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Welcome to Ghost Business 👻 Your weekly (mostly) Tuesday email, where we turn $1 into thousands building these weird but simple side hustles

The Worst Idea That Actually Works

No thanks… I would never do this idea I’m going to present to you. This doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea, it’s just not for me. But I see it EVERYWHERE.

But let’s get one thing perfectly clear. This will (and does) make money for a lot of people.

You’ve probably seen them pop up many times on your social media pages, but we’re going to break down step by step on exactly how to build it.

I’m talking a Car Detailing biz.

If you don’t know what it is, car detailing is deep cleaning a car inside and out. Prices range for the type of car, size of car, current condition and geographic location.

Personal car rentals (like Turo) are gaining a ton of traction. These are perfect examples of great customers that will keep a car detailing business busy. Just check out the search numbers 👇

So let’s see how much it would take to start this biz and how much we could make spit shinin’ automobiles 💦 

The MVP (Getting your first customer)

Unlock… I’ll start by saying what I always say to test your idea and get your very first few customers.

🚨 Go to Nextdoor and Facebook neighborhood groups and post your services.

But there’s a trick to this.

• 👎 DON’T post “Hey I got a biz, need my service?”

• 👍 DO post “Between grocery shopping, school pick ups, dinner with friends, and that dreaded 9 to 5, who has time to clean the car? I always say look good, feel good, play good, get paid good.

  So let’s start you out with looking good, GHOST BIZ DETAILING will send you a detailing quote in minutes so you can keep feeling good all day.

  p.s I’ll throw in an additional 15% off if you want a quote tonight, because I’m feeling good right now!!”

But here at Ghost Biz, I like to keep you on your toes!

Here’s an “ad” that someone posted on my car just today that would cost next to nothing.

They printed little flyers about business card size, and put them on the nicer car windows. They were simple; stated biz name, social handles, etc.

Probably cost $5 to print and cut them out.

Head over to a mall or Costco to find a treasure chest of parked cars to slap some flyers on and you’re bound to drum up some business.

After you land a customer, you’ll need to buy supplies (which I’ve outlined here).

TLDR; supplies can range from $50-$450 depending on what services you’ll be offering.

Getting Your Next 100 Customers

Full package… This is an industry I would “niche down”. Find a very specific customer or type of car you want to service. Target only people who shop at a high end mall you live next to or target a very specific type of car (like Mini Coopers or Teslas) and gear all your branding and messaging towards that car.

If you cast a net too wide, you’ll find that, yes, everyone has a car but no, not everyone is a customer.

But most importantly, narrowing your market will save you ad dollars targeting the right demographic.

Throw in an air freshener if they agree to leave a review and you’ll be well on your way to earning some serious cleaning cash.

Once you own your segment, you can start charging more for specialized services.

Remember, it’s much better to make $100 in profit for 1 car, than $10 in profit for 10 cars.

So let’s break down the numbers:

Income ranges for the type of detailing you do, here’s an average breakdown from Nextdoor:

• Interior: $150

• Exterior: $150

• Mobile car wash: $40

• Full car detail: $300

Let’s say you can land just 2 interior car washes a week. That’s over $1k/mo in your pocket!

Imagine what you can do with 10 a week??

Viability:

1 [building spaceships] 🚀 to 5 [easy peasy] 😊 

Opening doors… I love this business because it is very approachable as in it does not require many tools, hard skills or tons of upfront cash.

If you can do a good job consistently while asking for reviews and looking for new customers, this could easily turn into a full time gig.

(As usual each business will have it’s own setbacks, and it’s all about the execution and consistency rather than just having the idea)

It’s a great day to be great!

Love, Mike 👋 

p.s If you love side hustles, I bet you have friends that love em too. So don’t be stingy, share Ghost Business with them by pressing the below button!