Big Money Detailer
We show highly motivated auto detailers how to earn more so you can serve more! You will discover how to increase your sales revenue, improve your cash flow, and boost your bottom line in your car detailing business.
We keep most of our podcasts around 25 minutes because your time suitcase is already pretty full, right? This podcast delivers real world, actionable strategies and techniques that work right here on planet earth, no theories or concepts!
Be sure to check out even more profit building strategies and techniques at our website!
Big Money Detailer
Beyond Waxing Wings: The Art of Aviation Detailing
High-flying detailing requires specialized knowledge, skills, and business acumen that differs significantly from automotive care. Guy shares his fascinating journey from a 15-year-old reluctant entrepreneur pushed by his father to choose between aircraft detailing and becoming a line service technician, to running a successful aviation detailing operation.
What separates the most successful detailers isn't just technical skill, but strategic thinking. Guy reveals how seeking mentorship early saved him 4-5 years of costly trial and error. His apprenticeship with an experienced car detailer taught him not only cleaning techniques but critical business and marketing strategies that transferred to aviation detailing with the proper adaptations.
The conversation illuminates crucial differences between automotive and aviation detailing that many professionals don't understand. Aircraft paint is significantly thinner than car paint, making common services like paint correction and ceramic coating potentially disastrous on planes. Guy explains why ceramic coatings that benefit cars can actually harm aircraft aerodynamics and fuel efficiency - knowledge that prevents costly mistakes and liability issues.
Guy's marketing approach offers a masterclass in strategic targeting. Rather than employing scattered "spray and pray" tactics, he uses data-driven strategies focused on quality clients over quantity. By monitoring flight databases to track which aircraft regularly use local airports, he specifically targets charter companies and corporate flight operations requiring frequent cleaning rather than individual owners needing service only once or twice yearly.
Whether you're considering expanding into aviation detailing or looking to refine your current business model, Guy's journey demonstrates the power of mentorship, strategic specialization, and faith-based resilience. His story reminds us that success comes from clearly defining both what you do and what you don't do, establishing proper expectations, and providing consistent leadership through challenges.
INTRO
Your host is Davy Tyburski, America’s Chief Profit Officer® and Founder BigMoneyDetailer.com.
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OUTRO
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Hey, big Money Detailers, welcome to the Big Money Detailer podcast today. And today we're going 30,000 feet here. Ladies and gentlemen, guy is actually my first detailer that I've had on the Big Money Detailer podcast and we looked at others, but we picked Guy out of the crowd because he does some very unique things in aviation. So, guy, are you ready to thrive and shine? Brother, let's go. Dude, let's go, all right. Are you ready to thrive and shine, brother? Let's go. Dude, let's go, all right, let's do it, okay. So again, big Money Detailers, welcome to the podcast today.
Speaker 1:Today's topic is going to be aviation, and Guy's got a very unique background. He's got some great stories to tell and, as always, it's not only you know for your sake, not only to improve your knowledge, skills and abilities with me and my team here at Big Money Detailer. But we love to bring guys get this. We like to bring guys on like Guy that can actually share some of his insider secrets of what he's doing in aviation, and obviously we're going to model that a little bit for your auto car detailing business. So with that, guy, first question man, how'd you decide? Take me way back in your case. It's not that long ago, but take me way back to when you started detailing and kind of fill in those gaps for our listeners of how you got into detailing and now how you have transitioned into the aviation market. Go ahead.
Speaker 2:Of course, man. So well, I got into detailing when I was 15 years old. My dad, essentially, you know, took me off the couch and he told me that you know, I got to get a job and I didn't want to get a job and I, you know, I was just easily, I was pretty comfortable just sitting at home, you know, all summer long doing nothing, you know, occasionally going to the pool or hanging out. But you know he said you got to get a job or you know, none of this lifestyle is living, was not going to get paid for. You know, these things I was doing were not going to be supported. So from there I was like you know what, I'll get a job. And I was a little, I was kind of prideful then and I was like you know what, I can't work for anyone. I got to start my own thing and he gave me two options, because you know, of course, he's got to tell me what to do and you know the way I do it. And he told me that I got to have to start my own aircraft detailing company or I'm going to go and become a line service tech, which is, you know, the technicians that you know fuel airplanes and, you know, move them as such. And so I say, you know what cleaning sounds like. It's an easy thing, you know, let's get into it. And you know, for the listeners out there that have detailed cars and have detailed airplanes, or boats, whatever they know, that that's you know, that's not true. It is very, very hard. Boats, whatever they know, that that's you know, that's not true. It is very, very hard and, of course, a lot of skill.
