Looking for business advice :)

[coljnr9]

Howdie all, its my first post here on the meguiar's forums; I certainly hope this post is in order with the forum rules.

Anyhoo, I'm thinking of putting up flyers for a "wash&wax" service here in the 98226 area. My first thought is to go to people's houses, do a fairly thorough wash with gold class or deep crystal, pop on a coat of nxt2.0 or perhaps a cleaner wax, and charge something like $20. I just wanted to get some thoughts/advice on this: should I have people drive to me? Should I use different products? Charge more/less? Let go of the idea it'll never work?
I'm not looking for a full-time job or anything, just a way to make 40-60 bucks a week to save up some vacation money . I figure with a craigslist ad, some flyers around town, and word of mouth I should be able to score a couple clients a week for the 3 or so months of summer that Washington State gets.

Any input is appreciated, thanks.

[DogParkGuy]

Re: Looking for business advice

$20 is too little. First, you have to do a better job at washing and waxing a car than the owner could do on their own. I suggest you wash, clay & wash again before waxing. Make sure the windows are sparkling clean. Vacuum and clean the interior. Charge at least $40 if not $60. Guarantee your work if client not satisfied.

[Echelon]

Re: Looking for business advice

Our basic package is wash, clay, wash, machine wax, and then interior, wheels/tires dresses, windows, and engine bay while the wax cures. Takes 2-4 hours depending on the car and condition and we charge a base proce of $60. Then provide add-ons like different wax's or headlight resoration for an additional cost, works great.

[Mark58]

Re: Looking for business advice

For 20 bucks you will loose money unless it's your next door neighbor.
You will spend 1/2 to one hr driving and few hrs cleaning,,,so you will be paying yourself less then $4.00 hr?

get a job at fast food joint and you will make more.
Nothing wrong with charging minimum $15.00 plus 1 hr travel time.
my 2 cents

[coljnr9]

Re: Looking for business advice

Thanks for the speedy replies folks I knew I could count on the mol people . So is the structure of going to someones house and counting on them to have a spiggot and/or outlet the most popular? How much should I expect to invest in a vacuum, or will my regular one be enough? And to thosenof you who've done this before: do you mind me asking how much you net per car after product cost? For machine waxing I have a 40 dollar orbital buffer that mostly just spreads and removes wax. Will this be sufficient? Wow question over load. Thanks for all the input y'all.