# Starting a valeting business



## carl123uk (Jun 16, 2008)

I know these are started up way to often but it has come to that stage where I need to think about a getting a "proper job" only 21 so need to start thinking long term. As I have an interest in car cleaning hence why I’m on here I thought this would be the perfect choice. I phoned up autosmart and had a rep come to my house as I was after a few bits and got talking to him and apparently there is quite a big demand in the area I live and actually no one in the immediate area doing it.

I have about 1001 questions but will try and keep it short.

How do people come up with a company name and logo?

I have all the gear apart from a van, generator and water tank so to start with I would need power and water would this be a major problem as I don't want to fork out £2k+ on them?

Any other general advice would be great.

I am going to get business cards and flyers done before I do anything else, along with an advert in a local paper and go door to door and hand them out to see if I get any interest.

I understand it’s not just as easy as advertise and people will ring and hey presto lots of work. At the minute I am only employed on a casual basis so I have at least two days a week normally doing nothing so it’s not as if I’m losing anything if it doesn't work.

Cheers for reading the essay but we all have to start somewhere so I just thought I could get some professional opinions and advice or tips:thumb:


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## Ste T (Jul 17, 2008)

> How do people come up with a company name and logo?


they normally run a comp on here tbh, just think of words that will remain in peoples heads, and for a logo, get a name first...

Nuneaton AUTO-VALETING etc.


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## alan hanson (May 21, 2008)

youve got all the gear? does that mean to do near enough all types of cars and paint insides also, insurance etc might be an idea too. Your 21 and only just thinking about gettin a proper job? what ya been doin lol (secod thoughts dont answer that).

its a tough ask not one i would want to take on, cant you just build up clients as a weekend job and get a full time job to save some pennies?


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## carl123uk (Jun 16, 2008)

i have all the gear to do basic valeting and i think the knowhow, all i can't do is machine work yet. i'v had jobs obviously but nothing i can see me doing forever, delivery driver & property repair work at the moment but none of it is full time.

my main aim is to offer a basic valeting service exterior wash and dry and interior hoover and clean.


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## carl123uk (Jun 16, 2008)

had a major thought today and i am going to try and do it part time on a mon and tues as these are the 2 days i’m normally off so if it doesn't work i haven't lost anything. for the time being i can operate out of my car.

i’m going to run a comp on here to come up with a name and logo as i don't want something cheesy but something people will remember.

as i will be running it out of my car i won’t have power and water so would be using the customers do the majority of people let you use there’s?

what insurance do i need to start with?

any other advice regarding the business side of things? as im not sure if it will even take off do i even need to do anything?


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## Defined Reflections (Jun 4, 2009)

Right well you have the equipment so next is

A good name, then register with the tax man

Get your van sign written

Insurance, i have a traders policy so i can drive the cars,just liabilty insurance is a good idea

Some clothes with your company name ect on

A Website is a good idea so you can show your work+ camera

Get as many free listings as you can,put a business map for the place were your business is registered,these are free and you can get work from it

Find the most well off areas near were you live and drop some business cards in there letter boxes

I would pay for some advertising like yellow pages or a addwords account to get your company seen

The rest is down to you,if you do a crap job they wont use you again,make sure you always do your best and they will call you back and recomend you to there friends and neighbours


You could also do caravans,i valet caravans for a guy who buys and sells them,i charge £60 a caravan,you can charge more if you machine clean the inside,i can manage 5 for him in a day so its a good little earner

If you have the drive it will work,if you sit on your **** waiting for the phone to ring then you wont last long

Hope some of this helps:thumb:


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## VIPER (May 30, 2007)

carl123uk said:


> i'm going to run a comp on here to come up with a name and logo as i don't want something cheesy but something people will remember.


For a valeting/detailing business, that won't be allowed I'm afraid. I also made the competitions section a moderated one recently so anything submitted would need to be passed by a moderator before going public. Sorry.


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## pete5570 (Jun 11, 2010)

If you are going mobile and don't have water on board, use ONR! get the gallon size for value, it's a great product, also look for products that are easy to use and do more than one job etc. I used to be a mobile valeter and it's very hard to get established these days. I wish ONR was around then,it would have saved me a lot of hassle.


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