How to Start $240K/Year Car Upholstery Business
do you want to start a business in the automotive industry mobile car upholstery repair can be a great way to do that and you don't have to be a car expert to bring in high revenue with strong margins today i'm talking to hadrian who started his mobile car upholstery repair business hides on wheels back in 2013. he's going to share with us how he did it including how he built his first customer base the tools he used to get started and his top strategies for growing revenue when you get started it's easier to go after a car dealership for example my second year i made 68 000 dollars that's crazy i like that here i'm using some of this filler that i'm gonna spread on the leather it gives it a new fresh texture on it it's actually a very very comprehensive app that you can use from upholstery work to a mobile mechanic repair big thanks to keeps for sponsoring this video well adrian tell us a little bit why you started the hides on wheels and when and what did you do before this business so i started back in january 2013 i was working as a mechanic in bellingham for a local shop there for like three years before that and my dad was in this business in upholstery prepare business before and he needed help okay and i want that route [Music] where was your revenue in 21 and what are you projected to be for 22. so my gross revenue was 184 000 for 2021. i'm bad this year i'm on track to do 240 000 240 all right he's got some impressive profit margins so we'll share that with you guys later on in the video tell us what services hides on wheels offers i mean break it down for us what do you offer to dealers and other customers mainly what we offer is on-site vinyl leather and cloth repair we prepare anything from ribs stairs cigarette buttons dyeing the faded collars and those are the on-site services that they offer okay what else do you do offsite if that's an option off-site we do reupholstery services where we replace damaged panels in a seat or headliner replacement or if we have to replace the carpet we do that off-site what do you do most of uh adrian like 90 of your work or 80 of the work so 90 of my work is on-site at dealerships or customers residents or place of work or whatever we can meet up to get repair done awesome and you'll show us kind of the process and how you inspect cars and so on right yes just a little bit later so keep watching you guys [Music] is it just you right now or how many employees do you have working with you for you so it's me on the mobile side and then i have my aunt who's part-time employee of mine that works at home sewing the leather pieces back into the seats and vinyl seats and all that so if you were to hire someone additional for that what's the pay like is it per hour like 20 30 bucks or nothing different nothing unique about it or the way i set up for her it's piece work but it averages out about 25 to 30 dollars an hour so now do you need any kind of prior automotive experience to do a good job as a mobile car upholstery repair guy no you can learn this quite easily especially the party title which is the mobius and in the vehicle because you only need to sew and repair small repairs and then you can branch off and learn how to replace panels and do more extensive work later and we're here in mount vernon burlington one of the many dealerships right that you work with yes how far between canada and i don't know portland do you go at this point in time so i live in watson county and i travel down to brenton mostly like seattle and renton is kind of the farthest i go to that's quite a bit of commuting right yes yes that's what i drive about 250 miles a day so [Music] what's the difference in chasing one customer versus another or building those relationships like especially for somebody getting started when you get started it's easier to go after a car dealership for example because you have more work in one place right but you're new so they're gonna be like you're new you don't know what you're doing how do you get past that barrier you just have to keep knocking on those that's how i started so a little bit backtracking so i worked with my dad for about a year and a half and then i split on my own and that was november 2014 when i split on my own and i made 720 my first month wow it's not bad for getting started so yes but it's also scary because i only had one account right and i drive about 200 miles to make 45 dollars in one day so but from there my second year i made 68 000 what changed from first to second just the number of accounts or well i kept knocking on doors i went inside talked to the managers god told no i have somebody for 20 years somebody was like hey yeah just go try that one cut out see how you do it and that's how i started well why don't we go scout some cars that you will work on today so i mean there's a ton here some of them are closed some of them are open right yeah so i usually try to look inside and see if there is damage most of the damage usually is on the driver's seat because it gets used the most point so i look through the window and try to see if it's open uh if i see anything i will get the keys and open it up and look for more stuff in there so i approve of this one i don't think there's any damage yeah it looks really good actually i see a little scratch there let's let's tell the dealer how much 75 bucks yes are you experiencing hair loss two out of three men experience hair loss by the time they're 35 and we're here to tell you that hair loss can be treated and even prevented with keeps we're giving away a three-month treatment package to this random guy i'm sure he's gonna be happy christmas came early here you go son use this we'll come back to check on you keeps is clinically proven doctor recommended hair care subscription that gets delivered straight to your door save your time money and your hair keeps save you from having to go to the doctor visits and also with keeps you only pay half the cost of a traditional pharmacy be sure to check back in future videos to check on this guy's progress how did you know hair loss stops with keeps to get 50 off