How to Open & Operate a Financially Successful Car Detailing Business: With Companion CD-ROM by Eileen Sandlin

Author:Eileen Sandlin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: car detailing, business, starting a business, planning, flexible, open a business, how to, make a profit, business plan, running your own business
Publisher: Atlantic Publishing Group
Published: 2012-05-26T00:00:00+00:00

Founded in 1998, 5-Star Car Wash & Detail Center has two bay area locations and employs 55 to 60 people between them. But owner Bill Proestler’s commitment to making cars sparkle and shine was forged much earlier in his life. His first paying job at the age of 16 was at a car wash.

Proestler has had a busy life in between now and then. In addition to serving in the Air Force, he held a variety of engineering and management positions with major corporations. When he decided to return to the clean-car industry, he founded 5-Star as a full-service car wash with an attached detail shop. At the time, the detailing shop constituted only a small part of the business’s overall revenue. Since then, the detailing side has grown and now accounts for 33 percent of business sales.

Although you can get a traditional car wash or a basic detailing at 5-Star, the business specializes in full-service car washes and detailing. Interior detailing services are priced in “à la carte” fashion, such as carpet cleaning without a car wash (at $39.99) and odor removal ($25). The idea is to allow customers to customize their services and hopefully encourage them to try new services.

5-Star also offers oxidation removal, scratch repairs, and sealants. Proestler is quick to point out that employees sell only what the customer actually needs and never attempt to oversell.

“We want our customers to return on another day,” he said. “Avoiding the hard sell is the best way to make that happen.”

5-Star’s main clientele runs the gamut from students to CEOs. This range, combined with the area’s diverse demographics, makes marketing somewhat challenging. In some cases, Proestler does target specific market segments, such as auto dealers, fleets, and charity groups, but notes that the majority of his detailing business comes from the general public.

Although he does welcome the masses, Proestler warn that a detailer never should go after the low end of the customer pool.

“It is always better to do quality work and charge a reasonable price,” he said. “If a customer is not willing to pay for professional services, let him or her go to the other guy who is willing to charge low prices and probably provides ‘low’ service and has little industry knowledge. And do not be concerned about losing out to the competition — with that level of service, the other guy probably will not be around long, anyway.”

Proestler says that location has played an important role in his business’s success.

“We just built a $3.5 million facility in a prime location, so we are sure to attract good clientele,” he said.

For this reason, he recommends scouting out an area carefully before settling on a building — plus, having a car wash on the premises is another good way to bring the right business into a detailing shop.

When hiring, Proestler interviews people from various backgrounds, but he does not necessarily look for previous detailing experience.

“Many times we interview people who claim they have worked as detailers in the past,” he said.

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