Auto Detailing News Winter issue

THE BUSINESS OF
DETAILING
Are you
Successful?
By Rob Schruefer
rob@onspotdetailing.com
How do you measure success in your
detailing business? This can be tricky because
success is not the same for every
detailer, it is a very subjective measuring
stick. What would be considered success
in the first few years of business, may not
be the same in year 5, 10, or 15. In this
article we will look at some of the ways to
take a step back and look at yourself and
your business to see whether or not your
business can be considered “successful.”
ARE YOU IN THE RED?
I think the first and most important
point to consider is your bottom line. Are
you in the red or the black? If your business
is making money and paying the bills
that is the first milestone of ensuring that
your detailing business will make it. The
first few years are difficult ones for every
detailer starting out. Sometimes there is
money to pay the bills, but not enough
left over for you to take the paycheck you
deserve, if anything. I remember the first
time that I was proud of myself in the
detailing industry. It was when I did not
need to work a night job to make ends
meet. It was the winter of my 5 th year in
business, and for the first time I did not
have to wait tables or bartend to make
sure I had spending money. I was able to
pay myself a regular paycheck and started
looking at the growth of the company.
After that is where the perspective of
success diverges for each company individually.
While the end of the year profit
is always a good way to measure how you
are doing, there are several other ways
that can be considered. I will offer you a
few of the ways that I use to measure success
within my company.
ARE WE INCREASING
REVENUE EVERY YEAR?
100
75
50
25
0
2020 2021 2022 2023
Increased revenue is
a great way to measure
your growth from
year to year. We all
know that increasing
your revenue does
not always mean increasing your
profit too. There are costs associated with
growth, and they will offset, and sometimes
eat into the increase of revenue. If
you set yourself a goal of an obtainable
number like a 5 to 10% increase in revenue,
you will ensure that your business
does not become stagnant. A great way to
visualize this is to make a line graph with
year-to-year revenue, and watch it rise
each year. It will also allow you to project
years into the future to plan for big purchases
and future expansion.
IS YOUR STAFF
SUCCEEDING?
Another way I eel successful is when
my staff is doing well. Not everyone has, or
even wants employees, so this one would
not apply to everyone. As a company, we
are responsible for making sure that each
of our teammates make enough money
to support themselves and their families.
We do this by making sure that we pay a
competitive wage and can offer enough
hours to provide full time employment. If
I can help people make a better life for
themselves, I consider that a huge success.
Also, our CXO asks each teammate, each
year, what their goals are for the year. Answers
range from buying a new car, getting
a new place to live, or starting college
classes. He posts them up on his wall and
follows up with them to see how they are
doing to meet that goal, and what it is that
we can do to help. Every time someone
makes one of those goals, I feel like we
played a role in getting them there.
LOOK IN THE MIRROR
The most important piece of success
is how you see yourself. What is important
to you as a detailing business owner?
If you take a few of those things and
make them into goals that are difficult,
but obtainable, you will always be pushing
yourself forward. As I stated before,
measurable success will be different from
person-to-person, but feeling proud of
yourself and what you have accomplished
is the real definition of success.
Rob Schruefer is the owner of On The
Spot Detailing out of Columbia, Maryland.
He proudly serves on the board
of the International Detailing Association
and works tirelessly to ensure
that detailing business owners receive
business development support to help
them achieve their goals.
8 | AUTO DETAILING NEWS | VOL. 5, NO. 4 • WINTER 2020