July 12, 2025 • 31 mins
Two Texans unite to deliver powerful insights for detailing entrepreneurs in this engaging episode of the Big Money Detailer podcast. Host Davy Tyburski welcomes Jacob Tran, a Houston-based detailer who brings a unique perspective as both an engineering student and successful business owner.
Jacob reveals how his engineering mindset gives him an edge through systematic approaches to client service, quality control, and business growth. Rather than getting caught in the common trap of believing "no one can do it as well as me," Jacob created comprehensive standard operating procedures that allow his team to deliver consistent results while freeing him to focus on his studies and business development.
The conversation takes a fascinating turn when diving into the mobile versus shop debate, with Davy breaking down the stark financial realities: approximately $5,000 monthly overhead for a physical location versus roughly $1,250 for a well-equipped mobile operation. Their practical advice includes starting mobile, mapping existing clients to identify optimal shop locations, and exploring hybrid solutions like renting space from complementary businesses during off-hours.
Perhaps most valuable is Jacob's candid admission about early mistakes, particularly delaying implementation of client relationship management systems—a decision he estimates cost him half his initial customer base. His journey from battling "imposter syndrome" to confidently delegating and focusing on systems offers a roadmap for detailers ready to transition from technician to true business owner.
Whether you're just starting out or looking to scale your existing detailing operation, this episode delivers actionable strategies for creating sustainable growth while maintaining your sanity. Connect with Jacob through his website jdmdetailing.net, and visit BigMoneyDetailer.com for more resources to help you earn more so you can serve more.
INTRO
Your host is Davy Tyburski, America’s Chief Profit Officer® and Founder BigMoneyDetailer.com.
Go to BigMoneyDetailer.com/referrals to discover how-to double your referrals right now!
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OUTRO
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Davy Tyburski (00:00):
Hey, big Money Detailers, Welcome to the Big
Money Detailer podcast today,and I am excited, we have the
Jacob Tran on the podcast today.
He's from Houston, texas.
As many of you know, who'vebeen following me for a long
time, I'm from San Antonio,texas.
So you get two Texans today onthe podcast and we're excited.
So, jacob, are you ready tothrive and shine, brother?
(00:21):
Yes, sir, I'm ready.
All right, let's do it.
Well, let's jump in first.
We had a chance to talk beforewe started the recording here,
but I think one of the thingsthat makes you very unique, at
least to the guests I've had onthe Big Money Detailer podcast,
is you're sort of balancing twothings.
So let's talk a little bitabout that and kind of the
lessons you're learning as yougo through this process.
Jacob Tran (00:43):
Yeah.
So I am also in school studyingengineering.
So having to balance outengineering entrepreneurship
it's definitely a struggle, butI feel like it also gives me a
little bit of an edge, havingthat engineering mindset kind of
backing up everything I do.
So a lot of what I do kind ofcomes into play when it has like
a bunch of data, data analysis.
(01:04):
It kind of conflicts withentrepreneurship a little bit
because, as you know, like whenyou start a business, when
you're an entrepreneur, a lot ofthe time you just want to get
things going.
You want to start it and thenyou want to get stuff out in
production as fast as possible.
So, like when I started adetailing business, that's how I
was thinking, because I wasn'tan engineer yet.
I'm going going, going juststarting things, and then now,
(01:30):
as I'm starting to do a lot moreengineering work and trying to
learn these processes and dataanalysis, now I'm thinking, okay
, first let me check and see ifthis is going to work.
So it's definitely a dualitybetween both and having to
balance the schedule betweendoing that and then also the
detailing business.
It's a lot, but that's what myworkers and my friends are kind
of supporting me as well kind ofhelp me get through.
Davy Tyburski (01:46):
Yeah, that's great.
And I think the other big thingtoo.
And again, you don't have toshare your age if you don't want
to.
But let me just say this Forthose of you on the video you
could see that Jacob's a littlebit younger than me, not by much
, but certainly a little younger.
But I think it's a blessing,brother, that you're actually
learning this lesson early on inlife.
For instance, you're not tryingto do it all on your own.
Tell me a little more aboutsort of how you're structured.
And again, you're part-time,which is fine.
(02:08):
I think it's great.
I think everybody that'spart-time.
You do something you love to doand, by the way, if you're
getting paid for it, I thinkit's great.
But talk a little bit about how, at an early age, you've been
able to realize that you can'tdo it all alone.
Jacob Tran (02:20):
Yeah.
So I would say the first coupleof years I was going pretty slow
, since I was also taking a lotof my harder classes.
And then kind of, as I startedgradually getting better at
school and engineering and howto kind of prioritize my time,
then I was like, ok, let mestart running some ads, start
running some meta ads, and thenI started getting some workers
in that I knew, trained them up,and the way I was able to kind
(02:41):
of train people and get someonebasically to become a mini me is
just having like a standardizedprocedure every single time.
So whether it's doing a fullexterior, full interior or a
maintenance detail, they knowexactly how to do it because
I've created standard proceduresevery single time.
So our times relatively staythe same.
Whether we're doing like amaintenance detail, it's going
(03:02):
to be an hour, or like ainterior, a full interior it'll
be around two to three, and thenif we're doing like a complete
detail, it'll be around three tofour.
And usually those times staypretty consistent because of
those systems in place as wellas for the backend side of
everything.
Having that retaining client,clientele with like automations
or backend systems kind of helpa lot as well, just to keep us
(03:24):
having constant work.
Davy Tyburski (03:26):
Yeah, that's big and again, we always try to pick
out the key learningopportunities for all the
listeners here.
One of the big learningopportunities is a lot of the
private clients that we workwith here at Big Money Detailer
and I had it on, I had it alsoat a younger age which is the
old myth that no one can do itas good as me, nobody can do it
as good as me, which sometimesholds detailers back right,
(03:49):
especially detailing businessowners like you who are juggling
, in your case, school and thedetailing business.
So one of the things thathelped me at an early age and
certainly it's helping youalready, which is fantastic is,
hey, I feel more confidenthanding this off to have
somebody else go take care ofthis client, knowing that
they're following step one getout of the car.
Step two do this.
(04:10):
Step three do that.
And I think that's a biglearning opportunity for all the
listeners today is, if youdon't have those standard
operating procedures and again,don't get hung up on what you
call it.
You can call it an SOP, astandard operating procedure.
You can call it a checklist.
You can have it written down ona paper towel if you want to do
that, but have it written outstep-by-step.
So when you delegate that downand you have other team members
(04:31):
that come on, they can basicallyfollow that in a step-by-step
system.
Similar to like making.
You know if you like chocolatechip cookies, you have a recipe.
You follow the recipe the sameway Most of the time time the
cookies come out the same way.
So I think that's awesome thatyou already have those SOPs set
up and then fast forward.
In a few years, when you growthis to a million dollar
(04:52):
business, one of the key thingsthat someone who's going to
acquire your business is goingto look at is obviously your
marketing, but they're alsogoing to look at the systems you
have in place.
So I think it's awesome thatyou have those in place today.
Let's go back, pick any timefrom today, all the way back to
when you started.
Was there like a pastexperience that, let's just say
didn't go well and you learnedfrom it?
(05:12):
And, more importantly, what didyou do to correct that, like
what was a big oh poop momentfor you?
And, more importantly, what didyou do to overcome that?
Jacob Tran (05:21):
Yeah, I would definitely say when I was first
starting, I probably had a jobwhere we didn't have like those
checklists and those qualitychecks or anything like that.
And it was me and anotherworker at the time when I was
training him and we're kind ofjust going through the motions
We've been detailing like allday.
We get to the end of the job,we do everything and then the
client's just not satisfied and,as I got to realize, that's
(05:42):
where I kind of learned OK, thisis where quality checks matter,
this is where those SOPs matter, because if we're not providing
quality to our clients, thenyou know our business is not
going to do well.
