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Hi, My name is Bradley Anderson and my business is mobile auto detailing. What started as a hobby that I have always been passionate about and provided work for friends and family has become a full-time business. I work at my clients homes and hook into their water and power. I have acquired a Vapor Chief 100 steam cleaner, a Mytee 8070 Hot Water Extractor, a Rupes BigFoot LHR21 MarkII and a LHR 15ES, a 4 HP Vacuum, a jet blower and a Karcher X Series 2000 PSI Electric Pressure Washer. All this equipment has created a serious problem: space. I drive a Mazda CX-5 and even with the rear seats lowered I can only fit a small percentage of my equipment at any one time. I've rented a storage locker and just load up the specific equipment I will need for each job. It is not very time efficient. I've been operating for about 18 months with clients around wealthy sections of LA. I am just beginning a more professional marketing effort with the creation of a website and ads on car websites.
My biggest problem has been pricing. My weekly details take up to two hours because I am obsessive about leaving a perfect result. Right now, I am being paid between $40 and $45 for my weekly maintenance details with additional charges for things like engine cleaning, spot carpet and upholstery cleaning, metal polishing and leather cleaning and conditioning. Shampooing is treated as a whole separate order because it takes a long time and the cost of the equipment needed to shampoo and dry the interior is high relative to how often I perform the service. I'm dealing with wealthy clients driving new, luxury cars so the carpets rarely require hot water extraction.
I am losing a lot of money on surface perfection and protection. I am learning on the fly how to polish effectively and I have to admit that my clients are not getting their money's worth. It takes me a full day (up to 10 hours) to perform a single stage polish. The resulting finish is an improvement but nowhere near what it should be. I would like to provide two stage polishing but I cannot expect my clients to leave me their cars for two and a half days to polish and protect the surface. I charge $40/hour for this kind of work with a max price of $400. It usually takes me a day and a half to perform a single stage polish, glaze, seal and apply three coats of carnauba wax. My clients are always very appreciative of the amount of time and effort I put into the job. The fact is that they don't know it takes so long because I am not very skilled. If time is money and I think I'm worth $40/hour, I am losing a lot of potential income.
My worst detailing experience was when I tried to use Ceramic Pro on one of my client's black '15 Corvette. The first problem was my lack of polishing skill, the second was the black paint, and the third was my lack of experience applying the coating. I had used it twice before with mostly success except for the occasional dull or high spot. But these cars were my own white SUV and my mom's red Audi Wagon, which I only applied one coat of 9H and then the top coat, so there was less chance for error. I have had a problem with lighting since I first started polishing cars. I perform the work in the garage where there is little effective light. So I can't see the effect my efforts are having until I'm finished and move the car out into the sun. I am mostly disappointed. For the Corvette I purchased a PowerSmith PWL2160TS Dual-Head 60W 6000 lm LED Work Light with Tripod. It made a big difference but I still could use a lot more advice on lighting tips. Anyways, after my typically poor polishing effort, I went through the Ceramic Pro Gold package application process. I've had no training other than watching what limited videos exist on YouTube and Ceramic Pro's Facebook page. Supposedly, they don't want to provide the public with instructions for fear of copycat product suppliers. After lighting, my next problem is timing. Ceramic Pro must be evenly applied and then left to set long enough to bond to the vehicle surface but not so long as to harden unevenly. The car must be fully covered with each application in 30 minutes, which is the recommended time between each of the four layers of product. It takes me around two hours to apply one layer.... You can probably guess the finished result. It looked terrible, Streaks everywhere. I ended up compounding all the coating back off the car, repolishing it and protecting it with a traditional glaze, sealant, wax combination. The entire process took 6 days. I made $500. The project was supposed to take two and a half days and pay $1,600. Plus, I had sunk $400 into purchasing the Ceramic Pro products. Over all, I lost $1,500 and that doesn't even take into consideration the cost of my time, which I bill at $40/hour. I probably spent 55 hours on this car.
The Corvette experience taught me a number of valuable lessons. One, obtain liability insurance and make sure it covers the cars you work on and not just your business. It's not too expensive relative to the risk it mitigates. Two, don't try to use professional products without formal training. Three, make sure you understand lighting and how it best performs for polishing work. Four, try using Optimum's coating products. They are far less expensive and much easier to apply and they provide the same warranty as Ceramic Pro. I'm in the process of becoming a certified installer of their products. One thing I am requiring is detailed instruction on the use of their products.
