Within this session I have involved some very dedicated professionals from within the detailing profession. I hope that we will bring to the surface a few of the primary concerns that we as professionals witness within our industry. All of us hope that we can provide insight that in turn will provide many of you with better vision within your decision-making. All of us that are involved within this series do so because of a shared passion for the industry.

The detailing industry, no matter if it's a fixed location or mobile operation has many shadowy alleys and pathways that have been built over decades of labeling the industry as an easy and cheap business opportunity. Countless visionaries have entered the industry with dreams of owning their own small business with little or no skills or business experience only to loose their passion for self-reliance and many times shattering dreams and hopes of being an entrepreneur. I have had countless discussions with Dan Ekenberg, the founder of Mobileworks and numerous others from around the industry that desire to provide valuable input that can assist you at missing many of the potholes we have already experienced or witnessed ourselves.

How many of us have read on websites and advertisements the proclamation that if you only service two vehicles a day you can make a sizable living detailing? Ok, lets visit this wide spread myth within our industry. First let me share with you that anyone that states type of hype is simply not telling the entire story. One may be able to obtain a two car a day average for a short time, but running that average within your first year, day-after-day, week-after-week and month-after-month is much easier said than done and even seasoned business people will struggle with this task within the opening months of their venture.

"Keeping our pipeline filled within the opening months of our detail business has been one of the largest challenges, Andy Milligan ads that Building a customer base takes time and many times we as business people can be impatient". This one fact is what I note causes many to quit their venture early on, completely walking away from the business. In our early years, my wife and I both had multiple jobs and within a couple years that hard work started to pay off with a solid repeat based customer base.

When I speak to business people from an array of industries the fact that building a solid clientele can take years to build is a major cause of many sleepless nights for new entrepreneurs. If I could tell you two things to adapt to quickly when you start your business, the first would be develop a great degree of patience and the second important adjustment would be to get use to rejection! Building a long-term clientele takes time and you are going to have plenty of doors shut on your face!

Matt Williams realized his reality to the fullest after the launch of his business, Much has changed since the opening of Silver Lining Detail at the beginning of the 2005 season. "Like many I've seen, I had the same preconceived notions that plague this industry. A few examples, I thought detailing would be an easy job and an easy business to make successful very quickly. My plan, like many others, was to start a detailing business and in a couple of years hire other people to do all the work and I would be able to take it easy, relax, and just run the everyday areas of the business. It quickly became painfully clear that this was not going to be the case".

Matt Williams adds "My ideas of relaxing and letting others do all the work after two years was a bit premature to say the least. Running a successful business of any kind takes an extreme amount of patience, perseverance, hard work, dedication, and continued education. While I'm far from creating a truly successful business in only my first season, I'm certainly making great strides in the right direction."

• Your first week, You will need to locate ten vehicles to detail. Using your inner circle of friends, you call everyone and locate your needed ten full details
• Your first month, You will need to locate an additional thirty full details for your first month, Again you go to friends, family and co-workers and locate thirty jobs.
• Your first six months, Two hundred and forty (240) automobiles will need to be located. How will you do this and what will it cost you?
• Year one - Over your first twelve-months, you will need to locate a total of four hundred and eighty automobiles.
• Four Hundred & Eighty vehicles is a huge number for a first year business and for most this will not be a reality. I feel that while this is obtainable, most new start-ups will simply miss this mark therefore this is an unrealistic goal for the greatest majority of new detailing business start-ups.

Ok, let's look at this useful tool and discuss the realities. Within our locations, we ask for referrals and word of mouth remains are greatest advertisement but when you open a new business, it's a matter of compounding mathematics, the more you do, the more jobs you will have referred to you. If you are new, how many jobs will you do in the first four weeks of business? I can tell you most will do 12-20 detail jobs within the first four weeks. Now don't confuse "washes" with details, finding someone to spend less than $50.00 may be much easier but at that capacity you are not a detailer, you are a fleet washer and the two don't blend very well which is a complete topic within itself.

If you're sharp and have launched your venture in conjunction with the latest yellow page book hitting the streets, you have a great location and spend a sizable amount of capital on your launch, your numbers can be much greater than what I described above but the great majority of new detailing business owners do not have the capital, experience or time to perform what we call a blitz launch.

So using my own experience, those 12 first jobs should generate 2.35 new customers for you, many are saying no way its gotta be more, well I am sharing over twenty-five years in business with you and that is reality. Now, you may be able to increase that by using family, friends and co-workers, but those sources will eventually dry up and this happens quickly! Word of mouth is a tool that can't be replaced and remains the corner stone of our business but in the early stages it takes much more than word of mouth to cover expenses.

