What does your business do?
RT Detailing Services is a valet company offering an extensive range of packages to suit client needs.
From a simple wash and dry to “the workers” that provides a deep clean of the car’s interior and exterior.
Why did you start your business?
I wanted to make a difference, quite literally, to how people’s vehicles look. Seeing their satisfaction with the end result is the real reward for me.
I started with just the basic essentials and advertised through social media. Word of mouth is now helping me grow my business.
Currently I am based in Woodside, Glenrothes, but I will be offering a mobile service from September.
How did you get to where you are?
I chose valeting after my friend and I detailed my first car, an old Vauxhall Astra MKIV.
I couldn’t believe how good it looked after we’d finished and I thought I’d love to make others feel the way I did too.
The journey so far hasn’t been the easiest. Having to rely on people hearing about my service from others, and investing many hours of working late to make ends meet, has been tough, but it’s really starting to pay off. It’s still a business in its infancy but I see it going far.
Who has helped you along the way?
I’ve had a lot of help from family and friends and also from Marissa Yassen at Business Gateway Fife. She helped me understand different aspects of setting up and running my own business and with finances.
The Prince’s Trust also gave me a start-up grant to get some of the equipment I need to provide the services I do.
Your biggest mistake?
Waiting so long to do something for myself, especially something that is as physically and mentally rewarding.
Your greatest achievement?
Getting the business up and running. I’m very proud of my business and how far it’s come in such a short period.
Each time I get a new product or learn how to use a new piece of equipment it’s an achievement, as these are the things that will help me succeed.
Hopes for the future?
To have multiple mobile valeting vans in and around Fife, then moving further afield towards the bigger cities. Eventually I want to open up my own unit so I can move to full-time detailing.
Do you want to recruit in future?
I would love to create opportunities for other. I want to find people who will care about the business as much as I do, and to show and deliver the expertise that is expected of it.
What is the hardest thing about running your own business?
I’m a perfectionist and treat everyone’s car as if it were my own so the hardest thing is not losing track of time.
business@thecourier.co.uk