Constant Evolution 

The ability to pivot and grow is the hallmark of a successful and enduring business. Car washers and detailers must continue to invest in and evolve their operations and offerings if they are going to compete in a changing marketplace and offer the kind of next-gen services modern consumers demand.

When Jimmy Sadoski founded Appearance Pro Detailing in 2006 in The Colony, TX, he was a part-time detailer looking to make ends meet performing mobile car washing and express detailing services. Fast forward to today and Appearance Pro is a mobile and fixed use operation offering high-end paint correction and ceramic coatings with a deep customer roster.

Sadoski grew up a car guy. Like many in the car care industry he was obsessed with the automobile from a young age and was drawn to detailing out of a life-long love of everything car related and keeping a car clean and shiny.

While a car guy at heart he didn’t jump right into detailing. Sadoski worked for years as a bartender at a high-end steak house, always knowing that he wanted to do something automobile related.

In 2006 he partnered with a friend who had a mobile rig setup and begin detailing cars on the side while keeping his bartending gig. After working together for a few years, the partnership ended but Sadoski wasn’t about to go back to bartending full-time. He had caught the detailing bug and knew the industry was where he belonged. He invested in a mobile unit of his own and continued to detail part time until 2013 when he decided it was time to devote himself to the industry full time.

“During the part-time days I was detailing in the warm weather and bartending in the winter,” says Sadoski. “But thankfully once I went full-time in 2013, I haven’t been back to bartending.”

Like many detailers Sadoski cut his teeth working for dealerships and providing mobile car washing and light detail work to his retail clients. While that approach can certainly provide an operator with a living, it requires massive volume and doesn’t allow for the big margins that high-end detailing and paint repair and protection provide.

To provide high-grossing services like ceramic coatings Sadoski began to detail cars out of his home garage in addition to servicing traditional detail clients via his mobile operation. While this model was successful Sadoski yearned for more. To improve his detailing skills and take his business approach to the next level he reached out to Renny Doyle, the famed detailing trainer from Detailing Success.

Sadoski went out to California to train with Renny to hone his detailing chops and take his business to the next level. “I started following Renny online back in 2010 and wanted to go to train with him,” Sadoski says. “I kept on putting it off, but in 2018 I decided to go to training and it was awesome.

“A lot of what I learned out there from a detail perspective was just kind of validating what I was already doing and helped take my skills to the next level. That along with the business advice and training really set me up to do more.”

Sadoski is now a proud member of Renny’s “Detail Mafia” network and has even joined the crew as a member of the Air Force One Detailing Team, helping to restore the first ever Air Force One at Seattle’s Museum of Flight.

Empowered by the detailing network and his training, Sadoski once again decided it was time to evolve Appearance Pro and take his offerings to the next level of professionalism. While he was able to put out a superior product while detailing cars out of his garage, he didn’t think he was positioning himself as a professional, high-end detailer.

To meet this challenge, he built a fully equipped detail shop at his home that not only positions his business in a more professional light, but allows him to more easily process high-end detailing jobs.

“I built it with the intentions of looking like a regular shop,” he says. “I wanted to make sure it looked professional with people dropping their vehicles off at my house.”

The home-based location has all the creature comforts of a large-scale fixed detail operation. It features a huge air compressor, all the necessary equipment, plenty of storage, etc.

While the upgraded fixed location adds a new level of professionalism, Sadoski and his two employees continue to offer mobile services as well. While business is steady and Appearance Pro has a full rolodex of clients, Sadoski has plans for further expansion.

“Within the next five years I would like to open a storefront shop with higher visibility,” he says. “In addition, I would like to get back into the car washing side of the business with a self-service wash at some point.”

Success in the car care industry requires constant investment and evolution to meet changing market demands and facilitate ongoing growth. Sadoski and his team are building their detailing empire brick by brick and continue to tighten their hold on their local market.