Speaker 2:So from there I started, you know detailing, you know family cars, friends cars just kind of learning all the processes, different chemicals, solutions etc. And really from there I kind of realized that you know what I was learning on YouTube and the internet was not going to suffice. I really needed to go and get an expert to train me and really kind of show me what needed to be done. So I went with a local car detailer as an apprentice and he taught me how to detail cars, boats, and really also taught me how to market, showing me the different marketing strategies and business tools needed to run an effective detailing company.
Speaker 2:So we went, and you know, all summer long, you know, whenever I had time between football practice and school, and I worked with them and we did a lot of cool things, had a lot of cool experiences and a lot of it was, you know, fundamental and he helped me start my own company and really helped me get set up when I was trying to, you know, get my own brand and sure, um, that was an opportunity that I don't think I could. It was just so rare. You know, no one really ever does that and he only gets up in aviation. Detailing, helped me learn how to structure conversations, how to how to actually, you know, close deals and everything and um, but, yeah, that's really how I got started yeah, well, that's it.
Speaker 1:That's a great answer. And again, here's the key teaching point for everyone If you're listening to the Big Money Detailer podcast, you realize that, look, you can't do this alone. Being in detailing like in Guy's case, whether it's aviation, or like our son Dylan who runs the Affluent Auto Spa here in San Antonio it's a lonely world and one of the key things that Guy said and, guy, I'm going to come back with one follow-up and then we'll move to the next one One thing that Guy said here that's important is what was one of the first things he did. Ladies and gentlemen, he did not try to figure it out on his own. He probably did for a while and he went. It's like you should just beat your head against a brick wall. What he actually did is he sought out a mentor, somebody who's been there, done that.
Speaker 1:In my case, what I like to say is learn from people who've been there, done that and still doing it today, because sometimes, when you learn from certain mentors, they've been there, done that, but that was 10 years ago and, as we know, right, guy, the detailing industry changes almost monthly, if not daily in some cases Lotions, potions, chemicals, tools, regulations, insurance. I can go on and on about all that crazy stuff. That's why you have to learn from the right mentor. So, guy, congratulations on jumping on the right mentor. So here's the question for you. If you had to go back and think and Guy, we just met before the podcast, but I have my 1980 solar calculator right here but if you had to take a calculator and estimate just estimate on the calculator how much money you saved or how much frustration you saved by seeking out a mentor, what do you think that has been over the last x number of years for you? How much did you save? Or how much credibility did you save in your business because of that?
Speaker 2:so I would look at that because, uh, though the person I work with is not my only mentor, I had my, my dad also there too, kind of both of them, which is great. Um, you know, and from when I look at this, if I didn't have my dad, if I didn't have, you know, the guy that was teaching me, I mean, I would be probably. I look at it as a matter of time, right, because time is money. So I look at, you know, how long would it take me to learn this without them? And I think that just kind of on this track, like I was on the track to take to learn those information they're giving me, but I don't think I would have learned it as quick as I did with them being there. So I think that I've probably been four, maybe five years behind without them.
Speaker 1:Wow, so you think you cut your learning curve by four or five years, right?
Speaker 2:Yes, that's pretty darn good right there. I mean, you can do the math on that, I. But you know that's that's a lot of time, you know, and right, um, and that's a lot of more money down the drain. You know being stuck in that one spot as well as, like you're, you're not making any more money or just losing money.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly time is money. Like you said, man, it's definitely time is money is a big thing. But then also, um and again, I mean, I talk to and I coach a lot of detailers and here's here's one of the things I want to just tie into, especially for the new listeners who haven't heard me say this before be careful what you build, because then you have to support it. And what I mean specifically on that I learned that from one of my mentors is you know, right now you have to decide what you want your business to look like. I I mean, do you want a multi-location, like, do you want to be in every airport guy? I think I know the answer for no, but for people that are listening, you have to kind of determine that now. It doesn't have to be exact, but you've got to get 80% on the right track of where you want to be and how you want to grow this thing. And then the question becomes how long do you want to have it? In 10 years? Do you want to have it in five years, like reaching that next major milestone in your business, or do you want it in five months? That's one of the things that we talk about here at Big Money Detailer all the time is we put you on the fast track to more profit. You could take three or four years to become profitable, or you could do it in three or four months. You decide. And I think that's the big thing that a lot of detailers have to decide. I'm not saying one way or the other is wrong, but in your case you're on the fast track to more profit, more revenue and serving more clients in the aviation space, which is fantastic. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Next, anything else on that one buddy? No, that's it All right. Good, so here's the next question, and I love this question because you can go anywhere you want with it. If you had to pick one tough one, it's hard, you got to pick one tough one, it's it's hard, you gotta pick one. If you had to pick one superpower, and I'd be like guy, what is your superpower? Like dude, you are so good at it that you could wear a cape. What would be one superpower you have, whether in your business, or it could be your personal life as well.
