It’s no secret that Calgary’s winters are hard on automobiles. The constant fluctuation of temperature, melting/freezing roadways, road salt, gravel, and sand, combined with the sheer size of the city in general, make Calgary an absolute hell for your car. All it takes is one winter to remove that shine from the paint, and after a couple winters your car will appear to have lost all of its lustre- heaven forbid you park on a street or parking lot instead of underground parking or a garage!

Did you know that, aside from washing your car, there are things you can do to get its paint back in tip top shape, and that you can recondition your cars interior to the point where it looks brand new? You can have a professional car detailer do it, or if you’d rather invest your own time and energy, you could do it yourself.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Exterior Car Detailing in Calgary

If you want to bring the life back to your paint, try some of the following:

* DO: Give your car a thorough wash every 10 days or so during the winter (except during cold spells).
* DON’T: Wash your car with the tire brush at the car wash. It can actually scratch your paint!
* DO: Once winter is over, give your car a thorough wash and apply a coat of wax to the paint. Follow the instructions on the wax bottle and you’ll be fine.
* DON’T: Ignore paint chips because it’s winter. The combination of moisture, bare paint, and road salt will cause your car to rust quicker than you’d think!
* DO: Have some clear paint protection film installed. The investment will easily pay for itself over time.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Interior Car Detailing in Calgary

Is your car interior looking a little worn? Try the following:

* DO: Use a high suction vacuum on all carpeted areas in your car.
* DON’T: Vacuum your dash, instrument cluster, or electronics.
* DO: Use a shampoo mixture to remove stains from your carpet.
* DON’T: Use bleach on, in, or anywhere near your cars interior.
* DO: Shampoo the seats if they’re cloth, or use a leather conditioner for leather.
* DON’T: Use glass cleaner on anything other than glass.
* DO: Take the time to do it right. A good interior clean could take several hours.
* DON’T: Try to cut corners. Cutting corners always results in shoddy workmanship and poor-quality results.

Car Detailing is all About the Little Things

Being thorough in your cleaning process will ensure that your car never smells odd, dirties your clothes with you use it, etc. A good interior clean should only be required a couple of times per year, and if you maintain your clean-up job year round, will ensure that your vehicle looks and feels great for many years to come.

There are many vehicles on the road and many of the owners do not have the time or inclination to clean their cars. People are going to buy cars, and use the cars. When the cars are being used, they are going to get dirty and hence the cars would require regular services.

Starting a car Detailing Business is very easy and any one can start it, be it student, salesman, mechanic, or anyone from even different fields of profession, but remember one thing that this is a labor intensive job. You can go ahead only if you are sure you are capable of performing the labor intensive jobs. Also remember that as this job deals with the dirt and grime and hence, you will get dirty, when doing the job. Hence, you should be prepared for all these. It would be beneficial if you gain some experience before starting a car detailing business of your own. Working with someone is always beneficial as you learn new things and also the inside job. You also learn how to charge the customers for each of the work you do. You should also be aware of how to do the exterior detailing, the interior detailing and the engine detailing. You should also know in details as to what should be done in each of the procedures and the products.

You should also have knowledge about the products and which products are good for which type of paints, which will give you good results and which will adversely affect the car parts. You also have to decide as to which type of car detailing business, you would like to start, whether mobile auto detailing, express detailing or the full-fledged auto detailing. The factors, which would help you in this is your investment capacity, your aptitude, and also whether you have an independent place or not.

The Mobile Auto Detailing business is the one, which requires least investment. In this type you require a truck to fit in the necessary equipments. In Mobile Auto Detailing Business you have to go to the customer’s place to do the auto detailing.

In the Express Auto Detailing business, you can join with any of the car dealerships, the hotels, the car wash, car shows, RV dealerships, car leasing companies, auto repair shops, gas stations, etc.

In the Auto detailing business, you will have to investment the maximum plus you need a proper centrally located place, which is easily accessible. The advantage being that you can cater to multiple customers. After establishing yourself, you can always specialize yourself into doing certain types of detailing, which would help you to create a specific customer base.

The problem that new car detailing businesses face is that they don’t have a good resource for new customers. What they don’t realize is they have access to most of the people selling their cars in their city, for free, instantly. Where is this place? Craigslist.

Craigslist is now the busiest marketplace for selling used cars in the world. It’s free, easy to search, and there is a massive inventory of cars for sale by owners and dealers there. Also on Craigslist is an automotive services section that receives a lot of traffic.

If you can post a professional looking advertisement they’re introducing yourself, your services, and your prices, you’re guaranteed to get some phone calls and e-mails. What’s important is that you provide specific reasons why your car detailing service is better than the others on Craigslist. Most detailers there emphasize their low prices, but this approach is flawed. The problem with selling on price alone is that the customer perceives your work to be of lesser quality.

Instead, emphasize the quality of your service. Describe your detailing process in detail. Write a short biography about your professional car detailing experience. Specifically name the equipment that you own and the products that you use.

And, if you have photos of your work, displaying these photos is extremely influential. Don’t just show photos of your finished work. Instead, show before and after photos of the common issues like dirty interiors and oxidized paint that someone selling their car is looking for professional help with.

Car dealers will contact you to, as they spend a lot of time each day on Craigslist. Although you may not want all of their business, there are some very good car dealers that pay good rates and give steady business. It’s always good to have some reliable business that you can count on to cover your costs each month.

So if you are a new car detailing business and looking for more work, post an ad on Craigslist as often as possible. First look at your competition’s ads on Craigslist, and see how you can improve on their message and get more business. Often it’s just a matter of producing a more professional presentation with more details and more photos of your services. You will find that a lot of customers are looking for a more trustworthy car detailer and not just the cheapest option on Craigslist.