ADN SPRING 2022 WEB

How you started your business is the
history and story of your company, and it
should be shared occasionally with staff or
with others you want to do business with.
People love an origin story and will be far
more engaged with you and your business
if they know how it came to be. At least
99% of the people who work for me were
not around during the early stages of my
company. They did not see the struggles
of working nights and weekends as a bartender
and then detailing for hours upon
hours during the day, 7 days a week. They
only see what the company is now, and it
does not give them the full scope of why
the business exists in the form it is today.
I also keep mementos from those early
days. I have my original van sitting on
the side of my shop and the handwritten
scheduling books from the first few years
of business on a shelf in my office. I go
through them occasionally to remind myself
of where I started and how far my
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business has come.
Just as important as where you came
from is where are you heading. You should
always be looking for the next big thing
that will help you get to that next level. I
can think of two things that my company
was out in front of that helped me build
my business.
GOOGLE ADWORDS:
When I started my business in the early
2000s the Internet was not even close to
what it is today. There was very little in the
way of tracking or advertising techniques
that are commonplace today. I taught myself
how to use Adwords effectively and to
tailor it to my specific market. By doing
this I was speaking to a large demographic
of people that my competitors did not
have access to. I was using a brand-new
advertising medium to my advantage and
was doing it successfully. I was on the cutting
edge of advertising and it propelled
my company forward at a remarkable rate.
Ceramic Coatings: Coatings are everywhere
today, but 10 years ago they were
not. In fact, back then they were a newly
introduced product to the detailing market.
Coatings were offered at a high margin
and were a huge addition to my service
menu. It took some time to introduce and
explain how they worked to my customer
base, but once I did, I was able to sell a lot
by being one of the only detailers in the
area offering coatings.
The next marketing or detailing trend
is out there on the horizon. If you can be
someone to identify one of the many possibilities
early on, and be one of the first to
use it, there is a lot of potential for profit
and growth. No one can see the future, but
if you do your research and continue to
push the boundaries of the detailing industry,
your business will grow faster than
you could imagine. Just be sure to ask a lot
of questions and practice how to explain
any new techniques or offerings to your
customers.
You can use the reminders of the past
to dictate how you will operate in the future.
In 10 years will you look back at
what you were doing in 2022 and think,
wow I have come a long way from there?
I hope so.
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.
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