Starting Interior Detailing at 18

[Kevinn]

Well I've been reading other threads and I've decided tomorrow I'm gonna knock on some doors and ask if people want their cars detailed. I've been doing my own interior detailing on my families cars for a while, so I have a steamer, carpet extractor, shop vac, etc.

Some questions I have:
- Pricing: I am confident I could do at least 90% of what a professional detailer could do. Problem is I have no credibility. I was thinking on charging $100 for a sedan and around $150 for SUV's and minivans. Am I under/over charging? Is it better to charge low and get referrals first?
- Sales Pitch: I plan on going along the lines of I'm Kevin I'm in high school, I'm trying to start a detailing business. Would you like your car cleaned? Minor thing, but would whatever I am wearing matter? I plan on wearing a t-shirt and shorts so I can quickly begin detailing but I've heard polo and khakis are more presentable.
- Referrals: I plan on making business cards using index cards and creating a GMB and social media profiles to get referrals. I'll hand these out to customers that I get from door to door.

Any other pointers?

 

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[Kevin88660]

Well I've been reading other threads and I've decided tomorrow I'm gonna knock on some doors and ask if people want their cars detailed. I've been doing my own interior detailing on my families cars for a while, so I have a steamer, carpet extractor, shop vac, etc.

Some questions I have:
- Pricing: I am confident I could do at least 90% of what a professional detailer could do. Problem is I have no credibility. I was thinking on charging $100 for a sedan and around $150 for SUV's and minivans. Am I under/over charging? Is it better to charge low and get referrals first?
- Sales Pitch: I plan on going along the lines of I'm Kevin I'm in high school, I'm trying to start a detailing business. Would you like your car cleaned? Minor thing, but would whatever I am wearing matter? I plan on wearing a t-shirt and shorts so I can quickly begin detailing but I've heard polo and khakis are more presentable.
- Referrals: I plan on making business cards using index cards and creating a GMB and social media profiles to get referrals. I'll hand these out to customers that I get from door to door.

Any other pointers?

Have you left school?

If there a small business you can join as a staff/partner/employee when you can learn everything about the business of car detailing in 18 months and just roll out on your own later?

 

[trulyandres]

Yo dude I'm a 17 y/o car detailer too, I'll give you some pointers!

Well I've been reading other threads and I've decided tomorrow I'm gonna knock on some doors and ask if people want their cars detailed. I've been doing my own interior detailing on my families cars for a while, so I have a steamer, carpet extractor, shop vac, etc.

Some questions I have:
- Pricing: I am confident I could do at least 90% of what a professional detailer could do. Problem is I have no credibility. I was thinking on charging $100 for a sedan and around $150 for SUV's and minivans. Am I under/over charging? Is it better to charge low and get referrals first?
- Sales Pitch: I plan on going along the lines of I'm Kevin I'm in high school, I'm trying to start a detailing business. Would you like your car cleaned? Minor thing, but would whatever I am wearing matter? I plan on wearing a t-shirt and shorts so I can quickly begin detailing but I've heard polo and khakis are more presentable.
- Referrals: I plan on making business cards using index cards and creating a GMB and social media profiles to get referrals. I'll hand these out to customers that I get from door to door.

Any other pointers?

1. Pricing is good. If you price low, people will think that your service sucks and that's why it's cheap.

2. I like the pitch but it lacks confidence. Don't say you're "trying" to start a car detailing business, to them it looks like you don't have a lot of experience. Instead, start out by going to your neighbors and saying "hey I'm your neighbor over on X! I go to Y high school and detail cars on the side. Do you mind if I take a quick look inside your car to give you a price? It'll just take 30 seconds." This works because it's easier to say yes to and once they open their car a lot of the time they say something like "sorry, its a mess." which you can respond with "that's what I'm here for!". It establishes that they have a need that you can solve. Only after you check their car out and explain your cleaning process should you be giving pricing details.
- What you're wearing matters but not in the way you think. Scrap the khakis---look like a car detailer. I go out wearing a baseball cap, wifebeater, cargo pants, and work boots. This way when potential customers open the door they see you and think "this guy looks like he works!" not "this guy looks like he's trying to sell me something!"
- Door to door is hard. Be prepared to get a lot of no's. Each one gets you closer to a yes.

3. Get on Nextdoor ASAP! You can invite previous customers to leave referrals on here and it's what the app was made for. Massive success in business doing this so far. Once you get the hang of it you can run paid ads but I wouldn't worry about it right now.

 

[Kevinn]

Have you left school?

If there a small business you can join as a staff/partner/employee when you can learn everything about the business of car detailing in 18 months and just roll out on your own later?

I'm 18 and graduating high school in basically a month. I'm pretty sufficient in interior detailing but the exterior needs some work. I have a pressure washer and foam cannon as well but I am in no state to do paint corrections or ceramic coatings yet. I'm probably gonna practice exterior on my family's cars while focusing on selling interior for now. I'm probably going to stick with Nextdoor and door to door to get the ball rolling for now.

 

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[trulyandres]

I'm 18 and graduating high school in basically a month. I'm pretty sufficient in interior detailing but the exterior needs some work. I have a pressure washer and foam cannon as well but I am in no state to do paint corrections or ceramic coatings yet. I'm probably gonna practice exterior on my family's cars while focusing on selling interior for now. I'm probably going to stick with Nextdoor and door to door to get the ball rolling for now.

