First paying customer!

**zesty-man** · 04-10-2004, 06:38 PM

well, today i had my first paying customer. she had a corolla-s. it was really, really new, i think she got it a month and a half ago, so there werent really any swrils, water marks, anything. it was in pretty good condition, so i figured i only needed the ssr1. i started at 8:00 and ended at a round 1:00. she was really nice. i was planing on charging her 30 bucks, at this rate. $20 for 3 hours, and $5 for every hour after that. HOWEVER, at the end, she just gave me this envelope. i didnt know what to do, but i trusted her. anyways, she drove away, and inside was 60 bucks. yay for me! anyways, heres what i used

meg gold car wash
meg quik clay (which i dropped, and ended up throwing away)
ssr1
NXT wax
PB wipe and shine for windows
PB bold and bright for tires
Meg Hot Rims for the rims

**zesty-man** · 04-10-2004, 06:39 PM

the best tires ive done in my life (howver i may have missed a tiny spot). how do you get those spots of when the tire is on the ground? theroretically, there would always be a spot on the tire you cant really get to, if you know what i mean.

edit: now that i look at it at full size, it looks really, really bad... advice plz!!!

**zesty-man** · 04-10-2004, 06:42 PM

hood shot

**zesty-man** · 04-10-2004, 06:44 PM

side.

**zesty-man** · 04-10-2004, 06:47 PM

finally, the front view

**Tassadar** · 04-10-2004, 06:50 PM

I would have charged more personally

**zesty-man** · 04-10-2004, 06:53 PM

i would love to charge more, but i dont think i do a good enough job, nor do i have the credentials...

**Woob** · 04-10-2004, 07:06 PM

I think you charged too little. I would probably charge 50 dollars for a 1 step wax and polish job along with cleaning and dressing. NEvertheless great work! Nice to see you got a job.

Hawaii looks soo good

**gentletouch** · 04-10-2004, 07:12 PM

Do not cheat yourself. You are a convenience. You will be surprised what people will pay to have their cars done. Do not cut yourself short because in the long run after you start to get referrals from these customers it will be kinda hard to quote a higher price.

**PakShak** · 04-10-2004, 07:26 PM

Hi zesty-man...

Great job on the Corolla S! It looks great! I would have definitely charged more for all of the work you did.

I sure would like to contract you out to do some detail work for me.

I`ll charge the customer $125, give you your cut of $50 and I`ll pocket $75. j/k

"Show Me Da Money!"

With Aloha,
Ranney

**CharlesW** · 04-10-2004, 08:01 PM

Originally posted by zesty-man
the best tires ive done in my life (howver i may have missed a tiny spot). how do you get those spots of when the tire is on the ground? theroretically, there would always be a spot on the tire you cant really get to, if you know what i mean.

edit: now that i look at it at full size, it looks really, really bad... advice plz!!!

Clean and dress the tires, move the car a foot or so, clean and dress the areas you couldn`t get to before.

Overall, you did a nice job. Obviously the owner was happy and that`s what is important.

Charles

**zesty-man** · 04-10-2004, 08:11 PM

ah, thats what i was thinking. maybe i should crank the price up to 50 bucks a car instead of the previous price of 25.

**andriver** · 04-10-2004, 08:30 PM

Nice job zesty! Keep up the good work.

**BaDm0theR** · 04-10-2004, 09:40 PM

Zesty-man, i have to strongly agree with Gentletouch on this one. I am not sure if you detail as a hobby/enthusiast or if you are conducting this as an income paying business, however i beleive you are indeed selling yourself short.

The services which you performed (laborious, lengthy, and time consuming), and the fact that you are mobile are highly valued features in the detailing world. Im not trying to tell you how to conduct your affairs, but i strongly beleive that based on the time, labor, materials and convenience factor in your services you should charge accordingly (higher than you currenty have it set at). Again, im not aware of the type of market in Hawaii, so perhaps your prices are in line with your competition....but from the advice of numerous experienced detailers, and from my own persoanl experience....if you do a thorough, exculsive and professional job you should charge accordingly. Moreover, you should stand firmly behind your prices & services with confidence....its best to start this trend early in the business rather than later.

Hope that makes sense, very nice work btw!

Take care and godspeed.

**Nickc0844** · 04-10-2004, 11:23 PM

Hawaii ain`t cheap! Zesty, great job dude!! This hobby/money making scheme is a great deal for people in high school and college. I can say that I have been successful in doing so.

Keep in mind, this job is trail and error to get going. Stay here on DC and you will learn even more. Personally, I am a slow, but diligent worker. I don`t charge by the hour, because I know I would be the most expensive in the Southeast :lol You did spend 5 hours though, and did a claying, a 1-step polish, then a wax. But you are right, you gotta start somewhere. My first paying customer (I`ve been pulling a wagon around my neighborhood since I was 12-13) when actually starting the business was one of my management professors. I only charged her $75, and she threw my $100 for the efforts. It took me 6 hours to do, inside and out. She was wanting to sell the car the next week, so it was pretty long.

Anyhow, good luck in the future, and may this be the start to "Zesty-man`s Detailing"

P.S. Claybars are usually large enough in size to split into 2 peices; try that next time