Great, but the margins (profit) within wholesale work is much lower than retail and how can you expand, dealers don't talk much and to add to the pot, many pay slow. I have seen many get their start within wholesale and if your business is set up for wholesale, while your margins will not be as attractive as a retail operation, I know of plenty of detailers that make a living providing wholesale work but you better have the relationships with the dealers established before you launch. Most dealers have their own detail staff or have relationships built with other detail organization. Now you can sell them on better quality but all to many times, new detail shop owners try and steal dealership work with lower prices, once you play the lower price game, your business is already in trouble. If you think you can out perform the current detailer with both higher quality and lower price, the odds are greatly against you.

Many entering the detailing industry do so with what I call an "ignorance on fire" attitude. What I mean by this is that many are so blinded by the desire to run their own business, they forget about the important factures of business that can lead to super success or total failure of their venture.

Remove the personal desire and be committed to gaining realistic facts about the industry within your area. I will quote you what a former football coach used to share with me. There will always be someone that is bigger, faster, knows the game better and is generally smarter, your success will be defined on how well you can perform and play the game." The detailing industry is much the same as high level sports, if you have strong passion, a clear vision of your dream and know and understand the strategies that successful business people utilize along with the needed high level skills, you can win this game.

Business is war and if your trained troops (yourself) are not very skilled within the art of war, you will not be winning to many battles and will almost definitely loose the war. Train yourself for success, educate yourself for success, learn what success is and know this industry from top to bottom before your launch your new venture.

Recently I had a call from a young woman that had freshly obtained an SBA loan to start her detailing business. When she explained the SBA process she had just completed I was thinking to myself that this is a person that is on top of the world and is sure to succeed. She was now ready to gain training and launch her new venture. During the acceptance process for our training course I read her response to many of the questions and was a little confused. Not only did this person not know or understand elementary information about automobiles, this person admitted she hated cleaning cars and she really had little desire to gain knowledge outside of "what will make me money directly". Wrong answer for me, stop the press, you have all this money to invest and you do not like what you are going to be doing and on top of that you are not a car nut get a clue! One reason I have succeeded at detailing is MY PASSION for what I do, I love cars and I love airplanes. This industry is not only my work it's my passion as cars or anything with an engine for that matter is my passion! If the passion is not present for you, I am sorry but your business will never have super success and the success you will have is limited before you even start your new venture.

The next contributor is someone many of us are very familiar with and I feel a true champion of the car wash and detailing industry. RL "Bud" Abraham, founder and president of DETAIL PLUS Car Appearance Systems. Bud is a 38-year veteran in the car care industry as a manufacturer, distributor and operator of auto detailing centers and automatic carwashes. He was the founder of the Professional Detailing Association (PDA) and it's first Executive Director from 1989 to 1992. Bud is a regular speaker on the subject of detailing at all the major carwash and detailing conventions and trade shows and conducts training sessions all over the world.

I posed Bud a question, What do you see as the most common myths within the detailing industry and the effects these myths have on new business owners or those expanding their businesses?

It is not a myth, Abraham explains. It is a belief that you can get into the detailing business for a little investment and work your way up to BIG BUCKS. The reason I say it is not a myth but a reality is because there are thousands of wannabee entrepreneurs who do it each year. Some make it and most fail after 6 months. The reality is that you can buy a buffer, shop vac and a few chemicals and you are in the business.

Another primary point that Bud and I share is on the issue of proper education.They (future or current detailers) also believe that they do not need "official" training, that they can start out with limited knowledge and work their way into more complex detailing,said Abraham. This is a point that many other professions voice concerns with also.

Our next contributor Jim Hammill owns Det-Tek Auto Detailing and is the Co-Founder of the Professional Detailer Technician Association (PDTA) and a long time detailer that has worked in various capacities within the industry which allows Jim to provide a wide range of knowledge based information.

Again, I posed Jim the same question as I did to Bud. What do you see as the most common myths within the detailing industry and the effects these myths have on new business owners or those expanding their businesses?

Jim writes, The most common things I see are people whose business plan consists of a list of different waxes without the skills to safely detail a vehicle. While these skills are essential, so are the skills needed to run a business. Going back to school and studying business, marketing, and management are just as important as knowing what wax to use. Jim's statements echo what Bud and I have also noted and as you can see, proper education should be a primary goal of those investing within this industry.

