Mobile car valeting: guides and software for car valeters
Mobile car valeting is cleaning and detailing cars at the customer's home or workplace, from a quick wash to a full interior and exterior valet.
The mobile car valeting year
Busiest in spring and summer, and before Christmas and MOTs. Quietest in winter, and long wet spells.
- Example price per car
- £63
- Jobs a month to earn £2,000
- 39
Example numbers to show the method, not market prices.
Written for car valeters
The same advice as the general guides, with mobile car valeting numbers, kit, rules and seasons.
- Pricing5 min readHow to price mobile car valeting: a worked exampleA step-by-step price for mobile car valeting, with the sums, the minimum charge and how many jobs it takes to earn a living.
- Starting out6 min readHow to start a mobile car valeting businessThe order to do things in, the kit, the rules to check and where your first customers come from.
- Tax & books5 min readMobile car valeting: expenses you can claimWhat car valeters can deduct before tax, with an example year of costs and the receipts to keep.
- Starting out5 min readMobile car valeting insurance: what you needThe cover car valeters should ask about, the risks behind most claims and the rules to check.
- Growing4 min readQuiet months in mobile car valeting: how to plan the yearWhen mobile car valeting is busy and quiet, how to smooth the income, and the buffer to build.
What car valeters need from software
WorkWise Rounds is built for people who visit the same customers again and again. It plans the round, runs the day on your phone, and gets you paid.
- Services with their own prices
- Each customer's visit has its own services and price, so a full valet and a quick wash are set up once and repeat.
- Pay on the driveway
- A pay link goes to the customer the moment you tap Done: card, Apple Pay or Google Pay.
- Regular washes
- A repeat schedule for monthly or quarterly washes, with a reminder text before each visit.
For every round trade
Money, tax and getting paid work the same way whatever you do.
- Getting paid6 min readChasing late payments politely, with texts you can copyHow to stop payments going late in the first place, and a polite ladder of messages for when they do.
- Getting paid6 min readDirect Debit for small traders: how it works and whether to use itDirect Debit, card, bank transfer and cash compared, and how to get customers to say yes.
- Tax & books8 min readMaking Tax Digital for sole traders: do you need it, and when?HMRC's new way of reporting income tax: who must use it, the start dates, the quarterly deadlines and what to do now.
- Tax & books8 min readRegistering as a sole trader: tax, deadlines and what to set asideWhen to tell HMRC, the dates that matter, how much tax to expect and how to avoid a January shock.
- Growing6 min readHow to get your first customersLeaflets, doorsteps, Facebook groups and reviews: what works for a local round, and what to watch out for.
- Starting out6 min readHow to buy a round, and what to check firstA bought round can save you years of leafleting, but only if the customers and the numbers are real.
- Starting out6 min readSwitching round software without losing customers or moneyHow to move from another app, a spreadsheet or a paper round book without double-charging anyone.