car valeting.

motorguy

sniggings wrote: »

no but can learn fast.

When i started selling cars i did my own valeting for a while. You seriously get sick to death of it very quickly if its not your "thing". I used to love doing it but really got sick of the sight of it.

Imagine doing that day in day out.

Just something to bear in mind.

Also, you say you learn fast. Bear in mind also that unless your work is A1 from the very start, word will travel quickly that your crap at it.

sniggings

motorguy wrote: »

When i started selling cars i did my own valeting for a while. You seriously get sick to death of it very quickly if its not your "thing". I used to love doing it but really got sick of the sight of it.

Imagine doing that day in day out.

Just something to bear in mind.

Also, you say you learn fast. Bear in mind also that unless your work is A1 from the very start, word will travel quickly that your crap at it.

I bet it does get boring but doesn't most jobs, this way I'll be my own boss as that is the aim, I'm only looking to make enough to support myself.

Thanks for the advice tho.

Errata

sniggings wrote: »

I did say I was basing my business model on a mobile service, so the customers home or work location.

Work location? Few companies these days allow 'randoms' on their site, and if they did where would you get water from and what would you do with the dirty water?

googler

OP also should look at yell, google, physical yellow pages, and local adverts in papers and magazines (local autotrader-type mags?) to see who's already doing this in his area, and what the competition will be.

It's hardly a radical new idea, so I'd expect the market to be catered for already in most, if not all, of the country.

motorguy

sniggings wrote: »

I bet it does get boring but doesn't most jobs, this way I'll be my own boss as that is the aim, I'm only looking to make enough to support myself.

Thanks for the advice tho.

You could start by doing your own car, then family members then friends. Charge them 'half price', but try to get an objective view from them about the quality of their work

If you're totally lost, then call a mobile valeter and get them out to do their car, sit with them, watch them, chat with them to get a 'feel' for it and to whats required.

There are loads of valeting sites / forums / detailing sites about for hints and tips. Also, see where your local valet people get their consumables from - even if that just means spotting the brand if yours is there for a wash then googling for the local distributor.

Think about where you're going to advertise. Think about getting a quick one pager website done up and use the web address in all your advertising. Advertise on local boards in shops, libraries, chippies, etc. Also gumtree is free. Get your 500 business cards for a fiver or whatever the latest offer on vistaprint is.

Think of the 'upsell'. You can get cheap mats for a few pounds but could maybe charge £10 for them. Or i used to get packs of 20 sets from a trade supplier and it worked out at £8 a set - real good quality ones - and then ask £20 for them. Air fresheners is another possible one.

Errata

My fiver a hand wash guys in the local multi-storey car park throw a smelly tree in for free!

eschaton

sniggings wrote: »

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.

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.

sniggings wrote: »

no but can learn fast.

Maybe you need to learn to crawl before running.....

Initially you weren't sure if detailing was the correct term. You don't know how to do it. You want £100 a car.

I would consider paying £100 to get my car done right but I would also expect them to know what they were doing and to do a good job that would visibly last some time.

Decent polishes and other materials (incl. equipment) aren't cheap.

You will need transport.

You won't earn on days with no customers.

You will need something to allow you to work undercover - you can't polish a car in the rain.

You will need insurance.

The list is endless.

hieveryone

sniggings wrote: »

A bit simplistic don't you think.

Not really.

I take it by 'high-end' you are indeed talking about detailing.

Do you know how to mask off a cars trims before you put products on?

Do you know how to clay bar a car? Or why you would do it? Or what you would use?

Do you know how to take paint readings to check where there are thick/thin areas of paint and what products/hardware/cleansing products to use in respect of the readings?

How will you get insurance to work on these people's car?


There is a HUGE difference between 'detailing' and valeting.

If I booked my car in for a detailing session and it came out washed and hoovered I would be absolutely livid.

Do some research, learn the trade and then come back with a proper plan - that will be anything but simplistic.

patman99

I wouldn't call the guys that wonder around supermarket carparks with their little trollies 'valeters'. They tend to leave the car in a worse state than before they started.

As for the Eastern Europeans, most of their 'yards' are used to launder money. The one up the road from me was always busy, but shut down after the owner was caught using the yard along with others to 'clean' illegally-obtained money.

sniggings

hieveryone wrote: »

Not really.

I take it by 'high-end' you are indeed talking about detailing.

Do you know how to mask off a cars trims before you put products on?

Do you know how to clay bar a car? Or why you would do it? Or what you would use?

Do you know how to take paint readings to check where there are thick/thin areas of paint and what products/hardware/cleansing products to use in respect of the readings?

How will you get insurance to work on these people's car?


There is a HUGE difference between 'detailing' and valeting.

If I booked my car in for a detailing session and it came out washed and hoovered I would be absolutely livid.

Do some research, learn the trade and then come back with a proper plan - that will be anything but simplistic.

I wasn't on here asking for customers, you seem to mix up asking for advice/research and portraying myself as a fully qualified valeter.