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Bob interviewed J.M. Vallese, who started a successful car valet business. Vallese was inspired to start his own business after working in cleaning jobs and wanting to be his own boss. He sees his valet service as the best because of the care and pride they take in their work. Vallese plans to expand his business and eventually set up the biggest car valet center in North America. He faced challenges with time management but overcame them by leaving his job. He plans to build a team and teach them as they go along. Vallese started his business with limited capital and had to reinvest profits to grow the business. He plans to invest more capital in the future to expand and introduce new services. He is already advertising on social media to find dedicated employees. Hi, so my name is Bob and today for my MN217 assignment, I decided to bring in J.M. Vallese who was kindly accepted to come in and be interviewed. Thank you J.M. So do you want to explain a little bit about your business? Right, so I have a car valet business at the moment. It's almost a year since it started, growing exceptionally well. A lot of plans to expand in the future and that's pretty much the business that I'm going with at the moment. And what inspired you to start up your car valet service? So a lot inspired me to start up my car valet business as I was working in Intel before, cleaning dishes, hoovering, all the dirty cleaning, like toilets and everything. And I knew the 9-to-5 life wasn't for me, so I wanted to make my own business and be my own boss. And just jotting down ideas, generating different types of business ideas, I came to figure car valeting would be the best one. That's perfect. And do you see yourself having more free time now since you've dropped your 9-to-5? No, I wouldn't say free time because a few months ago I was mixing college, work and the business all together. And it was a difficult time period because everything was so busy. Assignments coming up, working on a valet in the morning, going to work at 3 to 11, coming home from 11 to do a service and everything, it was tough. And could you describe any unique aspects that your valet service may have in comparison to others? Ok, so I'd like to say I'm the best valet service as I can professionally do. In the industry we're always learning, we're mobile as well so we can come to people's homes and we also take good care and pride in the work that we do and never leave a customer's car without fulfilling the full results. And I also see that you've expanded a bit on your service, also doing homes and sheds. How did you come to that idea? Homes and sheds, so once a business comes, once a business starts, new ideas come, new opportunities and everything are presented to you and if there's a way to make money, why not go and make money? 100% And what would you like to achieve in this entrepreneurial venture of yours? So what I'd like to achieve is, I set big goals and my big goal is to set up the biggest and best car valet centre in North America and that's the long run. And would you say you, would you see yourself building a building like a car valet service? Yes And where would you situate it? I'm working on that at the moment, so I had one in the news but the location wasn't good, it was a nice cheap place to rent but it was like in the middle of a farm and that's not what I'm trying to achieve with my business. I'm trying to have the most... Centre-like You want people to see your business Exactly, like people driving by to see this big centre And as it's around the ideas of generating ideas, did you have any other business models in mind before proceeding with your valet service? Yes And what would they be? So in lockdown I started something called DB Dumbbells and it was a business model around the fitness industry where, that I see in the market for dumbbells because you know in lockdown there was no gyms open And if there's no gyms open No gyms open All the home workouts Exactly And so that's where my business model came in, but it needed a lot of capital to work so it didn't turn out like... And then would you say it was more beneficial in the long run to do your car valet service? Yes, I came after a few months after that, like a few years even, I only came last year but... Okay, and did you do any research on your valet service before starting? Yes, the market research is... so there's a lot of research to do, like in the detailing world you're never going to stop learning, there's a million and ten different things to learn you know And that's from pricing to products to how you're going to get the job done, to meeting new customers, like a business is a business you know Of course Like I would say to make it all work you have to be your boss, the creator, the founder, like the worker, the accountant, everything like you know, until you expand because I'm a one man business right now of course And do you plan on bringing other people coming in? Yes Create a whole organization Yes, a whole organization And how do you think the market demand would be for your product in the long run? I think there's no shortage, I don't think there's a shortage Everyone's going to need their car cleaned Everyone needs their car cleaned, everyone has a car, well not everybody has a car but people who have a car want a clean car Most people do anyway, and about pricing, how would you say you fit in that criteria? So, as I've done over 150 cars now in the last 9-10 months or whatever, I came to the realization that people want different things Like, you're not going to sell a 100 euro steak to someone who wants a 5 euro burger, you know? Definitely So, for the people who want a 5 euro burger, they're going to go to the car wash machine That's the thing we call an open discretion sign So, that's in a detailing way, so you can go today, but we are offering, the service we offer, we offer the best And for clients who want to take care of their second largest assets, they purchase their cars And what were some challenges that you may have faced when developing your ideas for your valet services? So, as I said, the time management, when I was working in tech school, studying, and the car valet, there was a lot of time constraints Just pushing you back Yeah, I had to leave a valet job, or a brochure even, and then head to work, and it was a crazy time like that And then you had to drop your job, that's the best way to overcome