your first order go to keeps.com forward slash up flip or click the link in the description below that's k-e-e-p-s dot com slash up flip what was the whole point of this thing anyway [Music] you've got a pretty cool looking website thank you who built it who manages it any tips that you want to share there as well as we're scouting so i had a guy by name riley potashkin with rocket strasser dallas texas building for me so here we have a cigarette there yeah and it smells like cigarettes yeah so on this one i would recommend preparing that and adding um other illuminators yeah there's something about that smell once you've smoked inside and then you clean the car it almost to me is even a worse smell it's like that dirty cigarette smell clean yeah yeah can't stand it all right so you're gonna take a note of that yeah so i usually write down like the v number and the stock number and say cigarette burn and into authorizer do they sometimes say no yes they do or often times or depends on how much money they have into the vehicle i say if they have to do a lot of repairs depends on their profit margins and also if it's an aid unit or if it is going to go back to the option or something like that so and i interrupted you guys we're scouting as far as the website what do you want to mention in terms of the website what can i do as a customer uh on your website as a tool so on my website you can see the work i've done but also you can take action meaning that you can upload photos of the damage on your vehicle or on your boat or whatever and send them to me and that way i can give you an estimate right away i usually text people back or call them right away and work up a plan of what they want to do so all right [Music] let's fly through blitz um best part of being an entrepreneur working for yourself you get to set your own schedule nice what would be your strength as an employee if he were to be an employee i stay until the work is done i love it what's a good day here dollar wise what's a bad day for you on average bad day three hundred dollars for none a good day to above a thousand dollars nice and then now at this stage of success what advice would you give yourself your younger version wake up early and last one what's the biggest purchase you've ever made besides a house and real estate it's my truck you're trying yes about 55 000 a worthy investment though yes it is now let's talk about managing scheduling jobs getting paid from a to z what do you have in place to make sure that that is done well when it comes to wholesale dealer lots like here like like this yeah i usually am set to come on certain day at each one of my accounts like i see said theorem on thursday i have another leadership i'm there on every wednesday so that's kind of part of the scheduling as far as invoicing and payments i do a mix now between handwriting invoices and still hand and an app-based uh program with mobiletechrx that i just started gotcha how long have you been using it what about what is it done now and it's actually a very very comprehensive app that you can use from upholstery work to a mobile mechanic repair to paint repair to anything that any mobile technician can use we'll have to check it out yes as far as payment i do take credit card but from dealerships they do a net 30 or a net 45 actually so you have if you start out uh you have to wait about 30 40 to 45 days to get paid plan on that right if you didn't work it's about 30 to 45 days before you get paid for your work yes now smaller dealerships they pay you up front when your work is complete they write you a check but bigger dealerships they do a net study or net 45 all right [Music] in terms of supplies anything worth mentioning there in terms of the best place to get them the best pricing what have you learned over the last nine years what can you suggest to our viewers so most of my supplies i get from it's called superior restoration products out of sacramento california and they make all the vinyl and leather repair kits that i use or like cigarette burn repair kits and then as far as actual leather or vinyl right i get my stuff from kingston bros which is a nationwide supplier that's my main one that i use so you can go buy a half a hide or vinyl by the yard and then you can do the repairs like that any tips tricks for our viewers in terms of supplies in general like buy bulk or buy a list i'm trying to get some golden nuggets out of it as much as i want all right so as far as that i buy specific per job so i don't buy a lot of bulk stuff the only thing that i buy bulk by the gallon is to paint because it comes down to be very very cheap compared if you buy it but it's a small 16 ounce all right that makes sense yeah so here i do a little bit of a clean up prep work this is just household degreaser with this i try to help it out to dry out faster as you're working on it i just wanted to ask any other software or apps that you use to manage your daily workflow that really helps you got the website you got the phone but is anything else worth mentioning i run my business mostly off the phone so now i use the mobile tech rx and that actually has integration where you can do estimates schedule all your work on that and then i do a lot of text messaging emails uh back and forth with customers okay and then as far as accounting part i use quickbooks for my bookkeeping and then i have an account that does my taxes there will be an over here so get on it okay well on that note you guys in terms of managing your workflow and everything check out our podcast because we interviewed the founder and owner of zipity it's a software service that small mobile businesses use really not small but anyway so check out our podcast upflip.com forward slash podcast let's keep going [Music] all right what about this beamer i like the beamer i just want to come up to it because it looks pretty slick i'll do this one yeah see if there's any damage in here oh it's open okay so usually i look on the bolsters from going in and out right this one looks really good the steering wheel looks good sometimes you get scratches from fingernails or rings and stuff