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DETAIL DOCTOR Don't Stop Believin' Why it’s important to keep forging ahead with your business Bud Abraham is Founder and President Emeritus of DETAIL PLUS Car Appearance Systems, with more than 40 years of experience in the car care industry as a manufacturer, operator, distributor and consultant. He writes articles and gives seminars on the subject of auto detailing throughout the automotive industry. He can be reached at buda@detailplus.com. By Bud Abraham, The Detail Doctor buda1940@outlook.com “Lessons learned today will build tomorrow’s business success.” You have probably heard it said that there’s no substitute for hard-won experience when it comes to running a business, but there can be a temptation to start to rely solely on what little experience you do have and to stop looking for new ideas, education and viewpoints. At this point, stagnation can set in, and that is when competition can gain an advantage. This is especially true in a field like detailing , where business owners are technicians, and they don’t have much business experience. Plus, evolving technology, societal behaviors and customer expectations are changing all the time. Owners who aren’t willing to adjust their mindsets and put in the time and effort necessary to learn new business and even detail skills could find themselves at a HUGE disadvantage. THE STATUS QUO STAGNATION There’s an old saying by Henry Ford: If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’re always going to get what you’ve always got. The cost of this unwillingness to change can be fatal to your bottom line and your business’s reputation. If you’re not growing, if you’re not advancing, if you’re not looking at new technologies, if you’re not paying attention to your market, and paying attention to trends, you will be out of business. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but you’re not going to have a business that is salable into the future. There is an arrogance in thinking that past experiences will predict future results and holding onto that mindset will prevent both you and your business from reaching its full potential. If someone says they’ve seen it all, their mind is now closed. They haven’t seen it all — they’ve only seen what they’ve seen. It is really sad when to meet up detail business owners in their 40s and 50s that are still the person who is opening the shop, filling squeeze and spray bottles, prepping in the wet bay. These owners have no exit strategy. Frankly, they don’t have a business. They have a job. But, if they are developing themselves professionally, they’re building a business that has value. It’s generating a profit, but at the same time, it’s becoming a salable business. You need to keep growing, both personally and professionally, and you need to be learning new things. The world is changing so fast, and the technology that we have at our fingertips can reduce the hours of time you spend on mundane things. That is time you could spend learning something new or spending time with your family. THE SIGNS OF STAGNATION Anger: There are red flags that will tell you when you need to adopt a more flexible and educational mindset. One is a bad temper. When you have a short fuse, it’s because you’re lacking something. You get embarrassed because you don’t have an answer to whatever you’re trying to figure out or someone is asking you. No one likes to be put on put the spot and nor have the answer. Recognizing this tendency is the key to overcoming it. When you don’t have an answer, when you don’t know something, go figure it out. Go learn it. You can get 18 | AUTO DETAILING NEWS | VOL. 8, NO. 3 • FALL 2023
stuck in that rut, where you think you don’t have time, but you can make time. Profit Loss: It might be kind of obvious, but it is worth noting that another good sign you should look out for in terms of growth can show up in the books. If your detail business is not making any money, something is wrong, Also, do you have a high turnover of employees? Is there a management problem? Virtually everybody today has some point-of-sale system, and if you are not gaining new customers each month, there’s a problem. But, ultimately, it all boils down to the monthly profit and loss (P&L) report: If you don’t have a profit, there’s a problem, so you work backwards to see where that problem is. Is it a revenue problem? Is it an expense problem? The P&L is the ultimate report for any business. FINDING KNOWLEDGE BY KNOWING WHERE TO LOOK So, if you recognize the need to bolster your skills, where do you go? The first place I would recommend is the International Detailing Association (IDA) and any other peer group is a key area to gain educational opportunities and learn from other professional detailers in the field. While membership in the IDA is growing by leaps and bounds, I don’t think that detail business owners are taking full advantage of such an excellent association. It is amazing the number of detailers who pay their dues but have not participated in the association. Sure, you’re writing a check because you feel like you’re supporting the industry, but with all of the services, tools, and training available to you it is a shame detail business owners don’t take advantage of them, not to mention the opportunity to network with the best detailers in the world. There is a great deal of information available to IDA members for free. Maybe you don’t know how to access it. This is information that could allow you to a make positive change in the way you run your business. It is out there for the taking. Go to the websites of all the different industry publications and read the articles that are archived. Visit the new forum: Prodetailerforum.com and ask questions or get into discussions with other detailing professionals. Also, look into attending some of the upcoming conferences or conventions. There are lots that are dedicated just to detailers. Industry has come such a long way. You will also find a number of local organizations that would be a great benefit. This enables you to access a network of other detail business owners who have most likely already gone