Yeah man I mean tbh you don't need to do anything crazy for an exterior, a wash and quick wax is more than enough to charge a combo package for. Then you can increase the amount you charge 60-80 dollars just for an additional hour of work. I looked up "simple car washing at home tutorial" and learned how to do it in an hour. If you don't feel comfortable charging, just say you'll throw it in for free if they get an interior detail, that way you don't feel as pressured to do a $100 job but still get the experience. Good luck bro!

 

[Kevinn]

This is my rough draft for a Nextdoor post. Any feedback is appreciated:

Hello! My name is Kevin and I go to _____ High School and detail cars on the side. I was wondering if anyone would like to receive an estimate for an interior detail. All it would take is a few pictures of your interior and the year, make, and model. If you're curious, here is a picture of one of my recent details, a Toyota Highlander. If you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out!

 

[trulyandres]

This is my rough draft for a Nextdoor post. Any feedback is appreciated:

Hello! My name is Kevin and I go to _____ High School and detail cars on the side. I was wondering if anyone would like to receive an estimate for an interior detail. All it would take is a few pictures of your interior and the year, make, and model. If you're curious, here is a picture of one of my recent details, a Toyota Highlander. If you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out!

Perfect dude, let me know how it goes

 

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[Kevinn]

It's been one day and I've had two people reach out on Nextdoor. One of them has two cars and I have already set up an appointment to give them an in-person estimate. The other person I am trying to get an in-person estimate ASAP to make it easier to close the sale.

When I finish I'm gonna ask for them for any referrals and then reviews. What platforms would you recommend for reviews/referrals? GMB? Insta? Facebook? Nextdoor?

 

[trulyandres]

It's been one day and I've had two people reach out on Nextdoor. One of them has two cars and I have already set up an appointment to give them an in-person estimate. The other person I am trying to get an in-person estimate ASAP to make it easier to close the sale.

When I finish I'm gonna ask for them for any referrals and then reviews. What platforms would you recommend for reviews/referrals? GMB? Insta? Facebook? Nextdoor?

Good job my man! If its easier to quote over text, you can do that too. Just ask them for the model. But I see how setting an in person appointment might help sell them. Set up a business account on Nextdoor, and then when they make a post mentioning the name, it automatically puts a little link for everyone to click on and see you info

 

[Kevinn]

Someone asked me to take their car to get gas and then do an exterior/interior detail. Would this be a liability concern? I would love to take up the offer but it seems like too much risk to take on.

 

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[Bounce Back]

Someone asked me to take their car to get gas and then do an exterior/interior detail. Would this be a liability concern? I would love to take up the offer but it seems like too much risk to take on.

Steering away from this specific scenario I will say you will find in business everyone is always trying to you to just do "one little small tweak" to what you offer. Listen to patterns and figure out how to appeal to the majority but small little one off things opens you up to more risk for no reason and will end up with 1000 distractions / scaling issues in the long run.

 

[trulyandres]

Someone asked me to take their car to get gas and then do an exterior/interior detail. Would this be a liability concern? I would love to take up the offer but it seems like too much risk to take on.

Interesting I’ve never gotten this one before. Not sure actually

 

[Kevinn]

UPDATE: Well I got my first booking. Went pretty smoothly just took longer than I expected. If I had my tools and chemicals organized I could have shaved an hour off my work time. After the first detail, I took some pictures and posted them on Instagram/Snapchat. Posts ended up getting me a few leads. In the process of getting a second booking next week!
Some lessons and thoughts:
- Organize your tools and chemicals: I spent so much time walking around looking for spray bottles, microfiber towels, and brushes. Had it all been organized, I could've finished an hour earlier.
- I need better tools. Drill and brush attachment would've helped immensely. My power washer is gas-powered, heavy, and takes up so much space. A smaller electric power washer would save me time and be more convenient. And also it wouldn't leak gas and oil all over my backseats...
- I took a gamble on this one. Didn't have any pictures of the car before agreeing on a price. Luckily it was reasonable and fairly priced for what it was. Get some pictures beforehand or risk doing extra labor for the same price.
- Client said they had a hose. One of them was leaking, luckily they had a second one on hand. Bring your own hose.

 

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[trulyandres]

UPDATE: Well I got my first booking. Went pretty smoothly just took longer than I expected. If I had my tools and chemicals organized I could have shaved an hour off my work time. After the first detail, I took some pictures and posted them on Instagram/Snapchat. Posts ended up getting me a few leads. In the process of getting a second booking next week!
Some lessons and thoughts:
- Organize your tools and chemicals: I spent so much time walking around looking for spray bottles, microfiber towels, and brushes. Had it all been organized, I could've finished an hour earlier.
- I need better tools. Drill and brush attachment would've helped immensely. My power washer is gas-powered, heavy, and takes up so much space. A smaller electric power washer would save me time and be more convenient. And also it wouldn't leak gas and oil all over my backseats...
- I took a gamble on this one. Didn't have any pictures of the car before agreeing on a price. Luckily it was reasonable and fairly priced for what it was. Get some pictures beforehand or risk doing extra labor for the same price.
- Client said they had a hose. One of them was leaking, luckily they had a second one on hand. Bring your own hose.

Dude awesome. Little tip to boost goodwill: open a fresh air freshener tree and hang it on the front mirror, or give it to them directly. It's one of those small things that adds up and doesn't cost much. Also, when you polish the glass, do the inside and outside. When you only do the inside the windows still look dirty because of the dirt on the outside. Customers love it when you go above and beyond like that and it justifies a higher price tag. Keep us updated!