i wouldn't want to be that steering wheel so the damage is uh where asian on the side bolster on the driver's seat drivers okay oh it's down here gotcha okay so that's pretty bad actually so we're gonna work on this and uh see if we can get rid of all that so let me hop in and move the car being assistance to you today well thank you [Music] what comes to mind when i ask you about exceptional customer experience like what is that for you how do you create that for all your customers and clients i kind of pride myself into answering the phones right away or reply with a text message or however they choose to communicate with me and then making myself available to them by meeting them somewhere or trying to take care of their problem right away so that makes sense [Music] in terms of working with dealers like this or individual customers adrian anything else you want to mention pros cons things that you've learned when it comes to dealerships the advantage you have is having concentrated work so one stop for a lot of vehicles you can crank out 10 cars in one dealership that makes sense but for piece you charge less you make less on the vehicle at a dealership per unit because of volume right still makes up for it doesn't it well it does that's how i started and that's what's been driving my business for the last nine years so and now i'm trying to shift more towards private customers because revenue per customer is higher i think but you have to keep in mind your drive time between customers so you have to like kind of fade it from a wholesale job to a private job to where you can schedule a full day in a certain small tight area so we jump into this uh quick project here tell us what your profit margins are just on average because we mentioned it earlier in the video being self-employed it's hard to figure out your actual time if you want to count that so without counting time i am about 80 say that again yes 20 expense and 80 is basically possibly take home before you count the time yes that's crazy i like that how do you grow revenue as a mobile upholstery repair guy you gotta be confident in your approach especially to like if you focus on dealerships then you go in there and you ask for the work and don't be scared for the rejection because you do get it a lot and then also don't be scared to seasonally up your prices so you can keep up with inflation everything else and the cost of materials yeah well said what do you expect for the future in terms of growing right pursuing different clientele do you use instagram facebook to generate more leads walk us through what you're thinking in the next year i don't use any any social media right now i'd like to start using like instagram videos or start my own youtube channel to where i showcase my work and try to generate leads that way why do you want to do that versus drive between canada and renton i mean what's the driver to save time to where i can spend more time at home so you want to stay close to the home and yeah more business locally correct and you think instagram youtube would be a great way to build and generate leads locally i think doing that would help me target local areas more than going to dealerships outside you know my county or my geographical right get your name out there locally sweeping know you as the trusted upholstery repair guy [Music] i would imagine there's a lot of people like you that do this in this industry or this area what makes you different would you say i stand out by showing up 100 of the time as much as i can if my customers especially the dealerships need me they call me i'm like i'll be there today on the latest tomorrow and that's that's huge yeah it seems like a pretty easy concept or simple concept but that yes one thing can make you stand out from other competitors yes yes he does if you're so busy how do you manage work-life balance right because that's super important i tend to like work very hard long hours and then i take also a lot of time off after that so if we plan as a family trip somewhere i work super hard until that counts and then i just completely shut down shut down and go on vacation or go do something so yeah i have a hard time shutting down as a real estate agent can you hear me where i go with my phones with me well i do answer text messages and calls sometimes from customers but i can schedule it when i come back right [Music] here i'm using some of this filler that i'm gonna spread on the leather to where it gives it a new fresh texture on it did you ever have a point where you just wanted to give up in this business i mean you've been it for quite a while already think back what was that how did you overcome it just curious so i did back in january 2015 i couldn't get enough customers so i was actually trying to go back and work in the shop as a technician or service advisor but i just kept going just kept going it just got you through just your wife's support well yes yeah my wife helped and also i can't say no and i can't give up until i have a hard no answer i can't give up on what i do usually so and what do you struggle with today would you say just as a business owner in general now it's just demand yes i'm so busy it's really really hard to keep up so i have very long days and a lot of people in my industry have the same problems that's a good problem to have so how are you going to match the paints breaking mercedes i look at the color and they try to match it and mix it my own [Music] what was the most challenging part getting started adrian mixing pain that was the hardest thing for me to do because you don't have a paint code for interior colors you don't no i didn't know that you either have to buy pre-mixed paint that that's for the vehicle which is way more expensive but the way i did which it's the easier way to start and cheaper is to mix around paint and that's what i've been doing how did you learn then when you when you first struggled with it what resources helped you there was actually no research just trial and error i mixed the paint and had to throw it away because i couldn't get the color right if you have to get like a tan or a gray you have to be careful with your mixing so it doesn't become purple or pink when it dries out so so your suggestion is just trial and error yeah there's no book that you open that tells you no specific amounts to mix oh correct that's where you become the true expert yes that's why i said even like if you're good at arts or painting or whatever it helps out with that so that was my hardest struggle so the seasonality of this business right every business varies substantially yes what's it like for you is it busy in the summers nothing in the winters or is it steady what can you tell us on that so there is a little bit of season to it um historically my november and decembers as far as revenue so as an example seems like i don't make over ten thousand dollars november and december however 2021 november was a odd month because i did 18 000. like i