And for us, like, having fivestars, having quality reviews,
is like pretty much everythingto help grow in our business,
especially when it comes to,like Google, seo and all that.
Davy Tyburski (06:05):
SEO and all that.
Yeah, good, that's a great,great comment about that,
because at the end of the day,you want to have very happy
clients and then obviouslythey'll introduce you to others
and that's really how you growyour business.
You know, detailers call itreferrals, I call it
introductions, but that's one ofthe key things is making sure
you're taking care of them.
And the takeaway again is, ifyou don't already have that in
place, a quality checkpoint andagain, some detailers do it in
like three different.
I have a checklist for theinterior do a quality check and
(06:26):
then they'll have exterior.
However you want to do it, theimportant thing that Jacob's
communicating to us is you haveto have quality checks built
into your current process,whether you do it at the end or
during, whatever it happens tolook like, but those checks have
to occur because it doesprevent a big blow up at the end
of that particular project orwhatever.
That might be All right, cool.
How about this one man, what is?
(06:49):
Uh, I know it's going to behard for you, cause you had a
lot, but if you had to pick one,just one superpower, like, like
Jacob, you're so darn good atit.
Dude, you should be wearing aCape Like what is your
superpower, uh, that you want toshare with your list, with the
listeners, today.
Jacob Tran (07:03):
I would definitely say kind of like the systems
thinking mindset, kind of havingthat engineering background,
being able to kind of do thatdata analysis to have like more
driven improvements instead ofjust like guesswork.
But it definitely helps.
It helps in pretty mucheverything problem solving wise.
Davy Tyburski (07:21):
Got it.
So, again, that systems mindsetand you've mentioned that quite
a few times today and again forthe listeners and you've
mentioned that quite a few timestoday and again for the
listeners if you haven't pickedup on that, he's mentioning it
because it's a very, veryimportant part of your detailing
business, right, and I knowthat again by having those
systems in place and I alwaystalk about the five areas of
your detailing business.
Starting with the thumb, it'sthe biggest and thickest part of
(07:43):
your hand.
It's the marketing.
Then you got sales, customerservice, operations, getting
paid, but systems around allfive of those areas are critical
and I think that's a veryimportant thing to make sure
that you have in place at a veryespecially when you're starting
out.
And for some of the veterans onthe podcast today, it's just a
reminder that, like I say in mykeynotes, common sense is not
(08:04):
common practice.
So you just heard that andyou're like, oh yeah, systems,
yeah, it's common sense, but isit common practice in your
detailing business?
All right, let's talk a littlebit about I know you do some
online marketing, right, buttell me the other flavors of
marketing that you do and thenwe'll figure out where we want
to dive into after that.
Jacob Tran (08:26):
I would say like my best marketing honestly is just
organic through Google, sinceover time I was able to build
like a pretty good clientelebase and then a good amount of
reviews.
So a lot of it is organicthrough Google.
I have, like Facebook meta adsrunning as well, and then
alongside that I have Instagram,which kind of connects with all
the meta ads and stuff likethat.
Davy Tyburski (08:42):
Okay, cool.
And what about offline things?
What are some of the things youdo?
I know that you definitely getreferrals I see them on your
website but what are some of thethings you do offline and how
do you go about that?
Jacob Tran (08:54):
I would say for offline it's really just, I
guess, word of mouth.
I don't really do much offline,since for me, like I don't
really have the time for a lotof like offline outreach or
anything like that.
Like, if it's sending outletters or anything like that I
know you can do that as well,like you can send out postcards
in the mail and stuff like thatbut I mainly just stick to
online marketing.
It's what's been working for meso far.
Davy Tyburski (09:15):
Yeah, that's great.
You know the other thing too.
Like at Big Money Detailer, weteach our coaching clients like
how to market 100 different ways.
For Dylan's business, theAffluent Auto Spa, we market 100
different ways, a combinationof online, offline and a few
other things that really come infrom other industries that I've
been involved with to helpcoach.
We take what works in thoseother industries and we model it
a little bit, tweak it and thenwe make it work for the
(09:37):
detailing business.
One of the big things that we'vereally really ramped up is our
again, you call them referrals,which is fine, but we've ramped
up our introductions.
How do we make it very easy fora very satisfied client to
introduce you not refer you, butintroduce you to others in
their network?
So, for instance, if you have aCPA or you have a CEO of a
(09:59):
local company and they love you,then how do you help them
introduce you to others?
So one of the things we puttogether is an introduction gift
box.
This comes out of the dentistrymarket that I coach in, where
after you get your teeth cleaned, they give you that little box
that has the toothbrush and thedental floss and all that.
So we modeled that for thedetailing business for Dylan.
(10:19):
And now at the end of like aceramic or whatever it is, he
gives them a gift box.
And then when someone comesover or they ride by they see
the car gleaming.
They're like, oh you know whodid that for you?
And then that gift box, giftbox.
We make it very easy for themto hand them something, because
a client trying to explain themagic you do, jacob, is a little
(10:40):
bit difficult and, quitehonestly, they usually muck it
up.
They can't really explain themagic and the skill that you
have.
So one thing we want to do iswe want to make it very easy for
them to make that introduction.
So we use that gift box.
And again, those of you thatmight be new on the podcast, if
you want to check that out, thesystem we use to really increase
our introductions, you can goto bigmoneydetailercom slash
(11:02):
referrals.
You can check it out there andyou can see how we've actually
doubled our introductions forDylan's business, which is
fantastic, all right.
Next one Looking back, like allthe way back, what's one thing
you wish you would have donedifferently?
We've covered systems.
I get that and you definitelyhave those in place, brother,
and I think that's awesome.
But if there's one thing, you'dlook back and say, man, I wish
(11:23):
I would have done thatdifferently.
Or maybe I should have done itin a different way.
What would that look like?
What would be one or two ofthose things?
Jacob Tran (11:30):
Definitely get a client relationship manager a
lot sooner, because I lost a lotof clientele in the beginning
just kind of, you know, nothaving and building that, that,
I guess, email listing, thatsource of clients, just that,
that client base to have to beable to follow up with, to send
nurturing emails, because when Ifirst started I had a lot and
(11:51):
then I'm pretty sure I lostabout half, since it took me a
while to learn about what a CRMis and the benefits of it.
So now that I kind of know howthey work and how important they
are, definitely wish I wouldhave had that in the beginning.
Davy Tyburski (12:05):
Yeah, the key learning from that is really
it's much easier to go back to acurrent client that loves you
as compared to and againFacebook ads, instagram ads I
get it no issues there.
That's sort of very cold right.
So you've got to kind of buildthat relationship once they
connect with you.
But what Jacob's saying I thinkthat's very important is how
are you and this is thecheckpoint for everybody
(12:26):
listening?
What is your checkpoint thatyou're?
Look, your clients aren't wakingup every day just thinking of
you.
I mean, you wish they were like.
Okay, I wake up in the morning,I get my Starbucks and I'm
going to think of Jacob, we wishthat was like that.
But what are you doingspecifically to remind them that
you're here to serve them?
What are you doing to remindthem, whether it's a physical
(12:46):
newsletter, an e-newsletter, aquick text?
I know for Easter, what Dylandid is he just went through his
whole contact list we're talkinghundreds and the system just
sent out a simple text.
Hey, hope you have a greatEaster weekend.
Thanks for being my client.
There was no sales process,there was no sales versation
happening, it was just hey, I'mthinking about you.
(13:07):
And, of course, that thefollowing week guess what
happened to his schedule.
It was a reminder to them thathey, have a great Easter weekend
, but also, hey, just a friendlyreminder that I'm here to serve
you and boom, a simple thinglike that that.
Think about it, jacob.
It costs pennies, right, it'spennies on the dollar, paying
for some airtime or whatever itmight be.
(13:28):
That is a great tip.
I'm glad you brought that up.