Speaker 2:But let's talk about your superpower uh, man, if I could have one superpower, I'd just be able to, you know, read minds one that one of the things I hate, uh, of like all things, just lying, you know, you know, you know I'm thinking people just being, you know, not truthful and, um, a lot of times in aviation people are just, you know, telling you they're like the the wrong thing. You know, you know they the lies, etc. And it's also in detailing too. I mean, no one really, I mean mean, when we look at this, right, there's very few people that wants to get other succeed. So, having people to tell you the truth and and be able to know the truth is just so incredibly valuable. Um, I wouldn't want super strength, I wouldn't want to be the fastest man or fly I can already fly in my life, my pilot's license but, uh, being able to you know all discerned between the lies and the truth all the time would be great and, uh, that's just, I think that'd be. It would help me know what's real and what's not real?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's good. So again, you answered it on the other side of it, which is man, what would do? What do superpower do you want to have, Like dude? Uh, again, I'll tell you a little about your family. Tell me a little about you, know, know, your dad helps you a little bit, but tell me a little more about your family, because I think I'm going to structure this question based on your answer.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I have a huge family, not immediate, but you know my broader scale. My dad's side, my dad's side, that's really kind of where the aviation aviation roots are. My great grandfather was named Bob Matthews. He started a company called matthews buses uh, still active today and uh, that's in, it's actually in rochester, new york, um. And so from there he actually got in the flying guys license. My great-grandmother got her license, wow, and they started flying across, you know, the northeast region of the united states, uh, selling buses, and uh, you know they had a king air, they hades, they've had all different sorts of airplanes and it was neat, it was really neat.
Speaker 2:And from there my grandfather got into flying. He got his pilot's license and his instrument rating and then from there, my dad growing up around this whole aviation community and family, uh, you know he didn't, he's the same, he didn't want to get into buses. You know he was like, you know, busing is great, especially vehicles, and you know Marine is all all wonderful, but that's just not something he wanted to do. He wanted to fly and he wanted to. You know cause he?
Speaker 2:He saw like how amazing it was to be in control of an aircraft, that feeling in that sense, uh, he, um, he got his private and when he was in high school and they got his instrument, his multi and his cfi and um, and then from there he just kind of weaseled his way through, not like weasel, like you know, being sly or anything, but he just kind of worked his way uh and through aviation and um, from there he just became a corporate pilot and uh, and the funny thing is is he he had his first corporate uh pilot flying job, uh, through having an excel certification. He got hired because he was the only one that knew excel back in the 1990s look at that.
Speaker 1:Well, I can see, I can see, based on that story, where your passion comes from. And just so y'all know, uh, before we started the recording of the podcast, I asked guy. Guy, I said you know he's the first, obviously, person that deals with aviation in the Big Money Detailer podcast. But it was his passion, the reason he wants to aviation, and if you think about that family line of going way back in generations, of the passion that his whole family has had around aviation, it only makes sense for him to be in the space of serving folks that are in the aviation space. So that's fantastic.