Hammill adds, Having 10 years of experience as a detailer does not mean you will be a successful businessman. I also think that some of the companies selling auto detailing business opportunity for just $695, no experience necessary seriously misleads people and also presents the industry in a very bad light.�

Jim�s point here is fact, there are many out to swindle those looking for cheap business start-up remedies and these bottom feeders are simply not being honest with the degree of difficulty in building a reputable detailing business.

If your looking at this business primarily because you feel its a cost effective business to start, you're already in trouble. Do the research, receive the training and find mentors. Mobileworks is a key site on the web to gain more knowledge and locate the resources you will need.

Jim also points out,Some people think that their detailing skills alone will bring customers knocking on the door. This brings up a great topic within itself. Detailing is a luxury item. Unlike having their oil changed of tires serviced, detailing is not a need for most people. While as professionals we can tell our clients how proper care will not only allow their vehicles to look better and protect their investment, proper detailing can save on the depreciation of their vehicle allowing higher trade in and resale value.

It takes painstaking customer educating within your marketing efforts to develop a clientele that either know the importance of detailing or will be able to absorb your educational marketing campaigns that teaches these prospects why they should detail their vehicle. Developing new detailing customers that may never have used a detailer in the past is a tough action but if you intend to succeed within this industry, taking this step is a must. Our greatest growth has come from identifying if a certain market has disposable cash available and taping into those that are familiar with detailing and then converting over those that are not current detail users. Just because you start a detail business does not mean customers will be beating your door down, I am afraid it takes much more work then simply opening your doors, yet most new detail shop owners base their plans on this foolish myth.

It's sad to see and hear how many talented detailers have started their own business and failed simply because they did not have the skills to run their own business. Many people start up on their own detailing business without any of the necessary skills, business or technical, and fail. They then think that the business is too competitive or lose faith in themselves. I often wonder how many talented people the industry has lost to other trades because of this. If you were to take a look at some of the online forums and see some of the advice given to people asking about joining the industry, you will often see 40-50 replies telling some one what wax to use, but very few about establishing a business or marketing plans

One trait that most successful business people share is the fact that they dive into knowledge of their given industry. Knowing your industry is key within any business but yet so many think they can succeed and learn as they earn. Again look at what Bud Abraham, Jim Hammill, Andy Milligan, Matt Williams and myself are telling you, being a professional before you launch is a must in this day and age the failure rate of those trying to earn while they learn is nearing 99%. Yes, 99% failure of detail businesses that do not obtain some sort of advance training. I state this because of those that I know that have launched their businesses without training over the past 8-10 years, not one of them have made it to the five year mark, they ALL failed which should provide the reader a very clear picture on how important a proper detailing education plays within our industry.

Andy Milligan adds,Being trained to perform at a very high level was central within our business plan, and Matt Williams agrees, in regards to education of the detailing process, I knew I would benefit the most from professional training rather than the trial and error method. Again, after much research I chose two of the most prominent detail training programs in the country to gain the necessary hands-on training and level of quality I required of myself. These programs not only solidified my interest in the industry, but also provided me with the proper knowledge and confidence to begin detailing my own client's vehicles. I was never that guy you see out there washing and waxing his car every three days, but I did have an interest in keeping my cars clean and have always had an interest in classic cars and hot rods. So I started looking into the detailing industry as a possible business venture.

Within the markets we operate within, it would be impossible to earn while you learn and compete against us. We center our business on continued education, product research and the depth of our knowledge. While there may not be an Attention To Details within your local area, there is someone just as smart and just as good and that is whom you will be going head-to-head against. If you feel you can take on a well-developed organization while you have limited experience and knowledge, your simply not being very realistic.

For those that take the time to learn, be educated and have proper start-up capital, your chances of building are multiplied sharply and if you continue to think your way through the launch of your business, my money is on you becoming successful within your business.

This series has been developed to induce advance thinking when it comes to the launching or the expansion of your auto detailing business. Attention To Details along with Mobileworks thanks you for visiting this session.

Future sessions on the topic of mobile vs. fixed location:

• Effective First Steps That True Business People Utilize
• Positive Facts About Mobile Auto Detailing Operations
• Positive Facts About Fixed Auto Detailing Locations
• Possible Drawbacks Within Mobile Auto Detailing Operations
• Possible Drawbacks Within Fixed Auto Detailing Locations
• A Final Conclusion and Overview of The Mobile Vs. Fixed detailing Operation Series

If you would like to express your input within future sessions on this topic, please share your input with me. While I can't guarantee I will use your information, I would enjoy hearing your knowledge-based thoughts. Please email me at admin@detailingsuccess.com.
I would like to thank Andy, Bud, Jim and Matt for taking part within this session.