For over 27 years I had been in the mobile detailing and mobile car wash business, and so I wasn’t too surprised the other day when I got an e-mail from someone asking if they thought it might be a good time to start a mobile auto detailing company. They explained to me that they had lost their job, and their unemployment benefits had run out, and they were worried about paying the bills. They told me when they were in college they did a little detailing, and they actually enjoyed it very much.
The gentleman also noted that he had a number of contacts around town in the business community, so he would have at least enough business to do one or two details per day hopefully. Indeed, that’s plenty enough to make a decent living in this sort of business, but the chances of him matching his former corporate salary which was quite high might not be feasible, plus when you’re self-employed, you don’t have benefits, healthcare, and a number of other things. At this point, he really didn’t care, as he just needed to have a minimum income to pay his bills.
Well, I have a lot of thoughts on this, but one of the greatest synergies about mobile detailing at corporate office parks and office buildings is that you meet people in business, and you can hand out resumes, and use all your personal networking contacts, as well as all the customers to keep an eye out for you. I remember when I used to run my own mobile detailing route before I started franchising my company that companies were constantly asking me if I’d like to come to work for them. My answer was always a polite “no” but they often ended up hiring my employees away, often to much higher paying jobs than I was providing them.
Now I figure this gentleman will charge anywhere from $100-$150 per car, and if he can do two cars a day, pay for his fuel, insurance, equipment, supplies, and a helper he should have enough left over each day that if he works hard at the end of the month he should be able to pay his bills. Plus, he will be out and about, not stuck at home, and his chances of getting a job in the local business community will be completely enhanced.
Therefore, I thought to myself that perhaps other people out there might be in the same predicament, and might wish to think about what I just explained. Indeed I hope you will please consider it and think on it.
