# Opening a detail business, what would you buy for a start?



## Nanolex (Jun 8, 2008)

Hey guys!

after a couple of years as a hobby-detailer I am now planning on expanding my business and opening a professional detail shop. The place is already set (it's gonna be a co-op with my aunt who owns a car-repair shop) and perfect for this purpose since there are car lifts, the right lighting and enough space. 
We already offer a sealant service for car dealers, but that only covered new cars.
Next week we'll have a guy from Sonax Germany in whos gonna teach us 2 days (16 hours). After that my plan is to practise about another month (my cousin will be the one to do the main work since I got lots of other things to do).
What I plan on is opening something that will set a benchmark in our area - we do have some detailers round here but I saw some of their work and I think it can be done better ( no offense anyone).

On my list / what we have so far is:

- a Kärcher pressure washer & a dry & wet vacuum cleaner
- a Sparky rotary polisher / a festool rotary polisher
- wash mitts (meguiars)
- Nigrin Car Shampoo 

What I plan on getting ahead of the official start - please comment / suggest!

- different brushes for carpet, smaller ones for details etc.
- microfiber buffs
- APC
- Magic Clean Clay Bars (Blue & Red)
- Meguiars Car Shampoo

- polishes; this is something I was worrying about, cause since I've been reading a lot here I find it very difficult to choose! I was thinking about either 3M Finesse-it/Perfect it or the Meguiars polishes!? What do you successfully use / recommend?

- the matching / necessary pads; the same here, I thought about buying different Lake Country / Meguiars / 3M pads - but I'm always up for recommendations!

- some wet-sanding paper (3m?) 

- a PTG, which is sort of a problem over here to get

Since I won't be able to get everything you use over here, but if it's worth it I might considder importing from the UK or the States.

Guess that's it so far, please tell me what you guys think / what to add / change! 

I plan on opening officially in January 2009, so there is still time to change products and try some different stuff. I really want this to become a success, and would be glad if you would share your experiences / opinions with me!

Thank you all for reading!


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## Buzzsaw (Nov 4, 2007)

This may help you http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=9987


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

it seems you have a lot to sort out. i hope you wouldnt do it on a whim, but you are a long long long way off being able to compitantly working on customers cars?


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## Nanolex (Jun 8, 2008)

Buzzsaw said:


> This may help you http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=9987


Thanks for the hint! 
I saw that thread a couple of weeks ago and loved reading it! The economical advice on opening is really great!
I actually started this cause the equipment needed wasn't pointed out so clear in particular, this is why I was asking... I saw a lot of good collections in the garage/product collections but I feel sort of overwhelmed by having to choose from so many appealing products on the market right now!


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## The Detail Doctor (Feb 22, 2008)

Your biggest challenge will be actually getting paying work.


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## Nanolex (Jun 8, 2008)

JPC said:


> it seems you have a lot to sort out. i hope you wouldnt do it on a whim, but you are a long long long way off being able to compitantly working on customers cars?


I sure don't want to do it on a whim, and I won't officially open until there was enough practice / training and everything is set perfectly! My aim is to offer superior services, and therefor everything is supposed to be set perfectly! Being able to work compitantly is what we aim for in the first place.

Revenue comes later on, because I personally love the whole detailing process and the results you can get out of it, and I really aim on setting something up that will offer benchmark services in our area. This is why I am asking for products in particular, because over here in Germany some products are hard to find / people don't have any experience with them.

As I mentioned the official start is supposed to be in the beginning of 2009, but since this will only be a branch of my already existing business I don't need to hurry.


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## wrx man (Apr 18, 2008)

JPC said:


> it seems you have a lot to sort out. i hope you wouldnt do it on a whim, but you are a long long long way off being able to compitantly working on customers cars?


Second that mate

Surely if your setting up you should have had a business plan and know exactly what your doing.

Not asking on a forum


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## dominic84 (Jan 27, 2007)

> Since I won't be able to get everything you use over here, but if it's worth it I might considder *importing from the UK or the States*.


