more than just a
detailing business

In January 2019, Minh Tran and Ryan Lam started a car detailing business. Tran got the idea of starting the business after he got laid off from his job at HighFive and wanted a way to make money on the side. Since he has created other small businesses like IT consulting, Billiards Coach and desktop building, he thought why not give this a try.

Tran: “I thought to myself well I was know in the car world for racing but also for how clean my car was everybody asked me would you do my car how do I do it and then I am like it's easy just learn online but people are asking me because they want me to do it … I asked my best friend hey do you want to try this out this would help me a lot if I could borrow two thousand dollars I’ll pay you back and can I use your garage.”

When Tran was working as an IT consultant for his best friend's body shop they upgraded his first race car a white Miata. They made the car look brand new and he wanted to upkeep the car. He learned how to detail cars from watching YouTube videos. Since he wasn’t racing as much it was a way to still be around cars.

Tran: “I wanted to do something that I loved and I wanted to do something that still kept me in that car network since I don't race as much anymore”

With the help of a close childhood friend and the support of other friends, the business took off. His friends let him detail their cars and they would refer him to others. 

Tran: “It's really fun from start to finish until today. I think the funs and the challenges change over time. It was really fun because … just seeing how many people want to support me and then getting to work with these cool cars …. What I love most about it is the connections and the opportunity to educate people about car detailing.”

Even though Ryan was more of a financial provider to get the business started and isn’t involved in the day-to-day running of the buisness, he still helps out where he can.

Tran: “Ryan Helps out with … getting the stations prepped …. He’ll make sure that we are stocked on everything we need for that car … and then break down when we are done with the detail service. Sometimes he’ll do the clean up and break down and if he is available he will do some of the detailing on the interior.”

Some services that are provided are two bucket method car washes, ceramic coat, paint correction and rims. They even do carpet shampoo cleaning but most clients only care about the outside.

Tran: “We provide anything from a regular car wash a little bit different from other car washes we use something called a two-bucket method. It’s basically minimizes the amount of scratching you put on a car …. We do basically professional-level car wash … on the detailing side, we specialize in ceramic coat and paint correction …. The paint correction portion is … if you have scratches or little scratches on your paint we remove off those scratches a lot of the time people wax their cars and the scratches go away. The wax is temporary it's kinda like a filler for the scratches and the paint …. Paint correction is when we actually level out the paint … so it is permanent and then after that we ceramic coat it so that it's protected”

Since this is a side business and based on availability Tran only does one to three cars a month. Car detailing is also very physically demanding on one's back. After being in business for five years they are more successful than they imagined.

Car detailing can be expensive but for those who love their cars and want to keep them clean are willing to pay three thousand to five thousand dollars. This might be a lot of money but Tran spends 100 or more hours on a car and the hourly price is quite reasonable.  

Tran: “They love it. I love talking about it honestly and I love showing people. when I see someone with a nice car I would always tell them … the reaction to is just so nice like dang you did that … I just love people's reaction they get more interest.”

Even though Tran loves what he does, he has a plan to transition his business into a software that helps other detailers manage and make their businesses successful.  

Tran: “I want to pivot and it's not something I want to stick to long term, especially as I get older because it's really physically demanding. I want to transition and pivot this business to a software. Where I am creating a software that helps all the detail shops out there manage their business.”

With all their success from past businesses they plan to share their experiences and methods to help others businesses improve themselves.

For the Warrior Times this is Jessica Brasil.