All right, another one like thefirst week or two that you
started out, because we've got alot of new folks that come into
the community Like what arethose one, two, three things
that you did in the first fewweeks to really get cranking in
the detailing business?
Jacob Tran (13:45):
Really just personal outreach, connecting with
friends, family, doing a lot oftheir cars.
I would say one thing don't gettoo caught up in the products
you use, because you're going toget so caught up in buying
products, products, products andthen you realize, well, I just
bought a million differentproducts and now it's like, wow,
which one should I use?
You know what I mean?
Davy Tyburski (14:04):
Yeah, yeah, I think that's, that's the big
thing.
And, um, kind of goes back tomy five fingers.
Right, there's a.
There's a lot of detailers thatworry about what I call lotions
and potions.
They're more focused on thelotions and potions.
Yeah, they're more focused onthe lotions and potions and
tools, uh, but let's just bereal, that stuff doesn't matter
if you don't have anyone booking.
So you can have the best uhbuffers, you can have the best
(14:28):
lotions and potions, the bestceramic coatings, but if no
one's texting or reaching out orbooking your consultation to
actually have you do a projectfor them, you know, to treat
their vehicle, then none of thatstuff really matters.
Goes back to my thumb the thumband you're already on it,
brother, and I think it's greatthe thumb is like the most
important part of any business,let alone.
But specifically for thedetailing business, the
(14:50):
marketing piece is the mostimportant thing.
We don't have to worry abouthiring people, we don't have to
worry about customer service, wedon't have to worry about how
we're getting paid if we don'thave the right marketing in
place and the right folks tolearn from to make sure you're
doing it the right way.
That is always something thatwe got to remind people of is
making sure you're doing it theright way, and it's not just
about throwing spaghetti at thewall but, to your point, it's
(15:11):
about having a system that'sproven, that works well,
especially from a marketingperspective.
All right, we're about halfwaydone here, so how about this?
I'll flip it on you, jacob.
Well, what are some things thatyou want me to ask you, like,
what would be one or two thingsthat you want to kind of throw
out?
Hey, dave, you know what?
Let's talk about this and, bythe way, this is something new.
I just thought about that, sohopefully you'll play along.
Jacob Tran (15:32):
Okay, let me think about that a little bit.
I would say more of like thebackend stuff.
Right, a lot of people knowabout detailing and like they
may know a little bit aboutsystems and CRMs, but on the
backend side of things likebuying a shop, doing stuff like
that, what are the steps likefor that process?
Because me myself, I'm a mobiledetailer and it's just more
(15:54):
cost efficient for me.
That way I get cash flow frombeing mobile, whereas if I was
to have a shop it'd be a littlebit harder for me.
But how would you go abouteither renting out a space or
getting your own property oranything like that?
Davy Tyburski (16:07):
Yeah, great question.
So we actually just wentthrough this with Dylan.
So Dylan, like you, and againbefore we started the recording,
I was telling Jacob how Dylangot into the detailing business,
which was during the pandemic.
He was laid off from a guttercompany and he worked at the
wash tub back when he was inhigh school.
He's like Dad, I'm going tostart a car wash business and of
course that conversation led toI'm going to start a detailing
business.
(16:27):
And that conversation led tothis question Should I do start
with a mobile or should I?
And the right way, in my opinion.
Now I can look.
I'm pretty good at going bothways here on shop versus mobile.
But let's just think about it.
I always keep this right behindme.
This is my 1980s solarcalculator.
(16:47):
So let's just do some quickmath on answering that question.
And I believe a lot of detailersget whacked up emotionally
about that decision.
Well, if I have a shop, I'mgoing whacked up emotionally
about that decision.
Well, if I have a shop, I'mgoing to be perceived as okay.
But let's do the math, allright, just easy math right now,
just to make it simple.
And since we're in Texas, Imean a decent size spot is going
(17:08):
to, at least going to cost youat least 2000 a month in rent at
least, I mean, I'm just goingto use low numbers here to make
it easy.
And then we got that stuffcalled insurance, okay, on the
building.
So something happens there.
So we're just going to throw, Idon't know.
Let's throw another 120 bucks amonth for insurance.
So right now we are up to 2,120, 2,000 plus 120.
(17:30):
Let's say also we also have tohave electricity, oh, okay, so
let's throw that in.
The point is, I can keep goinghere, but in my rough math with
Dylan when we had thisconversation, jacob, we were up
to about 4,500 a month.
Jacob Tran (17:43):
Okay, Sounds about right.
Davy Tyburski (17:44):
Now put that in a box over here.
Now let's talk about mobile.
Dylan has a Mercedes Sprintervan decked out, completely
wrapped, fully, all the stuff init.
He needs to be mobile, okay,think about the monthly payment
and the insurance, okay, and I'mtelling you we're way under a
thousand bucks right there.
Electricity that runs off thegenerator in the mobile Water,
(18:08):
oh, okay.
Well, he just fills up thewater Insurance, well, that's
covered specifically on the van,right?
Of course we have liability incase the car gets jacked up and
all those type of things.
But based on my estimation andwhen we did the math, we were
about 25% to 30%.
Well, 75% savings.
So let's say it was $5,000 fora shop, with everything you need
(18:30):
for the shop.
We're about $1,250-ish with thevan.
So my encouragement is youbuild up the mobile business
first, and the good news iswe're about 1250-ish with the
van.
So my encouragement is youbuild up the mobile business
first, and the good news iswe're in Texas, so it's not like
we have like 30 below weatherand some of the detailers that
we work with, so we get to workpretty much 12 months a year.
I love the idea of building upthe mobile business and then the
(18:52):
other cool thing about that isthen, to your point you're going
to love this I say in mykeynote talks don't get mad, get
data, don't get mad, get data.
So now let's fast forward.
We've been mobile for, let'ssay, two years.
We have a book of clients of600, 700 clients to make this
easy, we'll say 600.
Now you have zip codes of everyone of those clients.
Now what you could do is sayokay, do a heat map in the
(19:15):
United States.
For some of you don't know whata heat map is.
Basically, I like to describeit like this you look at your
area let's call it San Antonio,let's use Houston, which is
yours In Houston and you went toa board with a map and you put
pushpins on the board around allthe clients you have in the
Houston area and what normallyyou'll see is a cluster of folks
.
You'll see is a cluster offolks.
(19:37):
Now that's when you start havingthe conversation about where
should I put a shop.
Well, some people are like well, I need a lot of traffic going
by, so the rent will be two,three, four times as much If,
for instance, you want to get ahigh traffic area like where
there's a lot of cars going by.
But think about that.
Does that really make sense?
Like if I'm driving down theroad, bro, I love detailers
because Dylan's one, and I loveyou, jacob, because you're a
(19:58):
detailer, but I ain't like goingto drive by and go, oh, I
should pull in and get a donut.
Dude, you ain't got donuts.
You're talking about detailing,right?
So you don't need a spot thathas high traffic area.
So then you can put your shopin a spot where that heat map
shows where most of your clientsare at, and then you should
consider.
And then this opens up aconversation.
I'm so glad you asked thisquestion.
You're probably getting morethan you want, but that's okay.
(20:19):
But then you can start thinkingabout what, what else should I
offer in my shop?
Should I do PPF?
Should I do tint?
See, then, once you have a shop, then you can figure out how do
you pay for that rent and allthose extra expenses with.
With number one, you shouldconsider the current clients you
have in that area where you putthe shop, if they cover your
monthly nut, just so.
(20:40):
Then you break even and thenyou start considering what else
can I add to it.
And I'm not saying you have togo get certified and PPF and all
the other cool stuff.
You can bring someone in thatdoes that for you and now you're
bringing in more revenue intothe shop.
But you know your currentclients are covering that rent
for you and I never, ever, wouldever, give up mobile detailing.
There is just some folks thatdon't want to drive, even if
(21:03):
you're five, 10 minutes away,they want you to come to them,
to their office, like themedical complex or wherever it
might be, and they want you todo the car there.
