I guess an honest answer is considered negative in some eyes.

I don't think anyone has come back to prove me totally wrong on any of my "your car will never sell for that price" posts. So until someone proves I am totally of base, I will remain true to form.

Long live premium wax products.

Scot

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Nin009
[B]

Scot-
No worries, most of your posts are negative anyway.

 

A good online service to model your CRM with is Crutchfield. Although many audiophiles have negative comments about Crutchfield, I find their service offering to outweigh their product offering for the laymen home AV, and car audio enthusiast.

I love how the website walks you through the order, recommends competitive products, reviews both the positive and NEGATIVES of the products they sell....and then if you get truly stuck, you can call into their 1-800 number. Once you purchase the products, the customer service doesn't stop there....they give you detailed Crutchfield instruction, give you all the extra supplies, and give you a 16-hour support number in case you get stuck during your install at 10 o'clock at night!

If you can provide service like that, and possibly market using a published catalog that you send to your target market, I think you can come away successfully on this idea.

I know for sure that if you can copy the service that Crutchfield offers, I know I will buy from you (seeing that you can offer the products I use), and will recommend others to you as well.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Scot
[B]I have an accounting degree from a shitty state school (call me an idiot).

My post was more negative than positive I guess, but I do know how to work some simple math.

 

i wish you luck. i'm sure i'm within (one of) your demographics, probably crazy car nut. but i just don't see enough of me to satisfy your business, especially a brick and mortar.

it's an odd situation with car care, the people that will pay high dollar for premium car care stuff generally will not detail their own cars so they take it to a detailing service--and don't really care what the detailer actually uses.

the people that do wash their own cars will not pay a lot of money for detailing products.

those two classes of people take out a large number of customers. so you're really selling to a niche of people.

again i hope you do well, it's not impossible. i mean the guy i buy my zaino from does ok, but he also has a detailing service on the side, has no B&M space and works by himself (and sometimes his wife answers the phone).
the biggest drain on your finances will be the physical store presence, i don't know if you'll generate enough sales to offset rent.


but if you love what you do "successful" can have a lot of different meanings.

 

Thanks Luder94. This is the type of input I need to see. I don't expect my prices will smoke the competition, but they will certainly be competitive. I hope to keep customers with a well-trained staff and exceptional service. I will need to listen to customers and anticipate their wants and needs.

mgaing7
You have a good point, but when you break down the car groups and the owners they are made up of, it doesn't seem that bad. For example, Corvette/Porsche owners tend to have a bit of disposable income and enough pride in ownership that they prefer to do much of the work themselves. The S2k owner group is another good example.

On the other hand, the cars I see most frequently at the corner "Water Works" are moms in their SUVs.

I fully expect that the first couple of years will be pretty tight. Being the only regional store of this type, I am going to have to work to change the knowledge, attitude and behavior of my secondary target market to be successful.

Thanks everyone for writing. Please keep the comments coming.

 

you should check out crystalguard. it's a new product I learned about recently...truly amazing what it does.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Nin009
[B]
mgaing7
You have a good point, but when you break down the car groups and the owners they are made up of, it doesn't seem that bad.

 

Here are a few pointers that i have learned...
Never buy a product to make 20-30% markup on
say you bought wax for $15 and sell it for $18, it doesnt make sense, unless you are a forum whore like me.

There is a negative to this, not to burst your bubble, but what would make your car care products much different than everyone else? Customer service<--Something I lack Honestly, if you cant see yourself turning 50% profit or more, the investment doesnt validate the turn over. Bare in mind, if you wish to do this as a part-time thing, it is well worth it. If you want to quit your job and depend on this, its not a good move. Just think about all the big boys you must compete against if you wish to sell on www. Unless you have a huge niche that the competition cant touch or match then you better think twice before you buy 15K worth of wax.

 

Good luck, Nick. People seem to spend on their cars, even in times of economic slowdown. At least you are likely getting a great lease deal with the high vacancy rates right now.

In addition to Zaino, I've purchased lots of products from www.carcareonline.com. Might want to check out the on-line competition and look at some of their recommended products, though your research has probably turned them up already. I've also purchased Zaino online through www.ecklers.com, but they seem to charge a dollar or so more than list price for Zaino products. Both Ecklers and Carcareonline have lousy web sites, IMHO, but both are good busineses with a ton of loyal customers.

Products I've used and liked include One Grand (Blitz wax especially) and many of the 3m products (imperial hand glaze, adhesive remover), Black again, Lexol leather cleaner and conditioner (though I hear the Zaino leather stuff is good too), and Sonax spray wax (mostly for the motorcycles). I always use microfiber towels and synthetic chamois as well.

Don't forget to advertise to and provide for the motorcycle market. They are pretty much as obsessive about bike care as S2000 owners, especially the loud-pipes, lots-of-chrome Harley guys who seem to clean more than they ride.

Brandon is right, good products and prices might get customers through your doors/webstore, but great customer service will keep them coming back.

 

My family runs a small "niche" specialty market business. We are an educational supply store, retail, purchase order, catalog, and internet.

It IS possible being successful in a niche market. We have been in business since 1974. You just have to carve harder. And yes, what others have said about customer service is so true. Especially if your are a player in a specialty market.

As my father (R.I.P.) used to say "you know what separates our small business from the one down the street?, we are ALL selling the same books to the same customers, its the CUSTOMER SERVICE!"

This statement can be applied to practically any business that deals with the public.


A few things I have learned while selling to the public for 20 years.

Never underestimate the power of suggestion. Suggestive selling is the easiest most cost effective tool one can have.

Never underestimate the value of word of mouth (and this can be negative and positive) you can do 100 nice things for a customer and he/she will tell a few people, but its the 1 negative thing you do which that customer will tell 100 people about!

Hurry up and wait. They will always want the product yesterday and pay for it when its convenient for them.

A parting word of wisdom from retail trenches! A persons IQ drops 50 points when they enter a retail store!

GOOD LUCK and please keep us posted!