Need advice on starting "side business".

Here's the deal: I love detailing and love making good money when detailing. I am 24 years old, have a rock solid job, recently married with a new home. I am not going to quite my job, althought I would love to be my own boss. I am currently working on detailing my 3rd official "customer paid vehicle" and I simply cant get enough!

I am wondering what I am able to do without getting in trouble from the law or IRS or what you have it. I want to make business cards, print out flyers, and advertise my web site to obtain more paying customer. However, I am not licensed and I only detail out of my personal home. Do I need to be licensed or an "official business".

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated. I woudl use the search function but I am at work.

 

Lots of guys do it out of their home for a while without issue, thats how I started, thats how most detailers started. If you get serious than going legit and getting insurance is a good idea.

If you keep it relatively small than you should be absolutely fine. Only things to be mindful of are your neighbors and the water run off. If your neighbors do not complain and you dont have significant water run off onto the street than nobody should bother you. You probably should let your neighbors know what your up to if you see them on the street that way everything is out in the open and they dont have to wonder why your washing random cars every week.

A quick tip* if your doing this as a side job for extra income than do not get carried away with products and hype marketing, you may constantly find yourself in a posistion where you think you need to buy this and that to get X result on a customers car and truthfully, most of the time, you dont.... this is key for the side job detailer, for a professional its a different story but even then people get out of hand with it. I know way to many guys who get very cought up into buying products, machines etc. and end up spending more than they make when all detailing was supposed to be was a way to "make some extra cash/get away from the wife" LOL

Best of luck man!

 

That is pretty much what I was thinking. I guess I feel stupid advertising and handing out business cards when it isn't legit "legally", you know what I am saying? At any rate, I think I am going t oget some business cards made and go from there.

My last name is Free, and as of right now, my business is called "Freeworks Detailing". What does everyone think about that? Too corny?

 

I think the suggested name might give the wrong idea to people. As far as business goes, register a DBA for whatever name you choose. Cost me like 30 bucks when I did it. This creates an entity besides yourself. If you're worried about the IRS, make sure keep receipts for things you buy, because these are business expenses and therefore can be deducted from your gross income for the business at the end of the year. Oh, and you don't have to get a separate tax id for the business as a sole proprietorship, it will just be extra income on your 1040. (if you decide to claim it)

 

Yeah, I agree on the name. A couple of names I have are: "Pristine Conditioning", "Pristine Detailing Works", and "Exclusive Auto Detail". Any thoughts?

 

I agree with dsms fully,

However, it is so difficult to resist the urge to buy new products. It's so easy to get caught up in it, and next thing you realize, you ARE spending more money on products than you made as dsms put it. But honestly, the more details you do, the more you begin to understand what products are essential to have and what aren't.

Good luck!

 

yes im the victim that spend way too much on products I don't really need.... but I slowed down a bit now...maybe stop for a year lol

 

We are all victims........ that is why we are in this forum LOL

 

Im blaming it on those collection threads! They make mine feel inferior.

 

I feel like I have a good list of products I can use on any vehicle.

Megs 105/205
4 of each pad: 5.5" Buff and Shine yellow, blue, and green
Zep Citrus
Autoglym HD Wax
Gilmour Foam Gun
DG 901 Shampoo
DG 105
Obsessive Detail Buttery Wax
Obsessive Detail HYper Sealant
AG Dressing
CG Fluffer MF towels
and the list goes on....

These are the products I use the most and are ideal for detailing customer vehicles.

So far, I have gotten $180 for a clay/interior/seal/wax for a 2008 Silverado, $100 for a clay/seal/wax for 2010 Honda Civic, and right now detailing a 2000 Volvo Wagon for $150 which will include a leather condition/interior/trim restore/clay/seal/wax

I feel like my prices are good, but fair for the amount of time I spend on the vehicles. Any advice on the name?

 

Not to get off topic.... but +1000 I agree. I saw those threads and immediately started placing more orders. Now I am broke.

 

great list............. prices are more then fair, people say they are low but it depends on market conditions. As for names, its a personal choice, I took the first initial of both my kids; I did not want to get all wrapped up in the name or I would never be happy LOL.


You may want to add an AIO (all in one) to your collection, makes life easier sometimes, Zaino AIO, Megs D151, D301, Klasse, Optimum poli seal are all great products, They are great for the people who do not want a correction but maybe some minor oxidation or hazing removed, plus no additional steps, since it cleans polishes and protects in one step. Im a big fan of Megs D151 and Zaino AIO. good results with a Green Uber or B&S.

 

Here are my mistakes, so you don't have to go through the trouble.

• too many waxes, spray wax, etc
• a rotary polisher, very little used these days
• CR spotless / ONR works just fine!
• gallon size polishes! and too many different polishes, stick to quarts at most for side business, and choose 3 - 4 polish only! I choose Menz / Meg polishes

 

Don't forget overlapping products, multiple trim and tire dressings, as well for me I have too many pre-wax cleansers/glazes (should have just stuck with EZ Creme).