So let me pause there and seeif you have any follow-ups on
that, or is that good?
Jacob Tran (21:20):
at least at a high level, to figure out what when
the decision is to have a shop.
No, yeah, that was perfect, andeven like what you're saying,
with the heat map as well, likeas genius.
That's perfect.
Uh, obviously, like puttinglike a shop where all your
clientele base is going to be isdefinitely something that I was
thinking about in the past.
Um, just because I was like man, it's texas weather, it's know
it's bad sometimes doing cars inthe sun If you don't have like
a good setup, if you don't haveany DI water on you.
So I feel for the people thatdon't have any DI water or any
(21:44):
like processes to kind of helpwith that and combat that.
Davy Tyburski (21:48):
Yeah for sure, absolutely, and I the other.
The other cool part about thattoo is so there is a step
between 100% mobile and gettingyour own shop.
There is a hybrid.
There's a step in between that,and you just have to be
creative.
So, for instance, is theresomebody in your area that has
that ideal space right now thatmaybe they don't do detailing
(22:11):
but they do tint?
Or they do something else butthey don't offer ceramic coating
?
Hey, so, for instance, let'splay that out.
Let's say, jacob, that you werethat person that had a tint shop
, right?
Hey, jacob, man, if you let meuse the shop between six at
night and 10 at night for thosefour hours, I'll pay you a
hundred bucks for the space.
Think about that.
So now you're getting thebenefit of having a space,
(22:33):
you're getting the benefit ofair condition, you're getting
the benefits of a controlledenvironment, but you're not on
the hook for that five grandtotal expense from an actual
spot.
So you can think about anybusiness owner that's smart.
It's kind of like the hotelbusiness, right, I do some work
for boutique hotels, like theirjob is to keep the rooms at 100,
actually 80% capacity, right.
(22:54):
But for those rooms that aren'tbeing used, then if they had a
way to increase their revenuefor that 20% they're not making
money on anyway, then they wouldbe happy to do that.
It's the same thing with maybea tent person or someone in your
local area.
I'm pausing because, believe itor not, I have a sneeze that's
coming, so I'm trying to time itjust right so we can edit it
(23:15):
out if I really go on a sneezingspell.
All right, I think I'm good fornow.
Okay, we're moving along, allright.
Next question what's one thingyou used to spend a lot of time
on before systems and beforeautomation, before your CRM?
What's one thing you used tospend a lot of time on that?
Now you're like blessed.
You're like, oh my God.
Jacob Tran (23:45):
I'm so glad I implemented fill in the blank
something.
So, besides, like systems andall that is something I would
just spend, I guess, justtexting people, like texting
outreach manually.
It's definitely been somethingin the past where it would just
take forever.
Like going through like a listof people and I'm just like, ah,
copy paste, copy paste, and Iwas like, yeah, before any
automations or anything likethat built in.
Like going through like a listof people and I'm just like, ah,
copy paste, copy paste, and Iwas like, yeah, before any
automations or anything likethat built in.
Yeah, that was definitely themost annoying part.
Davy Tyburski (24:03):
Yeah, so the idea of that, so the teaching point
for all the listeners is whatare you?
I like to say?
You know we've been blessedwith the same time suitcase.
We have 24 hours in a day.
Right, that's it.
That's all we have.
So if you break down yourbusiness time and let's say
that's eight or 10 hours to makeit easy, what are you currently
(24:23):
spending time on today that youcan automate or delegate, Like
something you don't have to doyourself, so you free up more
time?
To go back to that thumb, whichis do more marketing.
I mean, at the end of the day,I learned this from one of my
business mentors, Dan Kennedy.
He said whoever can spend themost money to acquire a customer
wins the game.
So think about that for asecond.
If you could free up 10, 20% ofyour time a week and you can
(24:46):
spend more time on the thumb,which is the most important part
of your detailing business,which is the marketing, then you
get to a point where you canspend more than your competitors
and that's like the holy grailright there.
The more you can spend toacquire a customer because you
know you're going to keep them,because you're doing great work
with them.
But, man, if you can spend moremoney on your marketing and
bring in more clients, it's likethe perfect thing.
(25:07):
So what can you do today to mylisteners?
What can you do today toautomate something like Jacob
did on the texting?
Or what can you do to delegatethat task to maybe a $6 person
that's overseas that can do someof that work for you?
So that's another challenge foryou on today's podcast.
What can you get off your plateand give it to somebody else?
All right, good, We've got justa few more questions here and
(25:29):
then we're going to wrap it upfor the day.
This has been great, Jacob.
You're a great guest man.
I appreciate you sharing it andit's great to see a young man
like you.
That's balancing school, whichis very important, and balancing
your business as well.
So you've been awesome.
Last thing is, let's say and Idon't know if you've had this
yet and if you didn't, it's noproblem I always like to ask
(25:50):
this question Was there a pointwhere you realized that you're a
good detailer, but where was apoint in your path where you
said I've got to move from beinga good detailer to a great
business owner?
Was there a point in that?
Maybe talk through it with ourlisteners of what that was like.
Jacob Tran (26:10):
Yeah, I would say when I was first starting.
Obviously when you first startsomething you're not the best at
it.
And as you kind of move forwardand you start to grow a lot
more clients, you'll kind of getthat like imposter syndrome, a
little bit Like like, am Ireally good at this?
Am I really doing what I'msupposed to be doing?
And then as you build moreconfidence and skill and
experience, you're like okay,yeah, this is, I'm a good
detailer now.
(26:31):
And then now it's just like howcan I scale, how can I get more
clients, how can I let myselfhave more time to myself, hire
out, delegate, how can I kind ofprepare myself to exit the
business and actually be abusiness owner instead of a
worker?
So definitely, I would say,once I got out of that imposter
syndrome phase and once Istarted actually training
(26:52):
another like worker, that'swhenever I was like okay, now I
can start working more on thebusiness side trying to help
scale, do the marketing and thenrun these systems on the
backend side.
Davy Tyburski (27:02):
Yeah, man, I tell you, and all the guests I've
had, I think this is a veryimportant thing is what happens
is.
It sounds to me that, likeearly on, you, you realize that
you can't do it all yourself.
I mean, you realized early on,so you already had the mindset
of, hey, I need to go findsomebody that's 80%, catch that
80% as good as I am.
I'm a little older than you andI still haven't found someone
(27:25):
who's 100% as good at stuff thatI am.
But I realized 80% is goodenough, unless you're landing
airplanes or you're deliveringbabies.
So in this case, if you can findsomebody that's 80% as good as
you doing a ceramic coating oran interior detailing, whatever
it might be, that's good enoughand it's going to be just as
good for the client.
They're not going to make like,oh my gosh, jacob did this, but
(27:47):
this guy didn't do that, orthis person didn't do that,
doesn't matter, all right, gooddeal.
Well, I think that's it fortoday, man, it's been great
having you as a guest.
Before we wrap up, just a quickquestion for you what's the
best way for folks who arelistening to the podcast or
hitting up the website and kindof seeing about you.
What's the best way for them toreach out to you or, more
importantly, to get them to haveyou serve them with their
(28:08):
vehicle?
Jacob Tran (28:10):
Yeah, if you're in the Houston area, my website is
jdmdetailingnet and if you wantto look me up on socials, my
social is jtran, underscore ISE.
I post pretty much everythingwhat I do not only just
detailing on there, but it's alittle bit of my personal kind
of behind the scenes businesswork, so I'll show people how I
run systems, how I do somemarketing and then some
(28:31):
engineering advice as well, ifyou're also in engineering, but
a lot of entrepreneurship typecontent I like to post as well
as my detailing page is JDMdetailing or JDM underscore
detailing on Instagram.
Davy Tyburski (28:46):
Perfect.
Well, it's been great havingyou as a guest man.
