According to Google, 17% of college students run their own business and 16% plan to start their own company post-graduation.
Student entrepreneurs Christoper Love and Jordan Promise are adding to that statistic with their business, Refining Auto Detailing.
“Originally it was one of my ideas that I came up with,” Love, Cleveland, Mississippi junior, said. “I had a passion for detailing cars, and I wanted to bring it to life and truly make a business out of it.”
Not wanting it to be a solo business, Love asked Promise to be his business partner in the fall of 2024, and business has been on the incline, Promise said.
“The first step was making a business plan and figuring out what all we needed,” Love said. “We started researching the best materials to get, like the Shop-Vac and the pressure washer. Then we started looking at chemicals that are high quality.”
The pair began planning their financing and prices, and deciding how they were going to schedule customers.
“As soon as we came back from December break, we hit it in January,” Promise said. “It started off a little slow with trying to get our names out there and trying to get clientele, but after our first five washes, it started going up from there.”
Staying true to the pairs business name, clients are not just limited to a standard outside wash, although that is an option. Promise and Love offer three different car services to choose from.
“We offer the purified wash, which is our basic package; a transform, which is our most popular; and a refined package, which is a showroom-ready type of detail,” Love said. “These range from interior vacuums, exterior washes and wax — and we’re learning ceramic coating right now as well, so we’re trying to include that into our packages.”
Rather than having a set price, quoting customers based on the condition of their car has proven to be better business.
“Quoting works out a lot better not only for us, but also for the customer because we’re able to be a little bit more flexible with people who have a budget but are in need of a detail,” Promise said.
Balancing their education while being young entrepreneurs can be a challenge, especially when business and education collide.
“Sometimes it can get a bit overwhelming, especially since we work on our customers time, not necessarily our time,” Promise said.
A wash may fall on a day where they have tests or have a shift at their second job, but if that is the only day that works for their customers, they will figure out a way to make it happen, Promise said.
“At the end of the day, we always have fun with our washes so I can’t really complain, but it does step on us just a little bit,” Love said.
As the duo expand they plan to incorporate a paint corrections service.
Although the business started on campus, Promise and Love are hoping to make it sustainable and open their own shop one day.
For more information, visit refiningautodetail on Instagram or visit their website refiningautodetailing.com.