Speaker 1:So here's the second part of that question. Obviously, there's skills and knowledge you can gain on how to read people, right, like you have a pretty good sense just in our short conversation. You know when someone's BSing you, you know when they're not giving you the facts. So there's a lot of things you could do to try to lower that risk, right. But the specific question is like, here on planet Earth right now, what is your superpower? Like you're really good at fill in the blank. Obviously, we'd all especially guys, we would love to read minds, but we know that's one of those things that we really can't do. We could try to lower the risk of someone lying to us. But what's your real superpower for what you do in your business right now that you're really really good at? Another way to ask the question is you're pretty good at it and you're a humble guy. I can feel that, but what's one thing you're really good at that maybe you want to share with the listeners of what your superpower is in your business?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I'd say my biggest superpower, or my biggest strength, if they want to call it that, is my faith. I became a Christian my senior year of high school and that looking, I mean we'll talk about this later but seeing all the things I've had to endure and go through with this business and all my other business ventures, it wouldn't have been possible without God in my life and having a sense of morality and a sense of meaning that's better than just myself and just kind of being able to understand, you know, how this world works through the lens of Christ has been just incredible and it's helped me. I mean the strength and the amount of resilience I've been able to you know, just you know have within myself through crisis has been insane. I've been able to endure college, rotc, this and other business. I mean just all that I've been able to do.
Speaker 2:And people always, always ask me all the time like, how do you do this? I went and taught, or taught on entrepreneurship at Liberty university, did a entrepreneurship at Liberty University, did a class there, and these kids are like how do you manage all this Right? How do you endure all this craziness? And I'm like I mean you can do anything through Christ, you know, you just have to trust him and abide in him, and you need to, you know, be obedient to him. You got to follow and see where he wants you. Yes, sir, and if you do that, and if you I mean truly, truly, you know just remain disciplined, you know, and stay strong. I mean, that's how you do it, and there's not a lot of strong and disciplined people out there, because they're all taught to be lazy, unfortunately.
Speaker 1:Yeah, very true, very true, yeah. And, as a matter of fact, you know, as Christian men, we know there's no coincidences. There's no coincidence of you being on the Big Money Detailer podcast.
Speaker 2:We obviously have a message to share together.
Speaker 1:That's like what we're going to talk about here is. So here's the teaching point for the listeners. Right, I'm going to talk marketing here and then we're going to get back to Jesus Christ in a second. Not to put Jesus Christ second, but just for this part of the conversation.
Speaker 1:I'm waiting for the lightning to come down here. No, I think you know what I mean on that. We'll get to that in the second part of this. But here's the marketing lesson. And I get this sometimes like guy. I speak all over the country to other detailers and help them improve their business, increase their sales, their cashflow, and I help them boost their bottom line. And sometimes, after my talk, I love to hang around and talk to the folks who've been in my session and they say you're all about the money, yeah, and and you know what? Yes, because here's why if, if, I didn't call this big money detailer, okay, and I called it something more generic, okay.
Speaker 1:I'm speaking that the name of the of the brand is big money detailer because I know that more than 80 percent of the detailers want to make more money. They they could do more with their church, they could do more with their charities, they could do more for their families, they could do more with a legacy. A lot of problems could be fixed with a stroke of a check. And I call it big money detailer because I'm selling catch the message here. I'm selling to what detailers want. Detailers want money, so it's called big money Detailer. Now let's get back to what's underneath of that. Once I get them into my program and they realize I can help them with one of the Fs which is financial, okay, then I can give them what they really need. They want big money. But once they come in, they get to meet Gal. They get to meet Dylan, our son, who runs the Affluent Auto Spa. They get to meet Kevin, my older son. They realize I'm more than just about the money. I'm about the five Fs. I'm about family, faith, financial fitness and fun.
Speaker 1:And that's what Guy just touched on. He touched on the fact that, yeah, we obviously have to make money in our business big money detailer as an example but the foundation of what we're talking about here is you've got to be well-rounded in all those Fs, not just the financial side. And obviously faith plays a very big part in both of our lives. I don't know if you know, Guy, but I have a foundation called Pastor 360, and its mission is to make life and ministry better for pastors. And just one more quick bit on that If you think you and I have challenging positions in our company, imagine the challenges that a pastor has.
Speaker 1:And I'll leave it at that, but again, no coincidence why we're chatting today, and I appreciate you, brother, for sharing your faith on the Detailer podcast, Because I think we need a lot more people to be introduced and have a relationship with Jesus. So amen, brother, I appreciate that. All right. Next question is this how do you like, what are some of the things you do to stay booked? And I know the aviation business is a little bit different but maybe one or two ideas about how you stay booked, how you get those higher-end jobs and those type of things.
