How to Start a Car Detailing Business in 2023

The car detailing business is an excellent opportunity to get involved in the fast-growing car detailing market. We have some significant updates in this field due to the recent pandemic economy shake, and new ways of transforming your hobby into full-time income. In this post, we will discuss how to start a car detailing business in 2023 and go through all the necessary steps.

I need to make a disclaimer that I’m not a financial adviser or a business guru. I’m a huge car detailing enthusiast with more than 5 years of experience in the car detailing sphere. That is why in this post I will concentrate more on the most convenient way of starting a car detailing business rather than giving you some financial advice.

Starting Car Detailing Business in 2023 Step-by-Step

Car detailing business already crossed the line when it was easy to start and you will be guaranteed to get a lot of clients even if you are just a beginner. Now it’s a highly competitive business sphere. However, it doesn’t mean you cannot start a successful business, but for this, you need to be ready to provide some value to your clients that others can’t.

1. Become an Expert as Self-Employed

Don’t take an expert as a guy who knows everything about car detailing and has 10 years of experience. If you will follow such steps like this, you will never start a business. But if you will not know anything about car care products, detailing techniques, polishing, or car wrapping, you will fail.

I believe that if you read this post, you are a detailing enthusiast, who wants to transform your passion into a business, and you don’t have millions to open a huge detailing garage.

When I say expert, I mean that you need to start step by step, and the first thing is becoming an expert in one car detailing niche.

1. Pick a niche you want to start with and become an expert. It can be car wrapping, car polishing, deep car wash, interior detailing, and many more. Start as an individual and provide your clients with excellent service.
2. You can take detailing courses. You can find local detailing services that can teach you detailing tricks, or participate in car care brands courses, like Rupes, or Detail Garage from Chemical Guys. Full courses can be expensive, so in the beginning, you can take courses only for your chosen niche, you don’t need to know all for the start.

It means you will start your detailing career as a car detailing side hustle at first. You will assess your local market, collect some permanent customers, find useful connections that can deliver you detailing supplies, and all this without huge investments and risks!

2. Transforming Side Hustle into a Business

Once you will get confidence in your chosen detailing niche, it’s time to move forward.

After the pandemic, we have another new way of starting a detailing business besides opening a garage – mobile car detailing, or mobile car valeting.

Which one is better for you depends on your location and detailing niche. From now on I will split this guide into 2 ways, one for garage detailing, and another one for mobile detailing.

Starting Garage Detailing Business

Average Costs of Starting a Detailing Business

$10,000-$25,000

Key Benefits:

• you can keep as much equipment or car chemicals as you need;
• providing higher-level services like polishing, ceramic coating, and paint correction;
• possibility to work with more clients during the day as they are coming to you;

How to start a detailing business ???

1. Rent a place where you can provide your clients with your service. In the best case, it should be 2 boxes, one for washing, and the second one for polishing or ceramic coating, and you should be able to deliver the car from one box to another without the need of driving outside and collecting dirt. Optionally, you can start even at home, but provide limited services.
2. Buy all the necessary equipment and chemicals for your services. It will be a good idea to expand the number of services you provide, as people are more likely to request full detailing packages.
3. Solve the problem with all the necessary registrations, and licenses that are required in your location.
4. Get suitable insurance.
5. Start applying offline and online marketing strategies to attract new clients. Do not neglect social media like TikTok and Instagram.
6. Once you will reach the point when you have more clients than free time to provide them with your services, start looking for employees and creating your team.

How much does a car detailing business make?

On average you can expect to make from $25,000-$65,000 of a clean profit yearly, working alone as a full-time mobile detailer in the US.

However, there are many variables that can influence those numbers, like bad time and business management, wrong marketing strategies, low-quality service, your location, or even your laziness.

Starting Mobile Car Detailing Business

Costs of Starting Mobile Detailing Business

$5,000-$15,000

Key Benefits:

• you can start with a lower budget compared to a garage business;
• at this point lower competition;
• huge amount of clients who don’t have time to visit detailing garage, and the number will only grow;

How to start a mobile car detailing business ??

1. Buy a used reliable van, which you can use to store your equipment and chemicals, and visit your clients.
2. Check what mobile detailing services have the highest demand in your city, so you can pick your equipment wisely to fit in your van.
3. Buy all necessary equipment and chemicals, and prepare your van for carrying all this stuff safely!
4. Prepare all the necessary registrations and licenses required in your location.
5. Get suitable insurance.
6. Start applying offline and online marketing strategies to attract new clients. Do not neglect social media like TikTok and Instagram.
7. Once you will reach the point when you have more clients than free time to provide them with your services, start looking for employees and creating your team. To expand your mobile detailing business, you need to buy a new van, equip it, and find an employee who can work with your clients responsibly!

How much does mobile detailing business make?

On average you can expect to make from $25,000-$50,000 of a clean profit yearly, working alone as a full-time mobile detailer in the US.

However, there are many variables that can influence those numbers, like bad time and business management, wrong marketing strategies, low-quality service, your location, or even your laziness.

Conclusion – How to Start a Car Detailing Business

Car detailing is a growing market, so it’s not a suprpise a lot of people a looking how to start a car detailing business. However, don’t forget that it is a competitive market, and a hard physical job, so I wouldn’t recommend starting such business if you are not passionate about cars and taking care of them.

Don’t forget that even if you are a car enthusiast, your passion is not enough, if you want this business to be successful and to make living out of it, you should care it as a business. Always keep in mind such boring things like financing, taxes, registration, insurances, and so on. It will help you to avoid any potential problems, and make better business planning.

I hope this post was helpful to you, and you will successfully transform your car detailing passion into profitable car detailing business!