What country are you from?

EDIT: You posted the same time as me... question answered above lol


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## Nanolex (Jun 8, 2008)

The Detail Doctor said:


> Your biggest challenge will be actually getting paying work.


hopefully this won't be a problem, since we already have customers coming in for sealing purposes and the car-repair customers might also be interested... and since there are also contacts to car-dealerships I hope the start won't be too hard.... But who knows...


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## Nanolex (Jun 8, 2008)

dominic84 said:


> What country are you from?


Germany. Available over here is Meguiars, 3M, Sonax, Chemical Guys (at least partially), but that's about it. I will try to buy most stuff either directly from the manufacturer/importer or at Petzoldts.


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## Nanolex (Jun 8, 2008)

wrx man said:


> Second that mate
> 
> Surely if your setting up you should have had a business plan and know exactly what your doing.
> 
> Not asking on a forum


Sure I do have a business plan, but that's not the point. I am running an international company with clients all over the world actually.

But this is about something else - as I said the return aspect is not a priority (but I regard this aspect for sure, too), this is merely something I do because I like it and would love to offer people access to services that are not available yet.

To point it out: What I'm looking for is advice on professional products that might not be known / considered here (in Germany) or are yet uncommon!


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## Guest (Oct 14, 2008)

I'm pretty sure Einszett are German. Used a few of their products and each one has been a cracker. I'm suprised they don't get more of a mention on here.


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

well if all your after is advice about products, you have everything you need right here in the forum.

it seems your expecting every fact and product to be condensed into your thread. well frankly that wont happen. there is more than enough info if you search around and read up. im sure thats what everyone else does?


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## Nanolex (Jun 8, 2008)

When it comes to the polish I talked to 3M Germany and they suggested their Finesse-it line - One offer for that I found here:

http://www.cleanersdream.de/shop/pr..._3M-Finesse-it--8482--Profi-Poliersystem.html

and here

http://www.cleanersdream.de/shop/pr..._3M-Finesse-it--8482--Profi-Poliersystem.html

I was just wondering if the products are good, if that would be a good deal!?

I suppose I can't go wrong with them due to what I read so far...


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## Nanolex (Jun 8, 2008)

JPC said:


> well if all your after is advice about products, you have everything you need right here in the forum.
> 
> it seems your expecting every fact and product to be condensed into your thread. well frankly that wont happen. there is more than enough info if you search around and read up. im sure thats what everyone else does?


I sure did that - and that's not what I was aiming for - I was merely asking myself if the products I listed first were ok and especially if anything crucial was missing...


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

the most important thing other than products is insurance? have you thought about that?


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## RedCloudMC (Jul 19, 2008)

Insurance is a must IMO. All the answers are on here so good luck finding it all out. There's too many aspects for any one person to go through with you in detail but the 'truth is out there'....

I sympathise with you on some of the answers you've been given. Anyone who has ever compiled a professional business plan knows that research is a key part of it and , to my mind, that's partly what you're doing in this thread and by being a member of DW. Good luck to you mate and I sincerely hope it works out for you.

Cheers :thumb:


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## Nanolex (Jun 8, 2008)

Insurance... yes I did considder it and it was taken care of, from next year on I can damaged/scratch/bump everything within and without sight up to 2 Mill and won't be charged , the insurance covers every damage caused by me or an employee, no matter if caused while driving or during the process.

Yeah actually everything I wrote down on the list at the beginning was somehow new to me in most cases before I got here... 
I actually came in contact with the whole detailing thing when I was an exchange student in a town close to Chicage, where my host-sister was working at a well known detailing business and it kept fascinating me... 
And this forum teached me a lot of great things, especially the guides are just amazing, I already recommended this to so many people.

What I was wondering about is if there is something crucial that I forgot to list / that you guys would recommend every pro-detailer should have!? I now decided to wait until the seminar is over next week, maybe the guy from Sonax will show some products worth buying!


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