Speaker 2:So it's all about the type of clientele. If you it's kind of like you can relate this to cars, if, um, if you it's kind of like you can relate this to cars, if you're just sticking with the private retail and you're just going after you know clients with one car or two cars, right, you know they're not going to, you're not going to see them again for another year or six months, right, um, unless they're on a maintenance program. But if you're for me, for example, I can't go and work with just the guys that have one airplane, because that airplane I'm only going to see probably every six months to a year. Who I try to work with and who I find consistent work through is charter companies, a part of anyone, corporate flight operations. Those guys need the airplanes constantly cleaned, they're constantly flying and they have a higher appearance standard than the general aviation market does. So that's how I stay busy and that's how I try to stay bugged is through those guys, trying to find the guys that are flying more and more, right.
Speaker 2:So the one thing we do is we constantly monitor the flight aware and other databases, seeing who's flying through our airports and who's flying through um and then trying to see. You know, what are they based here? They're saying like, what's going on, trying and then trying to get their polar information from the till number and, uh, do this and that, but that's how we stay budget through. Uh, chasing business, business clientele, uh, it's, it's easier, it's, you know, a lot more recurring and, um, it gives us, you know, just just, I mean, it helps us, you know, to stay constant, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So Pete Lesson again a guy man, you're right on the right on the game here. I want to make sure we break it down. We have a lot of listeners who were just kind of getting into the detail space and and, and look I, I saw Dylan do it, our, our son. It's from a marketing perspective. Okay, and again, let's do this again.
Speaker 1:Now, this time I'm going to not talk about the five Fs, because I talked about that, but this time I'm going to talk about the five parts of your business. You've got marketing, which is your thumb. So marketing, sales, customer service, operations, getting paid the thumb is the thickest, the strongest finger we have. It's the marketing engine that drives all the other components of the business. And what Guy just said is very important is I see it kind of breaks my heart, but I see a lot of detailers, whether they're veterans or they're just starting out. They just stole spaghetti at the wall from a marketing perspective and for my therapy today, I'm just going to rattle off a few things just to get it off my chest, now that you brought up the conversation paid Facebook ads, paid Google ads, do Instagram ads, do more reels? I could go on and on. Oh, I'll get you more ceramic coating jobs. I mean, we get hammered all the time with these crazy butt text messages, either on email or on text. They're going to help you get more visitors to the website, they're going to help you get more ceramic coating jobs and 90% of the time it's BS. Right, spaghetti at the wall doesn't work, okay, and actually what it does, it causes more frustration and it's just a bunch of money leaking out of your profit bucket.
Speaker 1:One of the things that Guy said he said a lot there. I want to break it down, though I think the most important part was quality, not quantity. Quality of Guy doing the push-ups man, guy is doing the hard work that works. He's doing the data and by keynote talks, guy, I say this all the time Don't get mad, get data.
Speaker 1:Marketing has to be driven off data. It goes back to my 1980 solar calculator. Right here. The numbers don't lie and one of the things you have to seriously consider is get very strategic and targeted in your marketing. Guy just said he looks at data for how many flights, how many people are flying, how many people. That's data that's helping him drive decisions. So, guy, maybe a little more on that, because I believe that is a very important part that kind of relates not only to the aviation space but maybe a little more, because, if you didn't mention it earlier, guy started detailing vehicles and he's kind of transitioned. But expand a little more on this data and how you use it in your marketing, brother, I think that's a great topic.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so when we look at everything in aviation, everything's word of mouth Aviation is a very niche and tight industry, so, and with a very little overlap in the others. So when we look at this, we're not marketing just to everyone, we're marketing to specific clients. Kind of think of it almost like Amex right, you get an Amex card, right, let's say, you have like a million dollar net worth and they offer you the platinum card right or this, and that they are specifically marketing to you as an individual. It's a lot more personal and a lot more personal approach. So that's kind of how we do it, because there's no point in us creating a whole bunch of different Canva ads and doing, like you said, like the LinkedIn, you know, advertisements for, like you know, boosting ceramic coatings and this and that, right, what we do is really just kind of locating clients and then marketing to them directly and sharing how we can help them in their specific aircraft, and that saves us a ton of money and helps us, you know, uh, not waste time and really just make good use of our time.