Any last minute comments?
I'll give you the last word.
Then I'll close it down.
Anything else, any other pathyou want to go down or anything
else, are you good to go for?
Jacob Tran (28:57):
today.
Pretty much good to go.
Thank you for having me on.
It was a pleasure kind ofsharing my experience, what I've
learned, some struggles alongthe way.
Davy Tyburski (29:06):
It's always a good thing.
Like I always say, it's good tolearn from Big Money Detailer,
from our team here, but it'salso good to learn from your
peers, like my man, jacob, inHouston, texas.
So until next time I'm DaveyTyburski, America's Chief Profit
Officer, also the founder ofBigMoneyDetailercom.
Again, go toBigMoneyDetailercom, grab some
(29:28):
free resources, other training.
There's also my keynotes outthere at MTE and IDA and many
other places that I speak.
So until next time, go outthere and earn more so you can
serve more.
Bye-bye.
Hey, big Money Detailers, Welcome to the Big
Money Detailer podcast today,and I am excited, we have the
Jacob Tran on the podcast today.
He's from Houston, texas.
As many of you know, who'vebeen following me for a long
time, I'm from San Antonio,texas.
So you get two Texans today onthe podcast and we're excited.
So, jacob, are you ready tothrive and shine, brother?
(00:21):
Yes, sir, I'm ready.
All right, let's do it.
Well, let's jump in first.
We had a chance to talk beforewe started the recording here,
but I think one of the thingsthat makes you very unique, at
least to the guests I've had onthe Big Money Detailer podcast,
is you're sort of balancing twothings.
So let's talk a little bitabout that and kind of the
lessons you're learning as yougo through this process.
Jacob Tran (00:43):
Yeah.
So I am also in school studyingengineering.
So having to balance outengineering entrepreneurship
it's definitely a struggle, butI feel like it also gives me a
little bit of an edge, havingthat engineering mindset kind of
backing up everything I do.
So a lot of what I do kind ofcomes into play when it has like
a bunch of data, data analysis.
(01:04):
It kind of conflicts withentrepreneurship a little bit
because, as you know, like whenyou start a business, when
you're an entrepreneur, a lot ofthe time you just want to get
things going.
You want to start it and thenyou want to get stuff out in
production as fast as possible.
So, like when I started adetailing business, that's how I
was thinking, because I wasn'tan engineer yet.
I'm going going, going juststarting things, and then now,
(01:30):
as I'm starting to do a lot moreengineering work and trying to
learn these processes and dataanalysis, now I'm thinking, okay
, first let me check and see ifthis is going to work.
So it's definitely a dualitybetween both and having to
balance the schedule betweendoing that and then also the
detailing business.
It's a lot, but that's what myworkers and my friends are kind
of supporting me as well kind ofhelp me get through.
Davy Tyburski (01:46):
Yeah, that's great.
And I think the other big thingtoo.
And again, you don't have toshare your age if you don't want
to.
But let me just say this Forthose of you on the video you
could see that Jacob's a littlebit younger than me, not by much
, but certainly a little younger.
But I think it's a blessing,brother, that you're actually
learning this lesson early on inlife.
For instance, you're not tryingto do it all on your own.
Tell me a little more aboutsort of how you're structured.
And again, you're part-time,which is fine.
(02:08):
I think it's great.
I think everybody that'spart-time.
You do something you love to doand, by the way, if you're
getting paid for it, I thinkit's great.
But talk a little bit about how, at an early age, you've been
able to realize that you can'tdo it all alone.
Jacob Tran (02:20):
Yeah.
So I would say the first coupleof years I was going pretty slow
, since I was also taking a lotof my harder classes.
And then kind of, as I startedgradually getting better at
school and engineering and howto kind of prioritize my time,
then I was like, ok, let mestart running some ads, start
running some meta ads, and thenI started getting some workers
in that I knew, trained them up,and the way I was able to kind
(02:41):
of train people and get someonebasically to become a mini me is
just having like a standardizedprocedure every single time.
So whether it's doing a fullexterior, full interior or a
maintenance detail, they knowexactly how to do it because
I've created standard proceduresevery single time.
So our times relatively staythe same.
Whether we're doing like amaintenance detail, it's going
(03:02):
to be an hour, or like ainterior, a full interior it'll
be around two to three, and thenif we're doing like a complete
detail, it'll be around three tofour.
And usually those times staypretty consistent because of
those systems in place as wellas for the backend side of
everything.
Having that retaining client,clientele with like automations
or backend systems kind of helpa lot as well, just to keep us
(03:24):
having constant work.
Davy Tyburski (03:26):
Yeah, that's big and again, we always try to pick
out the key learningopportunities for all the
listeners here.
One of the big learningopportunities is a lot of the
private clients that we workwith here at Big Money Detailer
and I had it on, I had it alsoat a younger age which is the
old myth that no one can do itas good as me, nobody can do it
as good as me, which sometimesholds detailers back right,
(03:49):
especially detailing businessowners like you who are juggling
, in your case, school and thedetailing business.
So one of the things thathelped me at an early age and
certainly it's helping youalready, which is fantastic is,
hey, I feel more confidenthanding this off to have
somebody else go take care ofthis client, knowing that
they're following step one getout of the car.
Step two do this.
(04:10):
Step three do that.
And I think that's a biglearning opportunity for all the
listeners today is, if youdon't have those standard
operating procedures and again,don't get hung up on what you
call it.
You can call it an SOP, astandard operating procedure.
You can call it a checklist.
You can have it written down ona paper towel if you want to do
that, but have it written outstep-by-step.
So when you delegate that downand you have other team members
(04:31):
that come on, they can basicallyfollow that in a step-by-step
system.
Similar to like making.
You know if you like chocolatechip cookies, you have a recipe.
You follow the recipe the sameway Most of the time time the
cookies come out the same way.
So I think that's awesome thatyou already have those SOPs set
up and then fast forward.
In a few years, when you growthis to a million dollar
(04:52):
business, one of the key thingsthat someone who's going to
acquire your business is goingto look at is obviously your
marketing, but they're alsogoing to look at the systems you
have in place.
So I think it's awesome thatyou have those in place today.
Let's go back, pick any timefrom today, all the way back to
when you started.
Was there like a pastexperience that, let's just say
didn't go well and you learnedfrom it?
(05:12):
And, more importantly, what didyou do to correct that, like
what was a big oh poop momentfor you?
And, more importantly, what didyou do to overcome that?
Jacob Tran (05:21):
Yeah, I would definitely say when I was first
starting, I probably had a jobwhere we didn't have like those
checklists and those qualitychecks or anything like that.
And it was me and anotherworker at the time when I was
training him and we're kind ofjust going through the motions
We've been detailing like allday.
We get to the end of the job,we do everything and then the
client's just not satisfied and,as I got to realize, that's
(05:42):
where I kind of learned OK, thisis where quality checks matter,
this is where those SOPs matter, because if we're not providing
quality to our clients, thenyou know our business is not
going to do well.
And for us, like, having fivestars, having quality reviews,
is like pretty much everythingto help grow in our business,
especially when it comes to,like Google, seo and all that.
Davy Tyburski (06:05):
SEO and all that.
Yeah, good, that's a great,great comment about that,
because at the end of the day,you want to have very happy
clients and then obviouslythey'll introduce you to others
and that's really how you growyour business.
You know, detailers call itreferrals, I call it
introductions, but that's one ofthe key things is making sure
you're taking care of them.
And the takeaway again is, ifyou don't already have that in
place, a quality checkpoint andagain, some detailers do it in
like three different.
I have a checklist for theinterior do a quality check and
(06:26):
then they'll have exterior.
However you want to do it, theimportant thing that Jacob's
communicating to us is you haveto have quality checks built
into your current process,whether you do it at the end or
during, whatever it happens tolook like, but those checks have
to occur because it doesprevent a big blow up at the end
of that particular project orwhatever.
That might be All right, cool.
How about this one man, what is?
(06:49):
Uh, I know it's going to behard for you, cause you had a
lot, but if you had to pick one,just one superpower, like, like
Jacob, you're so darn good atit.
Dude, you should be wearing aCape Like what is your
superpower, uh, that you want toshare with your list, with the
listeners, today.
Jacob Tran (07:03):
I would definitely say kind of like the systems
thinking mindset, kind of havingthat engineering background,
being able to kind of do thatdata analysis to have like more
driven improvements instead ofjust like guesswork.
But it definitely helps.
It helps in pretty mucheverything problem solving wise.
Davy Tyburski (07:21):
Got it.
So, again, that systems mindsetand you've mentioned that quite
a few times today and again forthe listeners and you've
mentioned that quite a few timestoday and again for the
listeners if you haven't pickedup on that, he's mentioning it
because it's a very, veryimportant part of your detailing
business, right, and I knowthat again by having those
systems in place and I alwaystalk about the five areas of
your detailing business.
Starting with the thumb, it'sthe biggest and thickest part of
(07:43):
your hand.
It's the marketing.
Then you got sales, customerservice, operations, getting
paid, but systems around allfive of those areas are critical
and I think that's a veryimportant thing to make sure
that you have in place at a veryespecially when you're starting
out.
And for some of the veterans onthe podcast today, it's just a
reminder that, like I say in mykeynotes, common sense is not
(08:04):
common practice.
So you just heard that andyou're like, oh yeah, systems,
yeah, it's common sense, but isit common practice in your
detailing business?
All right, let's talk a littlebit about I know you do some
online marketing, right, buttell me the other flavors of
marketing that you do and thenwe'll figure out where we want
to dive into after that.
Jacob Tran (08:26):
I would say like my best marketing honestly is just
organic through Google, sinceover time I was able to build
like a pretty good clientelebase and then a good amount of
reviews.
So a lot of it is organicthrough Google.
I have, like Facebook meta adsrunning as well, and then
alongside that I have Instagram,which kind of connects with all
the meta ads and stuff likethat.
Davy Tyburski (08:42):
Okay, cool.
And what about offline things?
What are some of the things youdo?
I know that you definitely getreferrals I see them on your
website but what are some of thethings you do offline and how
do you go about that?
Jacob Tran (08:54):
I would say for offline it's really just, I
guess, word of mouth.
I don't really do much offline,since for me, like I don't
really have the time for a lotof like offline outreach or
anything like that.
Like, if it's sending outletters or anything like that I
know you can do that as well,like you can send out postcards
in the mail and stuff like thatbut I mainly just stick to
online marketing.
It's what's been working for meso far.
Davy Tyburski (09:15):
Yeah, that's great.
You know the other thing too.
Like at Big Money Detailer, weteach our coaching clients like
how to market 100 different ways.
For Dylan's business, theAffluent Auto Spa, we market 100
different ways, a combinationof online, offline and a few
other things that really come infrom other industries that I've
been involved with to helpcoach.
We take what works in thoseother industries and we model it
a little bit, tweak it and thenwe make it work for the
(09:37):
detailing business.
One of the big things that we'vereally really ramped up is our
again, you call them referrals,which is fine, but we've ramped
up our introductions.
How do we make it very easy fora very satisfied client to
introduce you not refer you, butintroduce you to others in
their network?
So, for instance, if you have aCPA or you have a CEO of a
(09:59):
local company and they love you,then how do you help them
introduce you to others?
So one of the things we puttogether is an introduction gift
box.
This comes out of the dentistrymarket that I coach in, where
after you get your teeth cleaned, they give you that little box
that has the toothbrush and thedental floss and all that.
So we modeled that for thedetailing business for Dylan.
(10:19):
And now at the end of like aceramic or whatever it is, he
gives them a gift box.
And then when someone comesover or they ride by they see
the car gleaming.
They're like, oh you know whodid that for you?
And then that gift box, giftbox.
We make it very easy for themto hand them something, because
a client trying to explain themagic you do, jacob, is a little
(10:40):
bit difficult and, quitehonestly, they usually muck it
up.
They can't really explain themagic and the skill that you
have.
So one thing we want to do iswe want to make it very easy for
them to make that introduction.
So we use that gift box.
And again, those of you thatmight be new on the podcast, if
you want to check that out, thesystem we use to really increase
our introductions, you can goto bigmoneydetailercom slash
(11:02):
referrals.
You can check it out there andyou can see how we've actually
doubled our introductions forDylan's business, which is
fantastic, all right.
Next one Looking back, like allthe way back, what's one thing
you wish you would have donedifferently?
We've covered systems.
I get that and you definitelyhave those in place, brother,
and I think that's awesome.
But if there's one thing, you'dlook back and say, man, I wish
(11:23):
I would have done thatdifferently.
Or maybe I should have done itin a different way.
What would that look like?
What would be one or two ofthose things?
Jacob Tran (11:30):
Definitely get a client relationship manager a
lot sooner, because I lost a lotof clientele in the beginning
just kind of, you know, nothaving and building that, that,
I guess, email listing, thatsource of clients, just that,
that client base to have to beable to follow up with, to send
nurturing emails, because when Ifirst started I had a lot and
(11:51):
then I'm pretty sure I lostabout half, since it took me a
while to learn about what a CRMis and the benefits of it.
So now that I kind of know howthey work and how important they
are, definitely wish I wouldhave had that in the beginning.
Davy Tyburski (12:05):
Yeah, the key learning from that is really
it's much easier to go back to acurrent client that loves you
as compared to and againFacebook ads, instagram ads I
get it no issues there.
That's sort of very cold right.
So you've got to kind of buildthat relationship once they
connect with you.
But what Jacob's saying I thinkthat's very important is how
are you and this is thecheckpoint for everybody
(12:26):
listening?
What is your checkpoint thatyou're?
Look, your clients aren't wakingup every day just thinking of
you.
I mean, you wish they were like.
Okay, I wake up in the morning,I get my Starbucks and I'm
going to think of Jacob, we wishthat was like that.
But what are you doingspecifically to remind them that
you're here to serve them?
What are you doing to remindthem, whether it's a physical
(12:46):
newsletter, an e-newsletter, aquick text?
I know for Easter, what Dylandid is he just went through his
whole contact list we're talkinghundreds and the system just
sent out a simple text.
Hey, hope you have a greatEaster weekend.
Thanks for being my client.
There was no sales process,there was no sales versation
happening, it was just hey, I'mthinking about you.
(13:07):
And, of course, that thefollowing week guess what
happened to his schedule.
It was a reminder to them thathey, have a great Easter weekend
, but also, hey, just a friendlyreminder that I'm here to serve
you and boom, a simple thinglike that that.
Think about it, jacob.
It costs pennies, right, it'spennies on the dollar, paying
for some airtime or whatever itmight be.
(13:28):
That is a great tip.
I'm glad you brought that up.
All right, another one like thefirst week or two that you
started out, because we've got alot of new folks that come into
the community Like what arethose one, two, three things
that you did in the first fewweeks to really get cranking in
the detailing business?
Jacob Tran (13:45):
Really just personal outreach, connecting with
friends, family, doing a lot oftheir cars.
I would say one thing don't gettoo caught up in the products
you use, because you're going toget so caught up in buying
products, products, products andthen you realize, well, I just
bought a million differentproducts and now it's like, wow,
which one should I use?
You know what I mean?
Davy Tyburski (14:04):
Yeah, yeah, I think that's, that's the big
thing.
And, um, kind of goes back tomy five fingers.
Right, there's a.
There's a lot of detailers thatworry about what I call lotions
and potions.
They're more focused on thelotions and potions.
Yeah, they're more focused onthe lotions and potions and
tools, uh, but let's just bereal, that stuff doesn't matter
if you don't have anyone booking.
So you can have the best uhbuffers, you can have the best
(14:28):
lotions and potions, the bestceramic coatings, but if no
one's texting or reaching out orbooking your consultation to
actually have you do a projectfor them, you know, to treat
their vehicle, then none of thatstuff really matters.
Goes back to my thumb the thumband you're already on it,
brother, and I think it's greatthe thumb is like the most
important part of any business,let alone.
But specifically for thedetailing business, the
(14:50):
marketing piece is the mostimportant thing.
We don't have to worry abouthiring people, we don't have to
worry about customer service, wedon't have to worry about how
we're getting paid if we don'thave the right marketing in
place and the right folks tolearn from to make sure you're
doing it the right way.
That is always something thatwe got to remind people of is
making sure you're doing it theright way, and it's not just
about throwing spaghetti at thewall but, to your point, it's
(15:11):
about having a system that'sproven, that works well,
especially from a marketingperspective.
All right, we're about halfwaydone here, so how about this?
I'll flip it on you, jacob.
Well, what are some things thatyou want me to ask you, like,
what would be one or two thingsthat you want to kind of throw
out?
Hey, dave, you know what?
Let's talk about this and, bythe way, this is something new.
I just thought about that, sohopefully you'll play along.
Jacob Tran (15:32):
Okay, let me think about that a little bit.
I would say more of like thebackend stuff.
Right, a lot of people knowabout detailing and like they
may know a little bit aboutsystems and CRMs, but on the
backend side of things likebuying a shop, doing stuff like
that, what are the steps likefor that process?
Because me myself, I'm a mobiledetailer and it's just more
(15:54):
cost efficient for me.
That way I get cash flow frombeing mobile, whereas if I was
to have a shop it'd be a littlebit harder for me.
But how would you go abouteither renting out a space or
getting your own property oranything like that?
Davy Tyburski (16:07):
Yeah, great question.
So we actually just wentthrough this with Dylan.
So Dylan, like you, and againbefore we started the recording,
I was telling Jacob how Dylangot into the detailing business,
which was during the pandemic.
He was laid off from a guttercompany and he worked at the
wash tub back when he was inhigh school.
He's like Dad, I'm going tostart a car wash business and of
course that conversation led toI'm going to start a detailing
business.
(16:27):
And that conversation led tothis question Should I do start
with a mobile or should I?
And the right way, in my opinion.
Now I can look.
I'm pretty good at going bothways here on shop versus mobile.
But let's just think about it.
I always keep this right behindme.
This is my 1980s solarcalculator.
(16:47):
So let's just do some quickmath on answering that question.
And I believe a lot of detailersget whacked up emotionally
about that decision.
Well, if I have a shop, I'mgoing whacked up emotionally
about that decision.
Well, if I have a shop, I'mgoing to be perceived as okay.
But let's do the math, allright, just easy math right now,
just to make it simple.
And since we're in Texas, Imean a decent size spot is going
(17:08):
to, at least going to cost youat least 2000 a month in rent at
least, I mean, I'm just goingto use low numbers here to make
it easy.
And then we got that stuffcalled insurance, okay, on the
building.
So something happens there.
So we're just going to throw, Idon't know.
Let's throw another 120 bucks amonth for insurance.
So right now we are up to 2,120, 2,000 plus 120.
(17:30):
Let's say also we also have tohave electricity, oh, okay, so
let's throw that in.
The point is, I can keep goinghere, but in my rough math with
Dylan when we had thisconversation, jacob, we were up
to about 4,500 a month.
Jacob Tran (17:43):
Okay, Sounds about right.
Davy Tyburski (17:44):
Now put that in a box over here.
Now let's talk about mobile.
Dylan has a Mercedes Sprintervan decked out, completely
wrapped, fully, all the stuff init.
He needs to be mobile, okay,think about the monthly payment
and the insurance, okay, and I'mtelling you we're way under a
thousand bucks right there.
Electricity that runs off thegenerator in the mobile Water,
(18:08):
oh, okay.
Well, he just fills up thewater Insurance, well, that's
covered specifically on the van,right?
Of course we have liability incase the car gets jacked up and
all those type of things.
But based on my estimation andwhen we did the math, we were
about 25% to 30%.
Well, 75% savings.
So let's say it was $5,000 fora shop, with everything you need
(18:30):
for the shop.
We're about $1,250-ish with thevan.
So my encouragement is youbuild up the mobile business
first, and the good news iswe're about 1250-ish with the
van.
So my encouragement is youbuild up the mobile business
first, and the good news iswe're in Texas, so it's not like
we have like 30 below weatherand some of the detailers that
we work with, so we get to workpretty much 12 months a year.
I love the idea of building upthe mobile business and then the
(18:52):
other cool thing about that isthen, to your point you're going
to love this I say in mykeynote talks don't get mad, get
data, don't get mad, get data.
So now let's fast forward.
We've been mobile for, let'ssay, two years.
We have a book of clients of600, 700 clients to make this
easy, we'll say 600.
Now you have zip codes of everyone of those clients.
Now what you could do is sayokay, do a heat map in the
(19:15):
United States.
For some of you don't know whata heat map is.
Basically, I like to describeit like this you look at your
area let's call it San Antonio,let's use Houston, which is
yours In Houston and you went toa board with a map and you put
pushpins on the board around allthe clients you have in the
Houston area and what normallyyou'll see is a cluster of folks
.
You'll see is a cluster offolks.
(19:37):
Now that's when you start havingthe conversation about where
should I put a shop.
Well, some people are like well, I need a lot of traffic going
by, so the rent will be two,three, four times as much If,
for instance, you want to get ahigh traffic area like where
there's a lot of cars going by.
But think about that.
Does that really make sense?
Like if I'm driving down theroad, bro, I love detailers
because Dylan's one, and I loveyou, jacob, because you're a
(19:58):
detailer, but I ain't like goingto drive by and go, oh, I
should pull in and get a donut.
Dude, you ain't got donuts.
You're talking about detailing,right?
So you don't need a spot thathas high traffic area.
So then you can put your shopin a spot where that heat map
shows where most of your clientsare at, and then you should
consider.
And then this opens up aconversation.
I'm so glad you asked thisquestion.
You're probably getting morethan you want, but that's okay.
(20:19):
But then you can start thinkingabout what, what else should I
offer in my shop?
Should I do PPF?
Should I do tint?
See, then, once you have a shop, then you can figure out how do
you pay for that rent and allthose extra expenses with.
With number one, you shouldconsider the current clients you
have in that area where you putthe shop, if they cover your
monthly nut, just so.
(20:40):
Then you break even and thenyou start considering what else
can I add to it.
And I'm not saying you have togo get certified and PPF and all
the other cool stuff.
You can bring someone in thatdoes that for you and now you're
bringing in more revenue intothe shop.
But you know your currentclients are covering that rent
for you and I never, ever, wouldever, give up mobile detailing.
There is just some folks thatdon't want to drive, even if
(21:03):
you're five, 10 minutes away,they want you to come to them,
to their office, like themedical complex or wherever it
might be, and they want you todo the car there.
So let me pause there and seeif you have any follow-ups on
that, or is that good?
Jacob Tran (21:20):
at least at a high level, to figure out what when
the decision is to have a shop.
No, yeah, that was perfect, andeven like what you're saying,
with the heat map as well, likeas genius.
That's perfect.
Uh, obviously, like puttinglike a shop where all your
clientele base is going to be isdefinitely something that I was
thinking about in the past.
Um, just because I was like man, it's texas weather, it's know
it's bad sometimes doing cars inthe sun If you don't have like
a good setup, if you don't haveany DI water on you.
So I feel for the people thatdon't have any DI water or any
(21:44):
like processes to kind of helpwith that and combat that.
Davy Tyburski (21:48):
Yeah for sure, absolutely, and I the other.
The other cool part about thattoo is so there is a step
between 100% mobile and gettingyour own shop.
