Car Valeting

[felix299]

Hi,

I am doing some research into starting a valeting business. I have a friend who runs a garage who would be happy to offer it as a service to customers sending their cars into him. In my area there are not many people offering this service. The biggest competition are a group who do it in a local multi storey car park. They are only competition on price because anyone comparing the work will see the difference. The old adage of getting what you pay for is true.

One think I wondered about is, do car dealers employ somebody to clean and valet the cars for them or do they out source it. I am just researching at this stage and it is quite difficult to get a straight answer. I've asked a couple of dealers but they just say they have someone who does it.

My plan would be to contact garages to see if they would offer to their customers. Dealerships as I mentioned are another avenue I'd investigate. Does anyone have any ideas where else I could target for customers? I don't have a lot of money for marketing so advertising for individual customers coming straight to me is going to be quite limited.

Thanks in advance

 

[Jerry D]

hello I set my first business up 16 when I done this I rang up taxi companies got contracts with them etc best way get contracts so you get so much a day I tell you what I stopped it when I was 18, but I tell you a 16 year old making average 250 - 190 a day wasn't bad I had made enough to start a proper business with enough cash to fund it. Big money if you get right contacts and contracts like I said 5 days a week work
£1250 .
ruffly 5k a month 60k split me and my freind 30k to 28 k ruffly it wasnt a bad run
Problem was our backs were dead lol


Problem you will find now poles do it cheaper with more guys on one car means its very hard to compete

!!!I HAD A MOTO DO A GOOD JOB AND KEEP RELASHIONSHIPS WITH CUSTOMERS HIGH IT WORKED FOR ME!!!

Do a mile radius search check everything

wholesale for car products is a must. We got car wash £25 what done 500 washes. Talk to suppliers get good deal PM ME IF YOU WANT

 

[mikesossy]

In my own opionion this is by no means a way to make a fortune. As stated a lot of companies use foreigners now and have 3 or 4 people on one car, speed is the key in this business.
The other thing is recession, people wont pay for someone to wash their car when they can do it themselves tbh.
I must admit I see valeting companies in my area come and go by the week not the month nor year.
Research is your friend here, do lots of it and then some more.
Taxi companies is a good idea of getting regular work but its not always garaunteed if their full of owner drivers.

Think about premises, consumables, wages, water bills etc etc do your sums then do them over and over again trying not to miss anything.

The other thing to look at is your local council and business link they maybe able to get you a grant and being the start of the new financial year alot them will be flush with cash. Give them a call they could help with things like business plans and cashflow forecasts and even research at times.

Good luck.

 

[WeddingAlan]

Depends on what angle you take. I have friends / customers who will pay £600 for a full detailing on their high end car. The people who provide the detailing are autoglym certified and have other credentials to back up their ability.

It doesn't need to be a quick "wash and wheels", you could position yourself as a premium valet company.

 

[Esk247]

Depends on what angle you take. I have friends / customers who will pay £600 for a full detailing on their high end car. The people who provide the detailing are autoglym certified and have other credentials to back up their ability.

It doesn't need to be a quick "wash and wheels", you could position yourself as a premium valet company.

detailing is different to valeting though...detailing is restoring paintwork to factory (or better) finish and has to be done to a professional, high end standard otherwise you can destroy the paintwork.

valeting is easier but still time consuming if done properely, i had a car valeted and would not choose to do it again because i feel i can do a better job, cheaper including a full valet of the engine bay (to show car standard within a weekend).

its a difficult market to crack as a lot of people are not too worried about there cars, a quick hoover and wash over with a bucket of warm water is fine.

 

[ARCHWAY VALETING]

PM sent

 

[colin_mckellar]

My son runs his own car detailing business. He has a lot of repeat customers who want him to clean their cars on a weekly basis. These tend to be high end cars and not your average Corsa!!

He has also moved into the commercial market and spends his weekends cleaning trucks.

He is now suffering what can only be described as tennis elbow with the constant use of his arm.

 

[AaronB]

Hi,

I am doing some research into starting a valeting business. I have a friend who runs a garage who would be happy to offer it as a service to customers sending their cars into him. In my area there are not many people offering this service. The biggest competition are a group who do it in a local multi storey car park. They are only competition on price because anyone comparing the work will see the difference. The old adage of getting what you pay for is true.

