What type of market research do you do to see if there are enough clients in a specific area to sustain your detailing business? I'm looking at a an area of the city with new developments. A suburban area with many townhomes and singles. I assume owners are younger, single/newly weds, young kids, etc. I'm wondering whether this demographic has enough disposable income or would they just wash their own cars in the driveway. I guess this brings up another questions. What is the best demographic to cater to as a detailer? cheers,
Prospects for Success Auto detailing presents vast opportunities for motivated individuals. It is an industry in its infancy. Only about 20 percent of the population knows what auto detailing is, and less than 15 percent have purchased detailing services. Yet, auto detailing is a huge industry. The biggest challenge for the industry is educating the public. As the number of detail shops continues to grow, the public slowly is becoming aware of the service. The average price of a new car is over $20,000. That level of investment warrants maintaining the resale value by maintaining and protecting the vehicles exterior and interior. People are keeping their cars an average of nearly nine years. During this time, they need more services than washing, waxing, and vacuuming the inside i.e. specialist services such as Paintless dent repair (PDR) carpet dyeing, paint surface renovation, leather dying and repair, etc Marketing Marketing can mean direct-mail advertising, e-mail marketing, traditional media like print and radio ads, couponing, and non-traditional approaches like websites, blogs and social networking through the Internet. The most successful form of marketing is ‘word of mouth’ referrals and repeat clients You must understand that auto detailing is a niche market. It is not easy to define exactly who the target market is One marketing sector- people will be of above average incomes that truly care about the appearance of their cars (perhaps to project their professional image) or automotive enthusiasts with more money than time and are willing and able to pay a premium for a detailing service. Quality and outstanding customer service creates its own demand SWOT Analysis Everyone’s heard of SWOT analysis, haven’t they? You need to read, learn and know more about your competitors, your customers and your marketplace than anyone else. SWOT analysis is a great place to start. Get a blank piece of paper and list the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats for your business and those of your nearest competitors. SWOT analysis – as old as the hills but still effective – it will make you think about your business from a new angle and should ideally be repeated once a year at least. If you live in an area where there are people with prestige cars and high disposable incomes, the sky is the limit. Customers in this type of niche market will have their vehicles detailed on a fairly regular basis, especially during the concourse show season. Building long lasting customer relationships should be your main goal, ideally you want to establish a customer base that uses you not only for the major concourse details, but also for maintaining their vehicles on a weekly to monthly basis.
It sounds like it wouldn't be the best area (although not the worst), but I think a lot of it depends on looking at the market value of the houses around the area.
I would market an area direct opposite to what your describing. I would go for a more established area where the homeowners are in the 45-62 year old range. They will have alot more disposable income then someone in there 20's with a house/car note they really can't afford :cig: You can also do a search of zip codes to see how many bankruptcys have accurd in the past 30/60/90/120/ days :gasp:
