How Do Automotive Detailing Companies Get Started? What makes them tick and how do they grow? How do they choose what services they will offer? This is an interesting case study on a test market of a franchise company in the cleaning business and how they set up car detailing shops. It may be of interest for your study and business research; I know this story because it is one of the companies I founded.
It all started in Reno, NV where we established a Car Wash Guys mobile car wash franchise for a franchise there. http://www.CarWashGuys.com. Because we have a significant market share in Reno NV, we wanted to expand into different lines. So we looked at co-branding with Ziebart, but their corporate culture didn’t mesh with our corporate fiber, and their franchise costs were pretty high. On top of that, they had sold so many franchises in the US, there would be a problem later if we decided to roll out our system nationwide or continue to buy their units to expand with our current franchisees, still we felt it would be worth a try. So instead of going through all the bugs, which had already been learned, we wanted to buy a proven system and we wanted to exhaust this possibility first. They rejected us. So we have decided to take the market, city by city. But first we needed to set up a prototype unit and this is where our Reno franchisee came into play. Ziebart rather than partner would become a challenge as they had 216 units in operation. We visited many of their locations including Hilo, HA at the time.
We decided that we would also co-brand car washes, express detail centers. Also at Park and Flys and High End Parking Structures. These permanent Detailing Centers would provide a wide range of services. We are detailing for large dealerships, adding oil additives, which are guaranteed by Lloyds of London for 100,000 miles, case linings, gold plating, window tinting, car accessories, fine stripes, gold plating, dent repair, repair of windshield, wood grain and interior. Panel resurfacing, vinyl and leather repair, paint touch-up, steam engine cleaning, rust protection, odor removal. the business plan
it is extensive, and the training intense.
We determined that in order to handle all the services we wanted to provide, the Centers would have to be 8-bay Detail Shops, the largest of all organized Detail Shops. By having other WashGuy.com franchise system customers to turn to, it would be enough
clients to allow maximum synergy. This is where the tires meet the pavement. Super Centers are exactly that. The smaller co-branded version was tested at our prototype fixed-site car wash franchise in WA. Now keep in mind we’ve been in the detailing business for years, http://www.detailguys.com and we know what we’re doing and we’re good at it.
This company was founded out of the need to serve customers. Paul, our Reno franchise of car wash guys, kept getting detailed offers from the dealerships he was washing. One offer led to a site acquisition of its in-house detailing facility; a four-bay detail shop, from which he grew in less than three months. He then moved to an 8 bay detail shop keeping all four bays for a total of 12 bays in two shops. Before his sophomore year, he was on track to make around $600,000.00 this year. He had only been in business 18 months. He was so busy trying to split up his car wash with all his detail work that he decided to sell part of it. We wanted him to succeed, so we allowed the partial transfer and he will use the money from the sale of one of the franchised territories of one of his car washes to finance his new detail center. He maxed out the old center and had to move to a bigger store, and then at one point even that wasn’t enough, so he had to keep both. The following year we established smaller Detail Guys centers in other parts of the country and established co-brands in WA, OK, OH, TN and CA.
The entire business grew out of a mobile car wash operation, without any detailed forward strategic thinking on our part until we had customers breathing yellow “We need more service” and that’s how many opportunities lie in the market. You go into business and you get tough and you follow the opportunity, that’s why all the textbooks and business plans aren’t as good as they are and why reality-based entrepreneurship comes from the real world where the people can do it. Not from the academic world where all they know how to do is teach. If you want to go from 0 to 60 in four seconds, sure it’s nice to have VC funding, but every real company I know of started from scratch and then built to last. From starting small to finishing big, it’s all in the marketplace and in the minds of the greatest people on Earth, the Entrepreneurs.