Part time detailing

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I am going to try to start doing some detailing part time on nights & weekends. I have a few questions that hopefully I can get some advice on.

1- Would I be better trying to get the customers cars back to my house so I can put the car in the garage or should I just go mobile and go to them. I do not have a trailer or van but can load everything I need into my truck. Again, looking for part time here, I have a full time job.

2- Insurance. I know it is good to have. I never ruined a car's paint before, but you never know. Any ideas on what type of insurance and approx costs? I will have to contact my homeowners ins to see what they offer if I have the car back at my house. Again, I am sure nobody ever plans on ruining a car and neither do I, but in case of an accident, I don't want someone to be able to take my personal assets. Which leads me to my next question...

3- Should I look to get an ID number and start a corporation or maybe do a personal name DBA a company name? I will probably talk to an accountant about this as well but figured someone probably has gone through this before.

Any advice or info is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

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Re: Part time detailing

Guess it was worth shot. Thanks anyways

[TKDDAD]

Re: Part time detailing

i am going to try to start doing some detailing part time on nights & weekends. I have a few questions that hopefully i can get some advice on.

1- would i be better trying to get the customers cars back to my house so i can put the car in the garage or should i just go mobile and go to them. I do not have a trailer or van but can load everything i need into my truck. Again, looking for part time here, i have a full time job.


2- insurance. I know it is good to have. I never ruined a car's paint before, but you never know. Any ideas on what type of insurance and approx costs? I will have to contact my homeowners ins to see what they offer if i have the car back at my house. Again, i am sure nobody ever plans on ruining a car and neither do i, but in case of an accident, i don't want someone to be able to take my personal assets. Which leads me to my next question...


3- should i look to get an id number and start a corporation or maybe do a personal name dba a company name? I will probably talk to an accountant about this as well but figured someone probably has gone through this before.

Any advice or info is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

First, gotta be patient sometimes

1. Get them to bring cars to your house and leave it...much more control over the environment and you have what i need.

2. Don't have it...but, make sure you get them to sign off on a sheet that talks about the current shape of that car.

3. A Simple LLC would work. But if you"re doing it part time, on the side, may not be worth it....

[RaskyR1]

Re: Part time detailing

Definitely do it at your house.

Cost of insurance varies, get some quotes and decide if it's worth the cost to you. If you only do 1-2 small jobs a month the cost of insurance takes a big chunk out of your profit.

Check on your homeowners for sure. Mine covered cars in my attached garage, but not the detached if I was running a business out of it....which is silly IMO.

If you're working on special interest cars I would definitely look at getting insurance though.

I don't have an LLC and just file as a "sole proprietorship".

Rasky

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Re: Part time detailing

Sorry. I meant no disrespect to anybody on the forum. Please don't take it that way.

Thanks for the input. So I take it that you do work out of your house too? I would prefer to work that way just because the reason you said. Do you offer a pick up/drop off service? In theory its a good idea as it will be convenient for the customer but may be adding liability, right?

Good thought on signing a waiver of sorts.

I am planning on just doing some part time work. Never know what something may turn into but thats the starting plan. So I guess if people pay with a check, they can just make it to my name and if I do get some work, just claim it at the end of the year. I may be jumping ahead of myself. Be patient, right

[RaskyR1]

Re: Part time detailing

Sorry. I meant no disrespect to anybody on the forum. Please don't take it that way.

Thanks for the input. So I take it that you do work out of your house too? I would prefer to work that way just because the reason you said. Do you offer a pick up/drop off service? In theory its a good idea as it will be convenient for the customer but may be adding liability, right?

Good thought on signing a waiver of sorts.

I am planning on just doing some part time work. Never know what something may turn into but thats the starting plan. So I guess if people pay with a check, they can just make it to my name and if I do get some work, just claim it at the end of the year. I may be jumping ahead of myself. Be patient, right

Yes, I do this on the side out of my home.

I have on occasion helped with the pickup or delivery of the clients car, but it's not something I advertise, and it's usually for friends. I try to be as flexible as possible with the pick up or drop off time though, making it as convenient as possible for the owner.


Rasky

[TKDDAD]

Re: Part time detailing

Sorry. I meant no disrespect to anybody on the forum. Please don't take it that way.

Thanks for the input. So I take it that you do work out of your house too? I would prefer to work that way just because the reason you said. Do you offer a pick up/drop off service? In theory its a good idea as it will be convenient for the customer but may be adding liability, right?

Good thought on signing a waiver of sorts.

I am planning on just doing some part time work. Never know what something may turn into but thats the starting plan. So I guess if people pay with a check, they can just make it to my name and if I do get some work, just claim it at the end of the year. I may be jumping ahead of myself. Be patient, right

Yeah, I guess my advice would be not to "over think" it...for what it's worth, I started doing auto detailing out of my garage at my house about 5 years ago..it actually started when I bought my first black car...I found MOL to be an awesome resource in helping me answer questions about keeping my black car looking great....long story short, all of a sudden, I have the best looking car on the street and people are asking me what I do to keep it looking so good...I start telling them the process (wash, clay, blah blah blah) and they stop me and say, "can you make mine look that good?"...so it started, I did one, then two, you get the idea...today I have several repeat customers who will pay good money for a full detail...What started out as a passion for keeping my car in great shape, grew into something else...if I was 30 years younger, I would seriously think about opening my own shop...that's how much I enjoy it...

[Matt Majeika]

Re: Part time detailing

I agree with what Bill said, above. I started detailing when I got my first black truck and Washed / detailed it regularly. I slowly started detailing cars for friends / coworkers and now I have a few regular customers. My buisiness involves going to the client's house (within a reasonable distance).

I don't have insurance yet (not big enough), but I'm sure to take before and after pictures in the event that the customer may think I scratched the car or broke something.

I have found, though, that you're in the business of making their car look incredible - and they trust you. So detail the car as if it were your own and the customer is sure to be happy.

Hope this helps!

Matt

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Re: Part time detailing

Thanks guys. Yea, I always enjoyed and took pride in keeping my cars clean. Makes me feel better when I am driving a clean car for some reason. I will def keep all the advice you guys give. I am not looking to make this a full time deal (right now anyway) because I do have a more than full time job and a family to attend to as well. Just a little something on the side that I can get enjoyment out of. Thanks!

[kkarasch]

Re: Part time detailing

I'm starting to do this now as well. Getting Quickbooks set up now to track customer, income, and expenses and trying to think of a good name. From my research it looks like i'm just gonna do a schedule C for my taxes now as self employed. Its mandatory if You make $400 or more.