car valeting.

sniggings

Anyone do this for a living?

I'm looking for any advice, comments from people whether this is liking to be worthwhile looking into as a small business.

Wywth

sniggings wrote: »

Anyone do this for a living?

I'm looking for any advice, comments from people whether this is liking to be worthwhile looking into as a small business.

Lots of people. Ask anyone wearing a flouescent vest in your local supermarket car park.

(But ensure they are not a trolley pusher first )

Savvy_Sue

I'd say location, location, location.

You need to be somewhere with lots of passing trade where people have time to leave their car, OR offer them somewhere nice to sit and have a coffee while you do it, IMO.

I've noticed it's only the larger supermarkets which have the car washing teams, the superstores rather than the medium sized places. That might tell you something ...

sniggings

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I'd say location, location, location.

You need to be somewhere with lots of passing trade where people have time to leave their car, OR offer them somewhere nice to sit and have a coffee while you do it, IMO.

I've noticed it's only the larger supermarkets which have the car washing teams, the superstores rather than the medium sized places. That might tell you something ...

I was thinking more the top end, so going to their home/work and doing a full valet or is it called detailing? I'm not sure of the correct term.

So maybe only doing one car a day or 2 at most, the full works on it, inside and out.

[simon]

How much would you charge for the service ??

How long will it take you to complete the job ?

sniggings

[simon] wrote: »

How much would you charge for the service ??

How long will it take you to complete the job ?

I have no idea of the going rates but I was thinking around the £100 mark for a full valet/detailing which would take a full day, half a day for just inside maybe for around £50 for that.

CKhalvashi

sniggings wrote: »

I have no idea of the going rates but I was thinking around the £100 mark for a full valet/detailing which would take a full day, half a day for just inside maybe for around £50 for that.

You're joking, aren't you? If not, pass me their number!

I've paid £200 for a full wash/wax/valet, before offloading my old car, and that took about 4 hours (man with van in London). The only reason I spent this much, was because the car had 106k miles at just over a year old, and thus needed to be immaculate to get the best money for it.

On the lower-end (but still mobile), I know people with cheap (15yr old-ish) vans that work for £12/hour, plus materials, so you'd still be looking £60 for the same 4 hour job.

Remember that for many companies, we have someone that cleans the vehicles already (in my company, usually my DD's at £5 a pop), so you'll be looking at private customers.

CK

[simon]

Why should I pay between £50 and £100 and have to go a full day with out been able to use my car. I could pay £5 - £15 poud at a hand car wash to valet and wash the car in 15 - 20 mins, or get it done at the supermarket car park while I shop.

What do you mean by detailing ? At £50 - £100 What can you offer that is going to convince me to choose you're service over the competitors i described above?

motorguy

sniggings wrote: »

I have no idea of the going rates but I was thinking around the £100 mark for a full valet/detailing which would take a full day, half a day for just inside maybe for around £50 for that.

I can get a full valet for £40-60 pretty much anywhere round here, average is £50.

You would need to know your market and your area.

Out of that, allow £5 for materials.

Also find out how much a good site with space to wash and a unit to hold two cars is going to cost you.

Price public liability insurance and budget £20 a week for electric.

Include startup costs of say, £2000 to buy you a power washer, buff, etc.

Work out how you're going to advertise and how much thats going to cost you and factor that in.

Estimate how many cars you will do per week - i would say 8 is a good starting point.

I guess calculate out from there.

I would be surprised if your making more than £30 per car profit on a valet, so you're looking it £8 gross per hour before tax.

Even if it works out at £40 a car profit, thats still just a tenner an hour.

sniggings

[simon] wrote: »

Why should I pay between £50 and £100 and have to go a full day with out been able to use my car. I could pay £5 - £15 poud at a hand car wash to valet and wash the car in 15 - 20 mins, or get it done at the supermarket car park while I shop.

What do you mean by detailing ? At £50 - £100 What can you offer that is going to convince me to choose you're service over the competitors i described above?

I eat burgers costing £1.99 George osbourne's cost around a tenner

sniggings

motorguy wrote: »

A full valet in my area costs from £35-50.

how long does that take?