I've recently been on the phone with Kevin Brown of Buff Daddy and he gave me a few simple tips that have made a big difference. One thing that bothered him was when I told him of all the different polishing pads and products I have purchased based on all the various opinions and advice on the Internet. He said all I need is M105 and M205 along with some Meguiar's microfiber cutting and finishing pads and a few foam finishing pads. More importantly, he referred me to the Meguiar's open garage on Thursday nights. I plan to be there on the 21st.
My biggest problem has been pricing. My weekly details take up to two hours because I am obsessive about leaving a perfect result. Right now, I am being paid between $40 and $45 for my weekly maintenance details with additional charges for things like engine cleaning, spot carpet and upholstery cleaning, metal polishing and leather cleaning and conditioning. Shampooing is treated as a whole separate order because it takes a long time and the cost of the equipment needed to shampoo and dry the interior is high relative to how often I perform the service. I'm dealing with wealthy clients driving new, luxury cars so the carpets rarely require hot water extraction.
I am losing a lot of money on surface perfection and protection. I am learning on the fly how to polish effectively and I have to admit that my clients are not getting their money's worth. It takes me a full day (up to 10 hours) to perform a single stage polish. The resulting finish is an improvement but nowhere near what it should be. I would like to provide two stage polishing but I cannot expect my clients to leave me their cars for two and a half days to polish and protect the surface. I charge $40/hour for this kind of work with a max price of $400. It usually takes me a day and a half to perform a single stage polish, glaze, seal and apply three coats of carnauba wax. My clients are always very appreciative of the amount of time and effort I put into the job. The fact is that they don't know it takes so long because I am not very skilled. If time is money and I think I'm worth $40/hour, I am losing a lot of potential income.
My worst detailing experience was when I tried to use Ceramic Pro on one of my client's black '15 Corvette. The first problem was my lack of polishing skill, the second was the black paint, and the third was my lack of experience applying the coating. I had used it twice before with mostly success except for the occasional dull or high spot. But these cars were my own white SUV and my mom's red Audi Wagon, which I only applied one coat of 9H and then the top coat, so there was less chance for error. I have had a problem with lighting since I first started polishing cars. I perform the work in the garage where there is little effective light. So I can't see the effect my efforts are having until I'm finished and move the car out into the sun. I am mostly disappointed. For the Corvette I purchased a PowerSmith PWL2160TS Dual-Head 60W 6000 lm LED Work Light with Tripod. It made a big difference but I still could use a lot more advice on lighting tips. Anyways, after my typically poor polishing effort, I went through the Ceramic Pro Gold package application process. I've had no training other than watching what limited videos exist on YouTube and Ceramic Pro's Facebook page. Supposedly, they don't want to provide the public with instructions for fear of copycat product suppliers. After lighting, my next problem is timing. Ceramic Pro must be evenly applied and then left to set long enough to bond to the vehicle surface but not so long as to harden unevenly. The car must be fully covered with each application in 30 minutes, which is the recommended time between each of the four layers of product. It takes me around two hours to apply one layer.... You can probably guess the finished result. It looked terrible, Streaks everywhere. I ended up compounding all the coating back off the car, repolishing it and protecting it with a traditional glaze, sealant, wax combination. The entire process took 6 days. I made $500. The project was supposed to take two and a half days and pay $1,600. Plus, I had sunk $400 into purchasing the Ceramic Pro products. Over all, I lost $1,500 and that doesn't even take into consideration the cost of my time, which I bill at $40/hour. I probably spent 55 hours on this car.
The Corvette experience taught me a number of valuable lessons. One, obtain liability insurance and make sure it covers the cars you work on and not just your business. It's not too expensive relative to the risk it mitigates. Two, don't try to use professional products without formal training. Three, make sure you understand lighting and how it best performs for polishing work. Four, try using Optimum's coating products. They are far less expensive and much easier to apply and they provide the same warranty as Ceramic Pro. I'm in the process of becoming a certified installer of their products. One thing I am requiring is detailed instruction on the use of their products.
I've recently been on the phone with Kevin Brown of Buff Daddy and he gave me a few simple tips that have made a big difference. One thing that bothered him was when I told him of all the different polishing pads and products I have purchased based on all the various opinions and advice on the Internet. He said all I need is M105 and M205 along with some Meguiar's microfiber cutting and finishing pads and a few foam finishing pads. More importantly, he referred me to the Meguiar's open garage on Thursday nights. I plan to be there on the 21st.
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