One think I wondered about is, do car dealers employ somebody to clean and valet the cars for them or do they out source it. I am just researching at this stage and it is quite difficult to get a straight answer. I've asked a couple of dealers but they just say they have someone who does it.

My plan would be to contact garages to see if they would offer to their customers. Dealerships as I mentioned are another avenue I'd investigate. Does anyone have any ideas where else I could target for customers? I don't have a lot of money for marketing so advertising for individual customers coming straight to me is going to be quite limited.

Thanks in advance

Have you thought about going into car detailing.

There is quite a good call for this, as there is a lot of people I see on forums with nice cars having this done. can take like a day or 2 to do one car. But there honestly is a call.

Look at this http://www.gleammachine.net/page3.htm

Some of the detailers also do the dent and paint repairs, its called Smart Repair.

Cheers

 

[mikesossy]

Huh erm no!

Put quite simply it isnt, I did work for Halfords and we had these in every branch and before I left in April we hadnt sold one!.

Someone else trying to sell an idea that will bring them a quick fortune.

Iam a SMART repairer by trade now and meet and deal with Valeters day in day out and unless your hammering out cars like there is no tomorrow then the sums dont add up.
Car detailing is a good profit but you do have to work hard, market it well and have alot of repeat customers and those of which are willing to fork out around £200 - £300 for a good detail.

More research is needed in my opinion.

 

[Paul Norman]

I don't think dealerships are the place to go - they mostly have contracts in place. My car is valeted at every visit as part of the service, however.

The people who do it get paid two tenths of nothing for doing a lot of car washing in the day. Plus this kind of market is saturated.

But...what about offering valets straight to car owners/drivers at other points than through dealers? At hotels? At the shopping mall? At their homes?

I know these have been tried, but I would suspect there is some level of market out there. I would pay to have my car valeted, for example, at a hotel after a long drive there.

 

[Matt1959]

with trades like car valeting, I would always say think how many cars you would be cleaning on a daily/ weekly/ monthly basis. My god, the boredom of cleaning other peoples mess day in day out, no variety. How many cars a day to make it pay? 6? , more than 6? - thats minimum 30 odd a week, week in week out, 120 a month, 1440 cars a year.....

 

[mikesossy]

The best solution Ive seen is that of which at our local shopping centre carpark, situated in designated bays their customers park on the multistorey and asked for the car to be valeted usually inside and out for around 15-20 pounds.
Customer has the reassurance that they can shop whilst leaving their car secure and will come back to it nice and clean without the hassle of having to wait for it to be done, i.e at a drive in etc.
Maybe have a look into this side as your getting free advertising too as everyone that parks there is seeing you valet!.

 

[Empire1]

I own my own valeting and detailing company. As previously said detailing is where the money is but your bread and butter is valeting so called normal cars week in week out. This is where you build your reputation by not letting your standards slip even though you may not be charging a lot for your service. Mobile valeting will always make money especially as people value their cars more now because of the economic climate and would rather take care of them then buy new ones. Try and set your prices in the mid range for your area and stick to your price our customers like the fact that we stick to the price quoted and don't add on when we get to the job (unless car is excessively dirty but state this in any advertising and you are covered) Most dealerships use big valeting companies ie Motorclean, Autocleanse and car showrooms use in house valeters who they employ directly.

I have 21 years experience in this industry so I have good knowledge of this area.

All the best. If you need any more help let me know.

 

[GB Energy]

I totally agree with Empire1, people do value their cars. Have you thought about a mobile service? We have a guy who washes all the bosses cars and he's making his living licking up all the industrial estates on the outskirts of big towns and cities -- I think he charges about £25 per car and is here weekly. His van contains about 7gallons of water and has a jet spray. He uses professional valeting products/devices for all the internal stuff. He's always busy and has build up a huge client base of regulars!! A nice steady earner!

 

[Empire1]

GB Energy is right. We are completely mobile and all our vans are fully equipped. Our water tanks hold 250 litres. Industrial estates are a great idea as you will get repeat business and be seen by others who are visiting the industrial estates.

 

[ARCHWAY VALETING]

yep its all about the regs in this game .

 

[Empire1]

with trades like car valeting, I would always say think how many cars you would be cleaning on a daily/ weekly/ monthly basis. My god, the boredom of cleaning other peoples mess day in day out, no variety. How many cars a day to make it pay? 6? , more than 6? - thats minimum 30 odd a week, week in week out, 120 a month, 1440 cars a year.....