There is a hybrid.
There's a step in between that,and you just have to be
creative.
So, for instance, is theresomebody in your area that has
that ideal space right now thatmaybe they don't do detailing
(22:11):
but they do tint?
Or they do something else butthey don't offer ceramic coating
?
Hey, so, for instance, let'splay that out.
Let's say, jacob, that you werethat person that had a tint shop
, right?
Hey, jacob, man, if you let meuse the shop between six at
night and 10 at night for thosefour hours, I'll pay you a
hundred bucks for the space.
Think about that.
So now you're getting thebenefit of having a space,
(22:33):
you're getting the benefit ofair condition, you're getting
the benefits of a controlledenvironment, but you're not on
the hook for that five grandtotal expense from an actual
spot.
So you can think about anybusiness owner that's smart.
It's kind of like the hotelbusiness, right, I do some work
for boutique hotels, like theirjob is to keep the rooms at 100,
actually 80% capacity, right.
(22:54):
But for those rooms that aren'tbeing used, then if they had a
way to increase their revenuefor that 20% they're not making
money on anyway, then they wouldbe happy to do that.
It's the same thing with maybea tent person or someone in your
local area.
I'm pausing because, believe itor not, I have a sneeze that's
coming, so I'm trying to time itjust right so we can edit it
(23:15):
out if I really go on a sneezingspell.
All right, I think I'm good fornow.
Okay, we're moving along, allright.
Next question what's one thingyou used to spend a lot of time
on before systems and beforeautomation, before your CRM?
What's one thing you used tospend a lot of time on that?
Now you're like blessed.
You're like, oh my God.
Jacob Tran (23:45):
I'm so glad I implemented fill in the blank
something.
So, besides, like systems andall that is something I would
just spend, I guess, justtexting people, like texting
outreach manually.
It's definitely been somethingin the past where it would just
take forever.
Like going through like a listof people and I'm just like, ah,
copy paste, copy paste, and Iwas like, yeah, before any
automations or anything likethat built in.
Like going through like a listof people and I'm just like, ah,
copy paste, copy paste, and Iwas like, yeah, before any
automations or anything likethat built in.
Yeah, that was definitely themost annoying part.
Davy Tyburski (24:03):
Yeah, so the idea of that, so the teaching point
for all the listeners is whatare you?
I like to say?
You know we've been blessedwith the same time suitcase.
We have 24 hours in a day.
Right, that's it.
That's all we have.
So if you break down yourbusiness time and let's say
that's eight or 10 hours to makeit easy, what are you currently
(24:23):
spending time on today that youcan automate or delegate, Like
something you don't have to doyourself, so you free up more
time?
To go back to that thumb, whichis do more marketing.
I mean, at the end of the day,I learned this from one of my
business mentors, Dan Kennedy.
He said whoever can spend themost money to acquire a customer
wins the game.
So think about that for asecond.
If you could free up 10, 20% ofyour time a week and you can
(24:46):
spend more time on the thumb,which is the most important part
of your detailing business,which is the marketing, then you
get to a point where you canspend more than your competitors
and that's like the holy grailright there.
The more you can spend toacquire a customer because you
know you're going to keep them,because you're doing great work
with them.
But, man, if you can spend moremoney on your marketing and
bring in more clients, it's likethe perfect thing.
(25:07):
So what can you do today to mylisteners?
What can you do today toautomate something like Jacob
did on the texting?
Or what can you do to delegatethat task to maybe a $6 person
that's overseas that can do someof that work for you?
So that's another challenge foryou on today's podcast.
What can you get off your plateand give it to somebody else?
All right, good, We've got justa few more questions here and
(25:29):
then we're going to wrap it upfor the day.
This has been great, Jacob.
You're a great guest man.
I appreciate you sharing it andit's great to see a young man
like you.
That's balancing school, whichis very important, and balancing
your business as well.
So you've been awesome.
Last thing is, let's say and Idon't know if you've had this
yet and if you didn't, it's noproblem I always like to ask
(25:50):
this question Was there a pointwhere you realized that you're a
good detailer, but where was apoint in your path where you
said I've got to move from beinga good detailer to a great
business owner?
Was there a point in that?
Maybe talk through it with ourlisteners of what that was like.
Jacob Tran (26:10):
Yeah, I would say when I was first starting.
Obviously when you first startsomething you're not the best at
it.
And as you kind of move forwardand you start to grow a lot
more clients, you'll kind of getthat like imposter syndrome, a
little bit Like like, am Ireally good at this?
Am I really doing what I'msupposed to be doing?
And then as you build moreconfidence and skill and
experience, you're like okay,yeah, this is, I'm a good
detailer now.
(26:31):
And then now it's just like howcan I scale, how can I get more
clients, how can I let myselfhave more time to myself, hire
out, delegate, how can I kind ofprepare myself to exit the
business and actually be abusiness owner instead of a
worker?
So definitely, I would say,once I got out of that imposter
syndrome phase and once Istarted actually training
(26:52):
another like worker, that'swhenever I was like okay, now I
can start working more on thebusiness side trying to help
scale, do the marketing and thenrun these systems on the
backend side.
Davy Tyburski (27:02):
Yeah, man, I tell you, and all the guests I've
had, I think this is a veryimportant thing is what happens
is.
It sounds to me that, likeearly on, you, you realize that
you can't do it all yourself.
I mean, you realized early on,so you already had the mindset
of, hey, I need to go findsomebody that's 80%, catch that
80% as good as I am.
I'm a little older than you andI still haven't found someone
(27:25):
who's 100% as good at stuff thatI am.
But I realized 80% is goodenough, unless you're landing
airplanes or you're deliveringbabies.
So in this case, if you can findsomebody that's 80% as good as
you doing a ceramic coating oran interior detailing, whatever
it might be, that's good enoughand it's going to be just as
good for the client.
They're not going to make like,oh my gosh, jacob did this, but
(27:47):
this guy didn't do that, orthis person didn't do that,
doesn't matter, all right, gooddeal.
Well, I think that's it fortoday, man, it's been great
having you as a guest.
Before we wrap up, just a quickquestion for you what's the
best way for folks who arelistening to the podcast or
hitting up the website and kindof seeing about you.
What's the best way for them toreach out to you or, more
importantly, to get them to haveyou serve them with their
(28:08):
vehicle?
Jacob Tran (28:10):
Yeah, if you're in the Houston area, my website is
jdmdetailingnet and if you wantto look me up on socials, my
social is jtran, underscore ISE.
I post pretty much everythingwhat I do not only just
detailing on there, but it's alittle bit of my personal kind
of behind the scenes businesswork, so I'll show people how I
run systems, how I do somemarketing and then some
(28:31):
engineering advice as well, ifyou're also in engineering, but
a lot of entrepreneurship typecontent I like to post as well
as my detailing page is JDMdetailing or JDM underscore
detailing on Instagram.
Davy Tyburski (28:46):
Perfect.
Well, it's been great havingyou as a guest man.
Any last minute comments?
I'll give you the last word.
Then I'll close it down.
Anything else, any other pathyou want to go down or anything
else, are you good to go for?
Jacob Tran (28:57):
today.
Pretty much good to go.
Thank you for having me on.
It was a pleasure kind ofsharing my experience, what I've
learned, some struggles alongthe way.
Davy Tyburski (29:06):
It's always a good thing.
Like I always say, it's good tolearn from Big Money Detailer,
from our team here, but it'salso good to learn from your
peers, like my man, jacob, inHouston, texas.
So until next time I'm DaveyTyburski, America's Chief Profit
Officer, also the founder ofBigMoneyDetailercom.
Again, go toBigMoneyDetailercom, grab some
(29:28):
free resources, other training.
There's also my keynotes outthere at MTE and IDA and many
other places that I speak.
So until next time, go outthere and earn more so you can
serve more.
Bye-bye.
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