How to Start a Car Valeting Business
Like most employer/employee relationships, a business is only as good as the person running the show. So your desire to start a car valet business must begin with policies and hiring practices that assure a seamless experience for clients and consumers. You'll be successful if you like working with people and take pride in your employees --- after all, they'll be caring for what most people consider to be one of their biggest assets. Do the job right and you'll wind up in the driver's seat financially.
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Instructions
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Scope out the competition to make sure there's room for a new car or two on the block. Use local editions of telephone directories, your favorite Internet search engine and familiarity with businesses that typically need valet parking services, to identify, contrast and compare prospective competitors.
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Compose a road map detailing your business model. Target, for example, restaurants alone or a mix of sports venues, entertainment hubs and private parties requiring valet parking services. Flesh out your plan's details with marketing strategies, a budget, goals and objectives. Add to the equation a unique selling proposition --- a service you'll offer that will separate your car valet business from the crowd.
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Incorporate your car valet business after coming up with an attention-getting name. Apply for bonding and insurance to protect your company from liability risks. Go to your government licensing authority for municipal permits, encroachment permits, meter use permits and other requirements. Check with county and township offices, as you may need additional licenses and permits to operate in your community.
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Land clients with a dynamic pitch detailing your signature operation. Include essentials that venue managers and owners want to hear: stringent hiring and background check policies, insurance to cover the staff, and the image your valets will maintain thanks to attractive uniforms, ongoing courtesy training and other credentials. Bring a contract to each pitch so you can negotiate the agreement terms once you've won a client over.
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Hire dependable staff. Look for people with previous valet experience as well as former bus drivers, truck drivers and drivers with more than a passing familiarity with vehicle handling. Hire a consultant to conduct background checks for every applicant to detect any past driving transgressions --- moving violations, suspended or revoked licenses and other red flags.
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Purchase supplies your car valet crews will require to work at events and venues: no-parking signs, stanchions, safety vests, flashlights, barricades, walkie-talkies, claim checks, oversize umbrellas, key storage boxes, safety cones and uniforms.
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Add the marketing perk from Step 2 to the mix. Sure, anyone can park a car, but if your staff has been trained to leave behind a flower, place paper covers on car floors or provide a schedule of local sports events (bearing your logo, of course) in automobiles when they're returned to customers, you'll leave behind an impression that will remind your customers why they hired your valet business over your competitors.
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References
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