Speaker 2:And uh, and like you said, it's about the quality of the clients, right, we're not chasing after a bunch of NetJets, contracts or this, and that we are specifically looking towards certain clients and I have my eyes on several. I mean we look every day on the ramp and see what aircraft are consistently coming through Spirit of St Louis Airport, where we're located. You know we are constantly looking just all around, seeing like one big thing that's going on right now in St Louis is the hangar developments. We've got hangars that are currently being built so we're keeping an eye on tabs on all the aircraft that are going to start going and being hangared over there at the new hangar complex. So I mean there's just a lot of strategic things we do internally to facilitate our operations and market strategically Beautiful.
Speaker 1:So we talked about the target market right to facilitate our operations and market strategically Beautiful. So we talked about the target market right, being very specific in your marketing right. Guy is very clear who his ideal client is and also I want to expand on that also because I believe there's two parts of this equation. The first is we just talked about it, guy, thanks for sharing which is the whole idea of who's your target market, who's your ideal client. By the way, before I forget, your best client is the most educated. Like at Big Money Detail, we teach 100 different ways to market, but your best client is the person who is the most educated about what they want. That's the first thing, but also the second part of that equation is you've got to be very clear on what your service offering is. So, guy, if you need me to help you along because I know we talked about it before the recording but you have to also be very clear as the business owner what services you're offering. So expand on that if you don't mind.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we're not cleaners, we're detailers. And I say it because a lot of people go out there, as you know, in the automotive industry. They say they're detailers. Detailers is a very generalized term for a cleaner. It's a different level of cleaning, and so when I go with these people, they saw a lot of like, for example, the GA guys right, they got a SESTA 172 or a PA28.
Speaker 2:They'll be like oh well, I just wanted to get cleaned up. I'm like, no, well, there's you gotta help me out here, right, we gotta, we gotta make sure that we are on the same page of what you're asking, right? So I'll tell them like, here's what we're using. This is a premium chemical that we're going to be using on your aircraft. This is what it does, this is the benefits of that chemical, and now this is what the result's going to be. You know, is this what you really want, or do you want us to do this, which is a very less option and it's not really going to benefit your account at all and is going to really just be a money pit, right?
Speaker 2:So one of the things we do is we do client education. So we, when we go and list our services, we don't just go and say, oh, we're detailing this and that we're like, no, this is exactly what we're doing. You know, this is what we're only offering. We're not going to dumb down to that level of quality that you want. This is what we do. And if you want to get that done, then go pay the guy with no insurance that uses a spray-away glass cleaner, and that's kind of how we operate and I don't have the time nor the patience, unfortunately, to do those kinds of guys. I'm respectful always to everyone I meet. I love being mean people and engaging, but, uh, one thing I do not really tolerate at all from a client is, uh, they like, well, could you just do this for like 100 bucks? And like, right, I don't. That's not something I mess with. I'll customize package plans, yeah, but when it comes to client education on that I make sure that we are always on the same page. That's good.
Speaker 1:So one follow-up to that to really help the listeners understand why, you have to really know what your service offering is. What is one service you do not offer? On aircraft.
Speaker 2:I'll give you two because they're kind of the same boat. Paint correction, ceramic coatings there you go.
Speaker 1:So let's dive into that, because I think this is important for not just the aviation space. Again, if you want to educate our listeners on why that is, please do that. But really the teaching point for this conversation is more about being clear on what you want to do and what you're not going to do, and Guy just did a great job of outlining exactly what he's not going to do. He's not going to be Guy's discount detailer for aviation. He's already made that business decision in his mind. But go ahead and expand. Why you don't do ceramic coating and paint correction on aviation or aircrafts? I should say yeah.
Speaker 2:So ceramic coatings when I look at ceramic coatings for airplanes specifically, it is it's just not something that I see being really worthwhile. You've already got the paint, the paint's already coated. It's got clear coating, it's already protected. The paint's pretty much already protected, right, there's no really point in putting additional coating on there which is going to hurt the aerodynamics, because when you think about like a car, right, a car driving on the highway, it's not going to really, unless it's like a Ferrari or a race car, it's not going to really have an issue with the aerodynamics, right, but when you have an airplane that's traveling through the air at 3,000, 4,000 feet and you know 120 knots, right, that's a problem, right, that's a problem. And it also because that you know that added drag is going to, you know, worsen the fuel flow and it's going to cause issues for the aircraft owner.
