Illustration for Leaving a 30%-per-Car Detailing Job to Go Solo

A detailer at a mobile company laid it out in a detailing forum this month (community discussion): 30% a car, 4 to 5 cars on 10- to 12-hour days, an unpredictable schedule, and one earlier try at running their own business that stalled for lack of steady customers. They were weighing a cheap start from a family car against saving for a used built-out van. One reply from a business owner said to save at least six months of expenses first. Another replied that as an owner they wouldn’t get much more than that 30%, and would have more headaches. Here’s how the numbers actually compare.

The weekly math

We use one ticket for every row: $149, one detailer’s posted base interior-and-exterior package. We assume 15 cars a week for the employee (the forum poster’s 4 to 5 cars a day, over a few days). Solo costs per car are a 2.6% plus 15-cent card fee, a $5 product placeholder, and a 20-mile round trip at the IRS business mileage rate of 76 cents, used here as a stand-in for vehicle cost. Insurance is the $54 a month an insurance marketplace reports detailers pay on average for general liability, about $12.46 a week.

Scenario Cars a week Gross Costs Net a week
Employee, 30% per car 15 $670.50 Paid by the employer $670.50
Solo, slow week 3 $447 $85 $362
Solo, break-even with the job 6 $894 $158 $736
Solo, steady 10 $1,490 $255 $1,235

All numbers are our arithmetic from the sources below, before income taxes. How we research: methodology.

Two things the table hides. The employee row carries no costs of its own, while a solo detailer pays for the van, products and marketing. And a solo detailer also handles their own taxes and time off; ask a tax professional what that means for you. Our real hourly rate guide shows how to run these deductions on your own jobs.

The slow week is the real number

The employee row is steady only as long as the employer has work. The solo rows depend on you. Three cars in a week nets about $362, roughly half the commission job. The forum detailer’s first business ended for exactly that reason. Before you quit, find out what your worst realistic month looks like.

Two ways to start

Start small. Our startup cost guide prices a rinseless starter setup at about $565, with no water tank, along with fuller kits. In the thread, one owner warned against water bladders, saying they’re hard to fill and empty, leak, and can burst in freezing weather.

Buy a used rig. The forum detailer had seen built-out vans listed for about $7,000 to $11,000. Price the van and the gear separately before you pay; our guide to valuing a used detailing rig shows how.

Either way, choose the rig for the jobs you’ll take. See trunk, van or trailer.

Before you hand in notice

Our checklist, built from the math above:

  1. Booked work. A few weeks of jobs on the calendar, and some repeat clients.
  2. Savings. Months of living and business costs, enough to ride out slow weeks. The owner in the thread said six months at minimum.
  3. Your agreement. If you signed anything about competing or soliciting customers, read it, and check your state’s rules; the Illinois Freedom to Work Act, linked in Sources, is one example of such a law.
  4. Licenses and insurance. The SBA says license requirements vary by activity and location. Get insurance quoted before the first job.
  5. Prices. Set them from your costs, not the old employer’s menu. Our guide to setting a menu covers it.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice.

Sources

Based on 7 sources · How we price