through what you are going through or about to go through. And there are resources like business books. For example, I would encourage anyone to read, “The Great Game of Business” by Jack Stack. Another great book is, ‘Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business,” by Gino Wickman. Traction is a heavy book, but it is — start to finish, nuts and bolts — how you run and build a business. It’s kind of the new version of ‘E-Myth’ that was written 30 years ago by Michael Gerber. It’s E-Myth on steroids. If you have not read the “E-Myth” it is critical reading for all detailers, young and old. If you are in need of basic bookkeeping or administration, I would certainly look at a community college in your area. I am a huge proponent of going back to school to learn. When you were in high school or college you may not have been able to learn and absorb content, but only focused on passing tests. Going back now you will learn, I guarantee it. POWER IN NUMBERS There is no substitute for the support you can get networking with other detail business owners through the IDA, local groups, on your own or online or no matter where you find it. If you are able to put together such a group you should view a peer-to-peer group as your unofficial board of directors, and you will find that the members within a bureau or group will eventually become great friends. They can be a phenomenal resource. They become a sounding board for ideas, best practices, and you can all work with each other to solve issues. You will find such connections invaluable. Going it alone in today’s business climate is not the best way forward. If as a business owner, you are not using a peer-to-peer group, you are really on an island out there, and not evolving or hearing out other ways people are running their business. And that is a formula for lack of growth and not a good recipe for long-term success. GOING OUTSIDE THE DETAILING INDUSTRY While there are plenty of detail industry-specific tools available to you, I urge you to look outside the detail industry, because you never know where great ideas can come from. Join the chamber of commerce in your local neighborhood. Detailers don’t take advantage of this because they think, “I’m just a detailer, most members have the more common brick and mortar businesses — like hair salons, restaurants, appliance stores, hardware stores, and such. But you can learn something for your detail business from other business owners. A marketing strategy that worked for a hair salon might work for your detail business too. Resources from organizations such as the Small Business Administration (SBA) or the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) can also be great places for information. Even if you walk away from a 20-minute conversation with one thought or idea that might help you tomorrow, it was worth the 20 minutes you spent listening to them. Besides gaining knowledge, you might gain some loyal customers who would want to support you and vice versa. Small business owners support other small business owners. They know what it is like to put your finances, your time, your talent and your reputation on the line. Find networking events, go have fun, and meet people. As a detail business owner, you might think you have nothing to offer — you might think, “What am I going to talk about, detailing a vehicle?” But you do. You’re running a business. Talk about your last successful marketing plan or your last great human-resource onboarding idea that you came up with. You’re not just a detailer. You’re a business owner. TAKE A BREATH AND THEN BEGIN When business owners open their minds to new ideas, knowledge and possibilities, there can be a frightening moment when they realize just how large a torrent of information there is for the taking. When you get overwhelmed, just take a step or two back. Regain your footing and try again. When too much is going on, it can make a person freeze when they don’t know what the next move is. So, look at the changes coming down the line, and then just break them down into tiny pieces. Sit down and ask what’s the difference between a new idea and what you have been doing? What do you have to know in order to make this idea work? What’s the benefit of doing it? Will it save time? Increase productivity? Can I do it without this new idea? Go through all the steps. This examination method works for any part of your business. Whether it’s figuring out a marketing program, hiring a new employee or getting a new computer program, whatever you’re trying to figure out, look at the big picture and ask, “What are the 10 steps that can get me there?” Sometimes, it might have to be 20 steps if it’s a much bigger project. But if you look at all of the projects we all have to complete every day, life can look overwhelming. If you break any project into small chunks, I truly think that you can accomplish way more than you set out to do. No matter what avenue is taken, or information is found useful, you must continually move forward, you can’t rest on “the way it’s always been done.” And you cannot sit back and wait for things to happen, you will get run over. If there was any huge lesson that can be learned from COVID-19 over the past three years+, it was that those who reacted quickly have thrived coming out of this. Those (businesses) waiting for things to happen are no longer with us. As always, if you need my help, please feel free to reach out to me at buda1940@ outlook.com. VOL. 8, NO.3 • FALL 2023 | AUTO DETAILING NEWS | 19
Page 2 and 3: CLEARLY UNBREAKABLE DIAMOND PLATE®
Page 4 and 5: Introducing … the winner of the P
Page 6: Joseph Zeidler of Precision Auto De
Page 9 and 10: BIRTH IN THE BACKSEAT The Detailer
Page 11 and 12: INDUSTRY NEWS All the news and dirt
Page 13 and 14: Three Turtle Wax studios open up ov
Page 15 and 16: Are your employees ‘cool’ accor
Page 17: SEMA BOOTHS 12517 & 37055 GEARED DU
Page 22 and 23: IDA CORNER Introducing the IDA Memb
Page 24 and 25: MEETING OF THE MINDS Where is the i
Page 26 and 27: tings and to have it on your back p
Page 28: THE DETAILING SUPPLIES YOU NEED DET

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