Speaker 2:And you'll also I mean, with ceramic coatings and paint correction, the paint aircraft paint is really thin and, like I kind of mentioned, like it's just drag. You want it to be as smooth over the wing for smooth airflow, right, uh, and you want it's kind of like thinking about like this, right, when the airflow is going on over the wing and underneath the wing is producing lift, so we don't want to disrupt that airflow over the wing because that's going to hurt the airspeed. Yeah, and the last thing, it wants to have some sort of like this would take major right, but you don't want to have like a rippled up coating or you know this or that to cause the aircraft to have issues. Can't even imagine what that would be like and, um, it's really thin, yeah. So when you think about, like when you're trying to do paint correction, you're trying to go in there and I mean that can easily burn through the paint.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I can tell you there's one thing that the affluent auto spa is not going to be doing, at least in my lifetime and dylan's lifetime and he's obviously a heck of a younger than me, our son that is. That story right there makes you get very clear on what you're not going to do, and I can't even imagine the liability that comes with the ceramic piece. So, guy, you're very smart to say this is my swim lane. These are the things we do, and over here, these are the things we don't do, and I'm glad you're very clear on that. Okay, good, anything else on that topic?
Speaker 2:that was a good I would just say too, is like I've seen people burn through paint, um, and when you think about aviation, this is just for the all the detailers out there. I think they can go do anything or clean anything. I'm gonna be very direct to you and just saying that aviation and boats especially too is a whole different thing from cars. And though you may have a lot of success in cars and may do a fantastic, excellent job in cars, don't come into airplanes thinking it's going to be the exact same and don't treat them the exact same, and don't especially do it without insurance.
Speaker 2:But aircraft paint paint, just for the audience is where is very, very thin. It is easily, you can easily burn through and mess it up. It is, I mean, on the lowest setting with like a buffer or you know some sort of uh power tool. I mean it's like a pressure washer to like flaking paint and uh, you don't want to mess with that and I've seen people do that and I've seen former detailers I've come work for me. Try to go, start their own aircraft detailing company, do it and the aircrafts you know, and it's gonna be down for three months and get paint.
Speaker 1:So man, that's good stuff. That is a great education there for all of our listeners. And again, again, if you do pursue going to say that hypothetically, they watched a few YouTube videos, they went out, they used the buffer the wrong way and guess what happened? The poop hit the fan, and think about their reputation at that point. It's just not worth it Without having the right training, the right certifications, the right knowledge, skill and ability. Please don't go down those paths. There's so many detailers here in the United States and there's more and more coming in. Guess what? There's just as many going out on the back end.
Speaker 1:All right, as we close down for the podcast, one other question for you. I think it would be great for our listeners for you to share your wisdom. By the way, thanks for being a guest. You're very awesome in what you do. I guess you're very awesome in what you do If you had to think back to one major challenge problem, oh, poop moment, whatever you want to categorize it in your mind, even when you were back 15, 16 years old, starting out, what was one major thing that happened, and I'm more concerned about what you did about it. So if you can share maybe one or two of those type stories, that would be great so.
Speaker 2:Plain Clean has had zero incidents since you know starting. I've never had to do a claim, never had to do anything like that. I've had to deal with a lot of employee stuff in the past. So we are an independent contractor stuff in the past because we've not had employees. We've always independent contractors, just because it makes a lot easier for the guys because they don't need the benefits and it's just a lot simpler that way. Plus it's kind of sporadic schedule and all the stuff that comes with it it's a lot easier to have them on 1099.
Speaker 2:But uh, long story short, this is actually last march. We were um detailing it was a cj2 for a client and long story short. This guy was calling a lot of issues and what we're getting. But I'm really I try to be redemptive and I try to um help guys out. And the big thing about me is like, kind of like you are trying to mentor and help people, um, I try to help people as well.
Speaker 2:And so this guy was going through it a little bit and I was trying to give him some work and I even promote him and pay, even though he didn't deserve it and trying to help him out. And uh, well, this individual decided that, uh, he was not going to do his work and uh, decided to. You know he was, he was running this job and he decided to essentially leave the job and go into this company. So this this company had a gym in their hangar decided to go work out job and go into this company. So this or this company had a gym in their hangar, decided to go work out in the company's gym and decided to say, screw the detailing that I'm doing the, screw the job I'm being paid for I'm gonna go work out a company time. So the owner of the company saw him working out in their gym you know as a non-employee, you know tried to tell him to leave. He was being disrespectful and from there he got forcibly told to leave and then he went and decided to go outside and continue his workout on the company property. So I found out two hours later about this. So I'm in Virginia, I'm on the phone figuring this out, et cetera, what actually happened, and they send me a surveillance video of what he was doing. So I got to sit there as the owner of the company with a reputation on the line, because this goes beyond damaging an aircraft. Right, if you damage an aircraft, unfortunately, that is better than this, because this is just disrespect. You can always fix a damaged aircraft. You can never really repair disrespect. Yeah, so when I just said through those, I was like you know what it was a lesson I learned right, you can only give people so many chances.