doubled it and what do you think that was there was a huge demand on used cars and because of the shortage of new cars older cars get traded in so they have more damage they have to be repaired so they can sell them again so it makes sense and when it's slow for example like what would you do how do you shift your business when you're in the slow season of the year do you actually take advantage of it and take time off when it's slow as being that it's i'm self-employed i can do that so you will rebrand it as well let's touch on that real quick and why that's important what's your story why did you rebrand coming from a background of being a mechanic i named my business casket automotive services when i first started and it's confusing when it comes to upholstery yeah you said that now i'm like wow that's got nothing to do with upholstery correct so i'm trying to go towards retail more so i had to find a way to promote my business as an upholstery shop yeah perfect name right now yeah just missing a big logo on the truck yes that's coming soon so it's awesome [Music] so now you're mixing paint for the mercedes and you're doing it just by eye right you're not using code or that's crazy let's let's witness this miracle here to see how close he gets to that color cool well i can't wait to see how this thing turns out honestly i've never seen it i think i put a little bit too much yellow too much yellow okay too much yellow redo it's just the multitask part it's kind of hard you know you gotta answer all these questions black actually brings it towards a greenish gray color so you just have to add a little bit i'd love to ask our audience and give you guys a shout out please comment below tell us how you mix this because this is obviously something that works but i'm curious how you guys do it and how you keep your proportions right we'd love to hear your comments in the sections there a little bit too gray i actually have to start over and that's how i said that some colors are very difficult to to to grow most of the colors i use are white black and yellow and you can mix most of any colors that you want out of it and then of course you had i use like maroon and orange or brown or blue to like tweak them but yeah add a little bit of that yes but these are my most challenging tables so we were talking about supplies tell us what this is and why it's helpful so this is one of my suppliers out of california veteran company got it and with this i can get leathers and vinyls for all the european imports that's pretty cool so they make it pretty easy for you like for me to get started i just get this binder i know exactly what where correct so like this one is like if you want lamborghini ferrari leathers you can actually um and you can when it comes to leather you have to buy at least half a height so that's a little bit more spendy what would that cost uh usually a half height is about two hundred dollars uh my cost uh plus about fifty dollars in shipping so these are some generic uh napa grain leather or other and then here are the perforations that i can get right so you can match your vehicle so what's one piece of advice you would give our viewers who are considering getting into this industry this business since there is a lot of demand just try to get started either on your own superior restoration products they have different products you can use as far as videos and training stuff that you need and they are also one of the main suppliers for this or you can get training from other nationwide businesses like mine and work for them and then you can branch out from there so nice yeah if you guys are enjoying this video we would appreciate a like thank you guys so in conclusion what's next for your company where you see yourself a year to two to three from now so i'd like to have an appointment or somebody to train and that would ride with me so we can generate more work in a shorter period of time so you can get home early and so you can go on vacations and you can still do some jobs for you yes okay i think you've got somebody already don't you i saw a young gentleman this morning uh yeah so i have he's he's out there we could pan out he's like right there watching us right is that him he got him that's ian yeah so again he is going to work with me this summer he wants to make some side money it never hurts to start early so this is pretty cool i'm just watching some color what have you learned so far uh a painting yeah did you get the paint mixes down no he's done with that i painted i'm i'm too nervous to do that okay i forgot to mess it up especially that's mostly the repairs like i just did the so the prep work and the repairs and i come behind and i do so it's kind of like i'm trying to work a system that way yep where he does the repairs and then i come in and paint and then hopefully he can learn how to do the mixing also so makes sense adrian that looks really cool if i didn't know it was there i wouldn't know that you did the job so i think that's a job well done in the interview as well appreciate it i appreciate it too thank you well that's a wrap with hides on wheels i hope you guys really enjoyed it take a second to like subscribe and hit that bell so that you don't miss any of our videos and thank you for watching
2022-06-09 23:28