 

How long does it usually take you to do a clay/ seal/ wax ?

 

Just don't call it "Free Detailing" or you won't make any money whatsoever!

 

Freefallin2000 --

Welcome to the Detailing for $$$ world! From what I read, you sound like you fit just perfectly in with the rest of us here !

Does your State of Arizona require you to collect State Tax on your business transactions? If so, you might want to look into getting licensed, registered, and all the stuff that goes along with it.
I have to collect tax here, so I am registered, and pay the taxes I collect quarterly to the State of Washington.

Have you looked at your Homeowners insurance policy and see what it covers, and looked at additional Liability insurance, etc., if you keep a Client's car overnight in your garage?

Have you registered your Domain Name, paid for that, and started a website or is that going too far for a side business?

To help you keep track of all the transactions more easily, I would suggest getting to know Microsoft Excel. I use it to track my Details, my taxes collected, and my expenses. So its really easy to look quickly and see if your shop expenses are exceeding your limit.

I also am very careful about waste water here in the heart of tree hugger world - I never dump waste water from my Extractor outside; instead I bring the bucket inside and dump it in my Laundry room tub drain.
Also try to keep suds down to a bare minimum, and never ever foam a car down. I also make sure that plenty of water is running down my driveway if there is an over abundance of soap suds to help dilute it quickly..
Having 4 vehicles and a 2-car garage already is a challenge, so I also try to keep cars spaced out so it doesn't look crowded or messy around my place, and keep as many off the street on my property as possible. It makes for a lot of moving cars around my driveway and half circle driveway, but you do what you have to do. So far, no complaints, only very happy Clients - many who live in my neighborhood of 400 houses.
Also a big fan of 1 step products lately,and have found the new Sonax Paint Cleaner Nano Technology Based Liquid Polish in the tall silver container to be a great product, as well as Meguiars D151 Reconditioning Creme..
But I also have an array of Menzerna compounds, polishes, Optimum, and Meguiars products for more in-depth paint corrections..

What machine/s are you using or are planning on using ?

Some nice tools for future if you decide to keep doing this, would be a good Steamer, Steamer/Extractor, etc., machine/s. I just had to break up some welded in candy or food, etc., that was stuck for years in a 2-hole cupholder in an Odyssey Van, and NOTHING moved it until I hit it with a large amount of steam through a towel
.
And until you have emptied an extractor recovery tank after extracting carpets, you will never realize just how much dirt is really down there in the carpeting, or in cloth/fabric seats! Its scary !!

Pricing - I would try to find any Detail Shops around your area, visit them, look at all their stuff, get a flyer, pricing from them, and try to get close to their pricing or even more, if they are doing lousy work and yours is better. Maybe advertise yourself as a "Custom Detailer" vs the "Production Shops that just crank out cars and grease up the inside so it looks like it was cleaned, etc...

Well, I also wish you great success with your project -perhaps you can have your Sweetheart help you out as your Business Manger and she can run the books, pay the bills, pay the taxes, etc., and save you hours of time on the computer!

Dan F

 

Dan F. I am not going to worry about taxes, licenses until I need to. As far as machines go, I have a PCXP, a Bissel Little Green Machine, and Rigid vacuum cleaner. However, I am going to purchase a steamer and powerwasher before too long to help make jobs easier.

GTi, generally speaking, here is a basic idea of my time spread for a detail:

Clean wheels, well, tires, wash and dry vehicle: 1 hour

Vacuum interior, clean/dress all jambs, plastic, rubber, dress wheels tires and wells etc.: 1 hour

Clay bar: 1 hour

Seal/wax: 1 hour

Generally speaking, I make right at $30/hour for most details so I am happy with that. I figure because I am not a fully-fledged business, that is good money for time spent and products used.

 

Looks like I'm almost at your level I've done a few cars so far some mine, some friends and it typically takes me 3-4 hours to do a clay and seal, the worst was my mercury villager which was 2.5 hour clay cause of super heavy contamination. Now do you offer people an option of wax or sealant or do you just do both?

 

I know in California there is a point where the IRS considers it a "business" versus a "hobby". and you do not pay taxes on a hobby, I keep all my receipts and write off my garage etc, and I do not have a license, but I do have insurance which is more important to the client, the lic. is a way for (at least in California) to tax you, in fact my friend applied for a license and it took almost a year to get a hard copy, and since he works out of his home (web designer) the City will never know what he does etc. etc. I am not condoning running an illegal business, but if you are doing this on the side and making less then XXXX amount of money it may not be worth it.
Since I detail out of my garage, and my neighbors don't care, etc. etc I am not worried, I do my thing and keep good record.