Matt Rabbit has turned a backyard business into a success story. Years
ago, Rabbit was a construction worker who wasn't getting enough work. He started
detailing cars on the weekends to make extra money. "I was cleaning friends'
and parents' cars, then friends of friends and friends of parents. It just
went crazy," remembers Rabbit.
Pretty soon Rabbit was passing up construction jobs so he could detail
cars. Finally, he gave up construction altogether and opened his own shop.
"It's an easy job," he explains. "The summertime is great. The radio's going.
The sun's out. You get a nice tan. Every day is a different car, so it doesn't
feel like you're in the same car."
Rabbit employs two people full time and one person part time. His shop
has two service bays, three buffers, a vacuum, a power washer and a good supply
of specialty cleaning products.
Rabbit also buys and sells used cars and runs a pawnshop. "I used to do
dealer accounts," says Rabbit. "Now I buy my own cars, clean them up myself
and get two times what I paid for them."
Rabbit says when he started buying cars, people would bring him other things
to sell too. "Gold, computers, stereos," he says. "Finally, I thought, why
not open a pawnshop?"
Rabbit is glad he diversified. Since he opened, 11 other detailing shops
have opened within miles of his. The attraction is a neighboring auction yard.
"Everyone one around here is focused on the auction," says Rabbit. "I'm focused
on my own things."
His businesses complement each other. Rabbit says people can look in the
pawnshop while they wait for their cars. Employees can work all year -- even
during the slow winter months when auto detailing all but dies. "I put money
aside," says Rabbit. Saving during the busy season is the only way to keep
the lights on during the winter.
Auto detailer Desire Bedor says the slow winters are the reason she resists
going into business for herself. "Our winters are atrocious," she says. "In
our area it's impossible in the winter, but out in California I bet it's easy."
Bedor works in Amherst, Massachusetts. Her interest in detail work started
in her father's restoration shop. "When I was little, I used to shine all
his chrome," she remembers.
Since then, she's always worked on and around cars. "I love cars. A shiny
car is the ultimate. It's awesome. People love cars. Even people who aren't
into cars see a shiny one and they look."
Most of Bedor's work involves cleaning new cars for the sales lot and reconditioning
trade-ins. On weekends, she's free to use the shop to detail all the cars
she wants. "I get $200 for a car," she says. "It takes me four hours. That's
good money."
It's good money now, but years ago Bedor says she was detailing cars that
took her all day to clean for $5. She says auto detailers have to build their
reputation before they can start making a lot of money. "You pay your dues,"
she explains.
Rabbit says auto detailers can pocket a fair amount of cash. But he worries
that the golden days of auto detailing are over -- too much competition is
driving down prices. "Everyone and their brother who has a garage is doing
it," he says. "I've been here a long time and I have my steady customers.
But for a guy coming in to it today, it's a big mess."
Bedor is more optimistic. She says as long as there are cars,
there will always be auto detailers. "You really have to have a love of cars.
You really have to be a perfectionist and you have to be patient. Really patient."