{"id":23210,"date":"2018-06-15T08:00:15","date_gmt":"2018-06-15T12:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/?p=23210"},"modified":"2018-05-31T11:51:05","modified_gmt":"2018-05-31T15:51:05","slug":"an-honest-self-assessment-for-aspiring-professional-detailers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/an-honest-self-assessment-for-aspiring-professional-detailers\/","title":{"rendered":"An Honest Self Assessment For Aspiring Professional Detailers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This is for any auto detailer who is serious about starting a business in professional detailing.<\/p>\n<p>I believe it is important for you to <strong>ask yourself<\/strong> an important question.\u00a0&#8220;<em>Am I pursuing entrepreneurship as an <strong>escape<\/strong> from my problems in the workplace or as a pursuit of something I feel a passion for?&#8221;\u00a0<\/em> If you see operating a detailing business as more of an escape, it is very likely your frustrations will follow you and manifest itself in your business.\u00a0It is a precursor to failure.\u00a0 For those who have exhaled because detailing is your passion, I caution you to re-read the question.\u00a0 <em>&#8220;Am I pursuing <strong>entrepreneurship<\/strong> as an escape..?<\/em><\/strong>&#8221;\u00a0 A major dilemma for many professionals in this industry is our motivation to start a business came as a consequence of our auto detailing skill set not our business acumen.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4671\/25163527327_f143c46c50_b.jpg\" alt=\"portrait 1\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Many auto detailers can relate to this story.\u00a0 You were that one guy that was always seen taking care of your car.\u00a0 You got the comments &#8220;It&#8217;s just a car!&#8221;\u00a0 &#8220;You are a little extreme.&#8221;\u00a0 &#8220;My car next!&#8221;\u00a0 &#8220;But seriously, how much for my car?!&#8221;\u00a0 Many of us started detailing for money because we were the recognized and distinguished car care guru of our neighborhood and workplace.\u00a0 <strong>No one<\/strong> saw us polishing a car and said &#8220;you look so business savvy with that machine.&#8221;\u00a0 But you can not separate the two.\u00a0 Our ability to run a business generally determines our success.<\/p>\n<p>I put months of thought into my decision to start my business.\u00a0 I created a plan, expected trials, and have no regrets starting a business.\u00a0 Still, I have had moments of angst. When I feel frustration, I will often evaluate myself in three different areas.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>A Flexible Plan<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Business Leadership<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Your Health<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>A Flexible Plan<\/h2>\n<p>I believe in developing a clear but flexible business plan.\u00a0 Writing down who you (business) are is vital to a great marketing plan.\u00a0 One area I worked hard at improving on was making my business congruent to my vision.\u00a0\u00a0 I made several significant improvements to my business marketing strategy just from having a clear picture of what I want.\u00a0 Objectifying how I stand out from other businesses gave me a great blueprint for success.<\/p>\n<h2>Business Leadership<\/h2>\n<p>Human interaction comes with the territory of entrepreneurship.\u00a0 It is a must that you both set personal boundaries of how you will be treated professionally and also put the health of your business above your ego.\u00a0 There are no hard or fast rules for what always constitutes the right thing to do for your business.\u00a0 But you always want to be mindful of the big picture in customer service.\u00a0\u00a0 You usually know more about car care than your customers.\u00a0 But your customers do not know you personally and may not have a rapport\/trust in what you are offering.\u00a0 Many people have prejudgements about auto detailers that you may not find flattering.\u00a0 This is why being transparent, confident, empathetic, and approachable are great qualities for you to have or develop.\u00a0 I truly believe that how you behave with anybody is how you behave with everybody.\u00a0 You have to carry yourself in a way that is <strong>both<\/strong> respectful to yourself and your customers.<\/p>\n<h2>Your Health<\/h2>\n<p>Something often not discussed but a very important topic is your health.\u00a0 Detailing for money will take a toll on your body.\u00a0 It is much different than working on your own car.\u00a0 Diet, exercise, and rest become even more important for us.\u00a0 Resting does not just mean a good night of sleep, but also listening to your body when it tells you to take it easy.\u00a0 Also a Foam Roller is a great investment.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4722\/25163527227_6a5863b43e_b.jpg\" alt=\"portrait 2\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Hopefully this helps shed some light on a few things to think about before starting up a detailing business!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An Honest Self Assessment For Aspiring Professional Detailers by Rodney Tatum<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":24536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1412],"tags":[2132],"class_list":{"0":"post-23210","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-running-a-detailing-business","8":"tag-an-honest-self-assessment-for-aspiring-professional-detailers"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/25163527227_6a5863b43e_b.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1kPO7-62m","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23210"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24537,"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23210\/revisions\/24537"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}