This young American is racing to six-figure sales by putting in the work
Meet Bruce. He’s a 22-year-old from Alabama, and I had the pleasure of speaking with him for my podcast.
He started his business in 2020 by handing out 100 flyers. This landed him his first five customers which spiralled into $15,000 of sales in four months.
Now, after detailing hundreds of cars, he has plans to grow his company.
Let’s back up.
“We were kicked out of school in March when the pandemic first hit so I had a four-month summer…
“I got the first job that was hiring, which was Domino’s, and started delivering pizzas.
“I did that for probably two or three months. I don’t know if you’ve ever delivered pizzas but it’s mind-numbing stuff — just the same thing day in, day out. I soon quit.”
Something good came good from the delivery job, though. Before being hired, he made an effort to wash his car, and he enjoyed it. He liked cleaning cars.
“I was at a party with my friends,” he remembered, “and I was telling one of them about this idea. I think people will pay me to detail their cars.”
“I kinda talked myself into it at that party. I actually got on my phone there and then to order a hundred flyers.”
The next day, the flyers arrived, and a hungover Bruce remembered his commitment. He folded them up, put them in mailboxes, and didn’t expect much to happen.
Later day, people were phoning. He’d soon booked in his first five customers.
“Before I was going to have people pay me, I watched three or four YouTube videos. I’ve now made thousands from those videos. That’s how I got started.
“I had to buy a few things… but less than $20 worth of stuff. The flyers were 30 bucks, so I was all in for $50. We’ve been in the green ever since.”
Takeaway: Secure your first few customers for as little money as possible and learn as you go.
Accelerating Sales
Naturally, at this point in our conversation, I was curious. How had he gone from an initial investment of $50 to over $15,000 in revenue?
“In the beginning, it was just me, and I was doing three or four cars a day. I’ve done up into six cars a day which I’d never do again. That’s 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM with no breaks…
“At that time, all I was doing was direct mail. I actually taped flyers on the front of mailboxes. I think it’s illegal, but nobody complained.”
He also ended up hiring his best friend, Matt.
“He’s on my basketball team and was trying to make some money… So he did all the details and I taught him how to do it.
“I handled the business side of things — the customer scheduling, supplies, marketing, etc — and he handled operations…”
The business snowballed. People told their friends, who then told their friends, and Bruce receives random messages.
Their prices are also competitive. $50 for a sedan and $75 for an SUV. They wash the cars, wax the paintwork, and a bunch of other things.
All in all, one car takes two hours to detail. Of this, Bruce pays Matt $25 per sedan and $35 per SUV, and Matt keeps tips.
Bruce also runs Facebook ads.
“I usually do three ad sets… I always narrow it down to Birmingham, Alabama, because that’s our service area. I do one general ad set which is everybody 18 through to 65 in Birmingham. And then my second ad set is 18 to 65 in Birmingham, but only the top 50% of income…
“Our third ad set is 18 to 65 people who were like in our niche. So people who are interested in mobile detailing, auto detailing, car collecting — that kind of thing…
“For the actual ad, I’ve used pictures of cars we’ve done before… I keep it simple and it works well.”
How much does he spend on Facebook ads?
“$5 day. I’m doubling down on Facebook until it stops working, which I don’t see happening any time soon.”
Takeaway: Deliver a valuable service that people will talk about and accelerate sales with targeted ads.
Turbo-Charging His Business
At this point in our conversation, I asked Bruce about his future business plans. His face lit up.
“This is the exciting part,” he explained. “So I mentioned a couple of services we added — ceramic coatings and paint correction. A paint correction can add anywhere from $500 to $800. Ceramic coatings start at around a thousand dollars.
“If I could get one ceramic coating a month, that takes the place of ten details.”
I pushed him on how he would find these customers.
“We’re going to test a newspaper for three months and extend it if it works. Facebook ads — I’m thinking about spending close to $30 a day. We’re also going to do more direct mail.
“And then my email and text message marketing are going to be ramped up a lot. I do follow-up calls every month for the people who didn’t detail in the past month and check in on how their car’s doing…
“That’s always worth the time because it’s a lot cheaper to get business from a current customer than a acquire new one.”
It’s a lot cheaper to get business from a current customer than a acquire new one.
It isn’t just on the marketing side where things are ramping up. Bruce is also planning to offer a greater range of services.
“My goal is for every service we provide, we have some kind of upsell or cross-sell to offer…
“So if they get a basic detail, we’ve got six and twelve-month packages that are discounted. Instead of getting your detail every month for a hundred dollars, you get six details for $450.”
Takeaway: Always be on the lookout for extra value you can provide to your customers.
Motoring Towards Targets
“We’re going to hit a hundred thousand dollars by September.”
I smiled. There was no doubt in Bruce’s conviction.
“Without December and January, we’d have to be doing 3.7 details per day at our old prices… That’s not including the $1,000 ceramic coatings, paint corrections, and twelve-month programs. With those, I think we’re going to blow a hundred thousand dollars out of the water.
“We’re also going to be buying a van so we can go to office buildings and apartments — places we haven’t been able to go in the past.
How big does Bruce want his business to get?
“The bigger the better…
“If I can get this business in Birmingham to those numbers, I’m going to grow it even more. Maybe go to another city and do the same thing, or franchise it. Maybe sell the business…
“If I get an offer that’s too good for down, I would sell the business and start another one…”
Takeaway: Dream big.
I’ve spoken to many wannabe entrepreneurs who talk about starting a business. Sh*t, I’m one of these people. When I look at what they’ve done, though, it amounts to nothing.
Bruce is different. Despite his ambitious plans, I had to pry them out, and he was humble to the end. Just as impressively, he’s grown a profitable business from day one whilst studying at college.
One of the most memorable points for me during our conversation was when I asked him about his passion. Can anyone really enjoy detailing cars?
“No — I’m not passionate about the detailing. I’m passionate about the business and marketing and making it successful…
The actual cleaning? I have no problem hiring that out. That’s not my love.
“However, the detailing is the most important part. We need good results and happy customers.
Bruce has recognised a tension many business owners face. He wants to remove himself from day-to-day operations whilst continuing to deliver results. Only then can he scale his business.
This is one of many challenges this young entrepreneur is likely to face. He’s capable of figuring it out, though, and I have little doubt he will.
After we stopped recording, I asked Bruce what he had planned for the rest of his evening.
“Oh, I’ve got a history exam tomorrow so I guess I better prepare for that.”
I laughed. “You feeling good about it?”
“Nahh, not really. To be honest, I’m more concerned with the future than the past. History can suck d*ck.”
Amen, Bruce. Got to love this guy’s spirit.
Listen to the full episode on Entrepreneurs Can Party.