Speaker 2:And it was also a big thing for me is that realizing that, with detailing and running a company, I can't be doing this, you know, from 1,600, 1,700 miles away, and it worked for a long time it worked, you know, all last year worked, all 2024 and beginning of 2025. But going into, you know, but it just started out working. You know, and that's one of the things I realized, that you can't be an absent leader in a business. You have to be at the forefront in person, because if you I mean just look at it with, like you know, military, for example right, I'm an ROTC If you have absent leadership that's not showing up and is not, you know, um, directing you in person is not, you know, showing their face, that's a problem.
Speaker 2:That's how beauty happens, that's how, you know, unsported nation happens, right, and uh, well, we were. When I was saying through this and reflecting first on myself, I saw that a lot of issues were associated my leadership and how I was conducting myself. And, uh, though I was on the phone, though I was running everything, though I was on the phone, though I was writing everything, though I was always on top of things, I was not in person and I should have been.
Speaker 1:There was a bunch of lessons in there, for sure. Again, I appreciate you being open and really sharing that story. Just a couple takeaways there and when I was younger okay, probably closer to your age I had a vice president position where I had over 500 team members and unfortunately, like most businesses, I mean, there's a point where you have to let people go, whether it's a reduction in force, whether you have to terminate them. You can fill in whatever word. The listeners can put any word in that they want. And I took that to heart, similar to you did, guy where it's like man, I'm letting this person down. They got bills to pay, they got a family, they got a new kid, whatever it was the situation, and for about a year or so I kind of let that get to me. And then I realized what Guy said earlier and I want to reiterate this point. I'm going to paraphrase it and give you my own spin to it.
Speaker 1:After that first year of being a leader, I realized that from that point forward, I never terminated anybody. They terminated themselves. And here's why? Because I learned that by laying out clear expectations, like you've been in the detailing business. Okay, here's your checklist, here's your standard operating procedure, I'm giving you exactly what you need to be successful. Now, if you choose not to follow this, like in Guy's case with that particular individual, that person chose not to do what they were expected to do. So Guy didn't terminate them. Actually, they terminated themselves, because Guy did a very good job of outlining exactly what was expected of that individual and they decided not to.
Speaker 1:So for those of you folks that are kind of new leaders, that would be a key lesson to learn from Guy and I today is Guy and I sounds like a chemical or something. I'm going to put some Guy and I on there. Anyway, what you can learn from us today is this get that mindset of setting the clear expectations, giving them what they need to be successful, giving them the standard operating procedures, the checklist, and let them fly out of the nest. And if they choose not to follow those and you have to terminate them. Remember, that's not on you, that is actually on the individual. So with that, yeah, you've been a great guest, but before we wrap it up today, brother, just how can folks reach you? I recommend only the website, not phone numbers. You can maybe share some socials if you want, but website and maybe one or two socials, please.
Speaker 2:Yeah, all our socials are plaincleanstl. It says P-L-A-N-E-C-L-E-A-N-S-T-L. Instagram, Facebook, Rich. Is there Website too, if you want to submit a form on the website. Love to talk to you, hear from you and, yeah, Well good.
Speaker 1:Well, guys, it's been great having you on the Big Money Detailer podcast. And again, we're not just about the financial side of it. We covered that earlier with the five Fs. And also the important thing to take away is it's not just about trying to figure this stuff out on your own. It's making sure you have the right mentors, the right people in place. Like, for instance, when people come to my home training center, which is upstairs, we break these things down for your detailing business center, which is upstairs. We break these things down for your detailing business. We help you with your marketing, your sales, your customer service, your operations getting paid and you shorten your learning curve, like I did earlier. He talked about that in the podcast is the more you can shorten your learning curve, the less stress, the less pressure you have on yourself and the more money you can make so you can earn more and you can serve more. No-transcript.
