Welcome to my world of boat detailing! My Intro...

Today is my birthday. I just turned 32, which is "child" compared to many of the faces and names we see on these forums. To be held at such a high stature within the detailing industry and looked upon as a boat detailing expert/professional amongst my colleagues is very appreciated and warming to me. I'm honored Dan would invite me to be the boat detailing columnist for Mobileworks. Thank you Dan. And thank you to the many detailers out there who came to me for help and advice when in need of my expertise. I'd like to use this first entry as an introduction, where you can learn who I am, where I'm from, and where I've been.

Those who know me know I am the owner of Precision Auto & Marine, a very small yet very popular detailing service, focusing primarily on boats and higher-end cars.My detail business is kind of unconventional and would make some of the veterans ask questions about it legitimacy and dedication to the detailing industry. Joking, to give Bud Abraham(a man who I highly admire and respect) a friendly nudge, I am a glorified "shoe shine boy." All joking aside, my detail business is 100% legitimate and very successful. Precision Auto & Marine is a part time operation. Actually half my time is dedicate to running Precision. The remainder of the time I am an insurance broker, which i'll get to in a few. (I'm also an MBA student and will be finally graduated in May 2010) My business is operated out of my trailer, where I go to a great many yacht clubs, marinas, boat yards, and exotic car brokerages. I carry liability insurance, I pay my taxes, I follow the rules/laws, and I have a professional image. I do not advertise (except for a website and sponsorship of a little league baseball team.) I do not have a full service shop. I do not have hours of operation. I do, however, have a list of customers as long as the eye can see.I have awaiting list of customers too! How can that be if I don't advertise, have bargain prices, or chase customers? Besides working with integrity and knowing my craft, I offer a service that hardly anyone around here offers. I detail boats!

Like most detailers, I started out in this business from a hobby -- my passion of cars and making them look pretty. August 1995 is when I began my career as a business onwer. Actually, I was more of a naive 18 year old who loved cars and knew nothing about business except working hard to earn it. Back then I would detail a car $35.00(I know, I was young and dumb!) Fourteen years later, I won't touch a car for less than $200 or a boat for less than $14 per foot, and the business still rolls in! Thanks to online forums, the Internet, many detailing articles, books, and business courses, I now know what it takes to run a business successfully. Hopefully, I can guide those in need and help them avoid the mistakes I made when I first began this business. Now, I'm proud to say I have a successful boat detailing operation which is sought out from boat owners throughout the state of New Jersey. On the auto side, I am the "recommended detailer" for Ray Catena Motors. That is a funny story in itself how I received that honor. A long story short, I detailed many Mercedes from Ray Catena (cars bought from them, not detailed for them) and noticed they were all swirled up, and horribly detailed. This really irked me so I wrote them a letter saying in a nutshell, "your detail department desperately needs help" and that I was willing to come in and train them.

I'm in the process of getting licensed to sell property & casualty insurance. What that means is I will soon be offering my customers auto & boat insurance. I'm glad I was thinking ahead when I named my business because I knew I didn't want to do just detailing. I wanted to offer more service. Hence Precision Auto & Marine, and not Precision Auto & Marine Detailing! I also do training and consulting. Back in 2004 I wrote a manual of boat detailing for detailers and boat owners. This manual teaches one to detail a boat and how to get started in boat detailing. I'm proud to say this manual is being used in over 10 countries -- as far as our friends down under in Australia!

Well, I will end my rant with a "thank you" and a "look forward to helping!"

Happy Detailing,

Brian Angelucci, Precision Auto & Marine