Start a Mobile Detailing Business

Mobile Detailing Launch Checklist

Companion to the lessons "Your 30-day launch plan" and "Water, Drains, and the Law"

Paperwork and practice before marketing. Roughly ten focused hours a week; evenings and weekends are the normal start. Start date:

Week 1: Legal and Gear

☐ Business name chosen; locally clear; Google and Instagram handles exist
☐ Business license filed, EIN obtained, business checking open
☐ General liability insurance bound; commercial use disclosed to the auto carrier
☐ Starter-tier kit ordered, including hose adapter kit and gloves
☐ Wash-water policy written in one paragraph: rinseless default, containment later, never a storm drain
☐ While shipments arrive: $0 practice test run on two cars you can access; five competitors' quotes secret-shopped

☐ Two or three practice cars detailed end to end, timing yourself honestly
☐ Before-and-after pairs shot from the same angles: driver's seat, carpet, wheels
☐ Three-package menu set with exact numbers by vehicle size, condition multipliers, travel radius
☐ Card reader, booking calendar, deposit-rule text set up
☐ Google Business Profile built fully: service area, hours, menu, first photos

Timed practice runs set the prices, not your optimism.

☐ Twenty individual launch-price messages sent; three to six booked
☐ One neighborhood platform plus Nextdoor announcement, same launch offer, real deadline
☐ Every booked job run with the full loop: filmed walk-around, service, narrated handoff, review link sent on the spot, referral ask
☐ Photos uploaded and reviews requested the same day, every job
☐ Money and miles logged for every job

The launch price has a stated reason (photos and reviews) and a stated end date. When it ends, it ends.

☐ Maintenance-plan offer messaged to every week-three customer
☐ Fifty door hangers hung on the streets where you detailed cars
☐ Every unconverted quote followed up once, by name, one sentence
☐ Month reviewed: hours detailed vs hours on business, revenue, costs, miles, against the worked week
☐ Month-two targets set: bookings per week, review count, one process to fix