Boat detailing is more than a janitorial service and potentially more lucrative than a similar automotive service. You have to know boats and "boat people" as well. You'll need to understand care for and clean marine finishes, fabrics and brightwork (which is not brass or polished metal, but unpainted woodwork). If you live near the water, you might be surrounded by marinas and boaters. Boaters are talkative; your work will speak for itself. Good work may be the only advertising you will ever need.
Instructions
Start a Business in Marine Boat Detailing
1. Educate yourself. Learn everything you can about boats. If you have never been on a boat, then go boating with friends as often as possible and ask every question that comes to mind about their boat and how things on it work. Read books about boating and subscribe to magazines devoted to boating. Pay attention to advertisements for boat detailing; these ads can give you ideas for services to be provided. Learn what cleaning and supplies and equipment are specifically for boats and learn all you can about them.
2. Find out who your competitors are and if there is another boat-detailing business in the area; and, if so, ask local boaters how much they charge and what services they provide. Knowing what services your competition provides may mean there is a specific niche for your business: if no one cleans engine rooms or engine compartments, then engine rooms may become your bread and butter. Ask about their reputation; if they won't polish brightwork, be sure to emphasize good for unpainted teak trim in your business dealings.
3. Find out who and where your potential customers are. Have some business cards printed. Talk to marina operators and let them know you are considering opening a boat-detailing business locally. Then ask where the local boaters go to have their boats detailed. Give the marina manager a business card. Let your friends who own boats know what you're doing and ask them to spread the word among their fellow boaters.
4. If you have special skills such as woodworking, sewing or doing upholstery repair and replacement, be sure that local boaters know this. These skills may represent "extra services" or they may become a mainstay of your business.
5. Start small, as a sole proprietorship. One person with a mop, broom, deck squeegee and cleaning supplies can clean a boat; the corporate office can come later. Offer to do one boat in each marina in your area for free. This builds good will and, if your work is good, word of mouth will bring more customers.
Tags: local boaters, your business, about their, Boat Detailing, boat-detailing business