thinking more mobile tbh as like dave said you have less overheads! the crappy winter days tho i can imagine its really difficult tho! im very much a meguirs person and ive used it all the time doing my car and some other peoples cars, i would have to find out prices and stockists where i could perhaps get bulk discount on it! thanks peter the more info the better would be awesome cheers! did you get those pics of my wheels dave? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter richards Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 dont tie yourself to a certain manufacterer , it will be tough to get any good deals on megs my suppliers who ive dealt with now for years cant get decent figures . plus there are better products out there and cheaper, i use last touch and the machine pads and thats about it with megs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dnk Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 Can you really detail/valet a car properly unless your using a workshop or large garage ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter richards Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 Can you really detail/valet a car properly unless your using a workshop or large garage ?yes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robby246 Posted July 18, 2011 Author Share Posted July 18, 2011 i did think that i mean i would just have to look to see what stuff is good and that i could get decent discount on! you say you use last touch? whats it like and what kinda cost etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter richards Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 its a great product , i use it as a drying aid helps stop water marks when its hot , its a clay lube and obviously a quick detailer, i get it in 5 l containers, plus i spritz my pads with it when machine polishing ,about £23 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robby246 Posted July 18, 2011 Author Share Posted July 18, 2011 awesome i'll have to look into that! thats a good price considering i use the megs quick detailer to lube the clay and thats £8 a bottle! this might sound like a stupid question but can you just use like water and shampoo to lube clay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter richards Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 i d not use shampoo as a lube , the last touch dilutes down so dont use it neat , it goes further . you can get bilt hamber clay which you can use water , loads of different types all very similar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robby246 Posted July 18, 2011 Author Share Posted July 18, 2011 ah fair enough i may look into other clay then megs then, the bottle doesnt last you that long so wouldnt be cost effective unless you could buy it pretty cheaply Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TubbyTwo Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 As said dont limit yourself to one brand is some fantasic stuff out there so test and see what works best. Obviously you would buy as much as possible in bulk to which in the long run will keep costs down. Have you sat and priced up all the equipment and chemicals you will need to start? I think you will be surprised at the cost. I use Bilt Hamber clay as it can be used with water so one less thing to buy. Also what services are you looking to offer? you cant expect to jump right in and offer machine polishing and correction services with no practice. The golden rule is, what ever you charge to do a car the customer will always expect miracles. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robby246 Posted July 19, 2011 Author Share Posted July 19, 2011 as you said it will be costly to get set up and start, as long as i can get customers then you should see a profit pretty soon! im just looking to find places which i can buy decent kit at a reasonable price, any recomendations? as for services they would include: exterior •prewash then shampoo wash •clayed •waxed •all exterior trim dressed •wheels and tyres dressed and shined •glasses cleaned inside and out Interior •carpets and mats hooverd •seats hooverd •all trim dress as far as machine polishing i havnt had a go at doing it tho i can learn to do it and then offer it later as an additional service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TubbyTwo Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 Have you looked into insurance as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robby246 Posted July 19, 2011 Author Share Posted July 19, 2011 not yet i mean i would get lyability insurence obviously just in case anything was to happen but im not gunna be able to drive the cars as only being 23 and ive checked before and have been told you have to be 25 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TubbyTwo Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 Not so much for driving the cars but for damage to customer property or in the event of a customer/member of public hurts themselves on your equipment. e.g. trips over a hose. I wouldnt be happy working on a car knowing that if I caused damage I wasnt insured. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robby246 Posted July 19, 2011 Author Share Posted July 19, 2011 yeh thats more towards what i ment i would have to get it for reasons like that i mean like you i wouldnt feel happy working on somebody car if i wasnt insured or a member of the public to injure themselves! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TubbyTwo Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 It becomes an expensive obbsession I got very excited when the nice man from DPD delivered me some new buckets this morning lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robby246 Posted July 19, 2011 Author Share Posted July 19, 2011 haha! do you know of any good products thats are avalible at good prices? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TubbyTwo Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 you would be better off speaking to the pros mate, Christian @ Inivisible Touch and Peter Richards on here will be much more help than me, also get on Detailingworld and have a good read. Im just a part time cleaning fanatic who doesnt peoples cars every now and then on word of mouth, no idea about the business side. If it helps I can tell you all the products I have, but its by no means the best of the best or the 'must have' list, just things that i have tried and tested and get on well with. Problem you will find is different paint types produce differenct results. So for example a polish that gives good results on one type of paint e.g Ford, might give too much or too little correction on another type of paint. For example the VAG paint on my Seat LCR is very hard, yet the paint on my friends S-Type Jag is very soft so you have to try out different combinations before finding the correct ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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