it at that point Yeah, so I dropped my job in February, and I continued to do this business, making more money a day Fair enough Looking back, would you have done anything different during your ideation stage? Like, would you have come up with any other ideas? Something different, I'm not sure about something different Or would you have made another idea better, would you have worked more on a certain idea? 100% I would have, so since I dropped my surgery in April, I wanted to become a dominant business already, where I have employees working under me But it didn't happen, it just wasn't, it was all God's planning, never rushing to things, great things never rush And how would you say, would you have any requirements for any people coming in? Like, what requirements would you have, like you said you wanted to create a team What requirements would you have for the people that would be willing to come and join your team? If I find a worker who works just as hard as me, we're set Would you say he needs a course, or like, would you be providing? Yeah, I'll be teaching him as we go along, but as long as he's dedicated, wants to learn, wants to work, then we have a deal then That's understandable And when you started your business, did you seek any investment from external sources, or did you rely mainly on your own savings? So, by starting off the business, it was complicated So, when I went to the shop, to the detailing shop, I was talking to the shop owner And he was telling me all this sort of equipment and this and that And he came out to tell me that to start, the basics, it would be around 2,000 Euros to start And at the time I didn't have the 2,000 Euros So, I gathered up all my money, went on adverts, found a deal for a deal of the century Actually, for someone selling his old equipment Went over to Absalom, me and my brother, bought the equipment, car loads of equipment And we had no petrol, coming back from Absalom, hour and a half drive there Spent all our money on it, and then we didn't see it's made of Oh, fair enough And, would you share any ideas that you may have learned from gaining your capital? Well, like, if there was an entrepreneur that would be up and coming, what would your best advice to them be? If you need to seek capital, find your ways But if you cannot, I'm not sure Fair enough And, did you encounter any unexpected costs or financial setbacks during your process? Yeah, so every time you get the money, you have to reinvest it to the business That's what I love, the business was reinvesting Like, if I wanted to come out with all profits already, from the first investment I would have, but it wouldn't have grown the business Like, you come to realise that you need this type of product, that product, this, this, that and everything You have to make your sacrifices Exactly, exactly In the long run to build your business Exactly, so reinvest and it'll work out like And, looking into the future, would you say that you need more capital in the long run? Because like you said, you want to expand your business Do you see a lot more capital being invested into your business? Yes And in what areas would you see that being put in? So, as I said, the Carrot Valley Centre is like a building I'm looking to get a plan for mobile retailing, because I'm using my car at the moment So, a farm, a centre, probably going to double my equipment if I have some employee coming in Even triple it, like three power washers, three hoovers or something like that Polishing machines, like I'm trying to introduce new services as well Not just like valeting Like what? Window tinting, ceramic coating, caliper spraying, literally anything you can do That would be the perfect one Exactly Fair enough And that's how you build your business up, because not everyone can do everything How do you plan to expand your Carrot Valley service? Do you have any promotional plans? Would you be advertising? So, I've been already advertising on social media where I've been making pretty posts And showing the platform that I'm looking for, a dedicated employee Someone who can work just as hard as me, knows the ins and outs of detailing And by then, we'll both grow the business by introducing accountants as well And I have different businesses in mind as well, so I'm a business entrepreneur So, it's the entrepreneurship life Exactly Could you describe any goals that you may have set for your business? Be the best in Ireland Of course, and how would you progress towards that goal? It'll take a few years, man There is a lot of competition, like Eco Car Wash That's how I even started the business actually I went over there and we didn't get along They pretty much told me to kick it away So, I told them that I'm going to be your competitor one time That was two years ago, a year before I started the business And you held that for a year, right? Yeah And how would you say you're better? Or would you say you're up there with them? In terms of quality of work, I'm 100% better Because I don't finish a job until it's done And with them, it's all about money Cares come in, hours go by So, we're like, you know Of course, and you want to make the customer happy Exactly And that's what's most important That's exactly the most important thing Now, that was my next question What role would customer feedback play in shaping your business? It creates word of mouth That's probably the best marketing technique that's in the industry right now Like word of mouth So, say I do someone's car And then their cousin, their auntie, whatever They want to carry it on They have a whole family, line of families That want to carry a valet Not only one family And if you have a garage dealership Like, not a family I'd like the likes of me if I were to come in If I were happy with what you did to my job Like, you said you're on social media I'm on social media Maybe I could repost You said you post videos and pictures Of how you make good cars and all Maybe my car would be posted up there And I'd repost it to my follower base And then that's how you get other people brought in And how would you implement customer feedback into your business? Like, let's say if you get a negative bit of feedback How would you overcome that? I've never gotten a negative feedback as of yet I've had negative comments On one of my TikTok comments actually It was a racist comment actually Haters are always going to hate Haters always hate on something that's great You always want to die behind them Yeah You don't want to die doing nothing Exactly So, I don't know Don't mind the haters But if I had feedback Like, say the job wasn't done correctly Like, one thing wasn't done I'd come back the next day or whatever So I'd do it again Or tell them that So it's like the customer is always right? Yeah It is like that But I've never had a bad feedback Because my job was done to perfection That's good to hear What would you say is most important If you want to attract and retain customers For your car body service? Prices Quality of work Reputation Probably the most important I know you're saying prices How low? Because obviously customers want to get The best service done for the cheapest price possible Where do you see the balance in between them? Because obviously car body services are not that cheap Yeah, that's very true So after doing 150 cars I've realised that there's different segments in the industry In the target market The ones that want a quick 10 euro wash They won't be the ones that I'm attracting And even when I tell my prices to some people They think it's crazy 80 euro But they understand what we do And they see what we do If I explain to them everything that goes on In the process They'll be like, oh, ok, fair play I understand now 80 euro So most people that think the prices are ridiculous They just don't understand and don't see it But that's the thing about detailing as well It's not about showing them, it's about teaching them They don't see what happens behind the scenes I've seen videos I've seen how valet services work You need to get deep into the car I have a car, I wash my car Every now and then It's not an easy job If you really want a really good job done Let's say when you buy your car You know the state of the car when you buy it If you want to get to that It will take you at least 6 hours Oh yeah And you can't just do an Uber job No, no, no There's equipment out there for specific things And that's what customers don't seem to get Exactly They come in, they see it And also, I personally think that you Have a really good pricing range Compared to other valet services Obviously you're still up and coming You wouldn't want to set your prices too high But for the services that you provide I feel like your pricing is perfect And all the clients that you get Are happy to pay Exactly And obviously, you have to think about The car valet service You won't If a person makes that in less than a day Then he'll obviously bring the car You have to think about it in that sense Yeah, yeah, yeah He will not mind paying for that Because he's a busy man or a busy woman They don't mind leaving the car in for a few hours Yeah, and the thing The difference with my business And other car valets Is that I come to their house They don't have to move a muscle They can work from home They can even leave me at their own house Like without them I've had occasions like that Where they completely disappear For like five, six hours When we come back The car is done I'm already going home They send me money on revenue Or something like that I'm very happy with the job And would you say The fact that you turned your business model Into a mobile business model Has that attracted a lot more customers? Yeah Because as we know People don't really want to live They have to think That a lot of people have office jobs Or they work from home It would be a lot better for them To just stay at home And you come in and clean their car Do you think that has Drastically brought up your clientele? Yeah, so I had an offer one time Where a guy was offering me A garage, a unit, yeah He said If we're to do the unit You have to stop the mobile For a few months And I said to my partner Yeah, my best alternative To a negotiation is a premium I realised that I'd make more money Doing the mobile by myself Instead of linking up with someone To do a garage-like project I think I get that So I chose by myself I see you have very good plans going ahead Yeah In your opinion What do you think Differentiates your service From any competitors? I'd just say I'd just say I'm the best Yeah You provide Like obviously you said You've also expanded On what you do Like you said You do window tinting You do obviously The interior and exterior You also do sheds Yeah And that puts you In a very good position Because a lot of people Are fixed on a certain thing That they do So like a lot of people Will just do the carpelling They won't do the window tinting They won't do like Headlight lamp cleaning Or the sheds So In that sense You're different from others Which puts you In a very good position And with businesses And generating ideas You can actually Put them together So let me give you An example Say you want to make A clothing brand Yeah And they start Creating t-shirts Not only are you going To be creative Like a designer You can Implement it Into every business So Into the DB Dunwells Yeah How do you make merch? I create a t-shirt Yeah I create a t-shirt And From that t-shirt I realize that An idea Can turn into another idea Into a bigger idea Yeah of course From Making dunwells To creating a gym Yeah And they're all interesting Interesting Like a little gym shirt Yeah The way they started off As a clothing brand And then they went On to supplements And then they have Dunwells So on and so forth If you think On the same general path There's a lot of different Branches that can come in To create that one Big business And I see how you're Putting that into Your business And Would you be able to share Any memorable Customer experiences Or feedback That may have affected Your business progress? Affected it Is it Negatively Or positively? Both Positively I got a letter One time That she made My tenth valet I was dealing with My brother And It started raining She left Inside the house Nice dog And everything And She came to pay us But she gave me An envelope And We were driving home And I opened up And it was like A nice Thank you card It said Thank you for Doing the valet Best of luck in your business Put the money in there And it was like Heartwarming And Seeing the Customer's reactions From dirty To clean That's what they want And When they're happy We're happy That's perfect That should be A motto as well Yeah That's all the questions That I have for you today Thank you for joining us Is there anything else You'd like to share Before we finish up That's everything That's perfect Thank you JM No worries Thank you for joining us