We run our own valeting and detailing company In answer to your how many cars do you need to make money ONE!! We have built up a profitable business with a good client base. It is definately not boring as every day is different and you meet a variety of people. I am struggling to understand why you are talking about car valeting when you have no idea about the businesss. I have been in the business for 21 years so it can't be that boring or not profitable can it.

 

[Esk247]

saw a mobile valeting unit in middlesbrough the other day, think it was at morrisons.

never seen one before but he seemed quite busy, had a large transit van with all of the decals down the side.

 

[Empire1]

I own a mobile car valeting and detailing company, And we have afew accounts with dealerships but the money is in the private clients and businesses if your stadards are high that is where you get your regular ones week in and week out, And i live a nice life got four fully mobile vans and has i said afew dealerships.

 

[dirtmaster]

I have cleaned my own vans and cars from time to time and i've got to say, its a huge pain in the A....!! Its very hard work to do a good job. And if you are expected to be paid then you have to do a great job everytime.
And also remember, the weather has already started to change, think of the winter months and not so great summers we get here. You'll be outdoors pretty much all day. I can image alot of customers cancling if it turns out to be a bad day.

Not trying to put you off but trying to let you see the bigger picture.

good luck anyways

 

[Empire1]

My company has been running now for 3 and half years now and we mostly deal with high end cars so they want to keep them looking good all yr round and when it does rain all vans have a canopy in them,and we have had one cancellation in all that time,ppl will pay for good reliable company.

 

[Gaskell]

My company has been running now for 3 and half years now and we mostly deal with high end cars so they want to keep them looking good all yr round and when it does rain all vans have a canopy in them,and we have had one cancellation in all that time,ppl will pay for good reliable company.

How big is the canopy? is it easily set-up on the roadside?

I'm a valeter and do mobile valeting, I'm currently on the lookout for premises to let for the winter months as an alternative location to offer customers if the weather is bad. A Canopy sounds like something I should look into also.

I find industrial estates are a very good source of income, if you make a really good job of a valet then you always have people watching who will approach you to wash their car whilst your there.

Dealerships normally have their own valeters working for them.

The most important thing other than knowing how to valet a car properly is the brand of products you use and how you use them, scrimping on cheap products makes the work harder and the overall finish look very poor compared to the top car valeting brands, its worth the extra few quid to buy leading brand names like AutoGlym

 

[ARCHWAY VALETING]

Not too sure on a canopy/gazebo .
They take up too much storage space in the van and my van is at the max weight as it is .
Difficult to put up on your own - what if its windy....?
Rain does not always fall vertically so the vehicle will still get wet .
How many clients actually have room for it on their drive way ?
Worry of damaging clients car ,the wind may blow it which could damage the car your working on .

 

[Empire1]

The canopy is 3x3 or you can get bigger one's and it takes one person to put up. The canopies that we use have their own carry bags, sand weights, sides and ties if it is windy.You are not allowed to put them up in the street, but as we mainly deal with high end cars most customers have very large drives. We have been using the canopies for 3 1/2 years now and have not had a single incident. In fact if we did not use canopies we would not be albe to work for most of the year. We are also fully insured with valeters insurance which covers public liability and property damage up to 10 million. I hope that I have answered everyones queries.

 

[ARCHWAY VALETING]

In fact if we did not use canopies we would not be albe to work

well for 13 years we have got away without them .


i see your on bv !

 

[Empire1]

Yeh but my valeters don't have to stop and wait for the rain to stop they can still do a full days
Work and do the same amount of cars,even use it in the sun so the wax don't bake
In, has long as they are working I'm happy.

Yeh we chated on BV

 

[ARCHWAY VALETING]

lol , funny chap !

 

[Empire1]

Why is that funny? This is what I do and have done for the past 21 years.

 

[ARCHWAY VALETING]

has long as they are working I'm happy!!

say no more !

 

[ARCHWAY VALETING]

21 years ?

My company has been running now for 3 and half years now:|

 

[webcrest media]

valeting companies that focuses on bringing back the “new car” feel and appearance, with a dedicated and hard working team.

 

[garyk]

7 year old thread resurrected....

This is getting silly now