From Side Hustle to Shine: How Dunlap GA Mobile Detailing Delivers Premium On-Site Care

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Woodstock, Georgia. It’s time for Cherokee Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Joshua Kornitsky: Welcome back to Cherokee Business Radio. I’m your host and professional EOS implementer, Joshua Kornitsky. And today, I’ve got, uh, two brothers here in the studio that have started a company that I’m really excited to share with everybody, because I think it’s something that absolutely everybody can use. But before I get started, I just want to remind everybody that today’s episode is brought to you in part by our Community Partners program, the Business RadioX Main Street Warriors Defending Capitalism, promoting small business, and supporting our local community. For more information, please go to Mainstreet Street Warriors. And a special note of thanks to our title sponsor for the Cherokee chapter of Main Street Warriors Diesel David, Inc. please go check out Diesel David to learn more. So as I said, I’ve got two brothers in the studio here with me today, Caleb and Connor Dunlap. They co-founded Dunlap GA Mobile Detailing. It’s a growing business that started while they were still in high school. Their company brings premium detailing and ceramic coating services directly to customers. Combining precision craftsmanship with a drive to build a trusted local brand. They’re both KSU students studying sales and marketing, and they’re applying what they learn in the classroom to the real world business. Guys, welcome, Caleb, Connor, thank you for being here today.

Caleb Dunlap: Of course. Thank you. Thank you for having us.

Joshua Kornitsky: Have you guys here. So. So let’s begin at the beginning. What’s the origin story? Where did it come from?

Caleb Dunlap: Um, so, I mean, I kind of started it, um, it was me and Connor and my mom on a on a Florida trip, and we were just on vacation. And I was just, you know, scrolling on TikTok and I saw, you know, a car detailing video where he was just like, it was a guy filming up a car, and he was just making money off doing that. So I was like, you know, I didn’t have a job at the time. I was looking for a job, but I was I was a, you know, I saw and I was like, you know, if I invest a little bit of money into equipment to do it and, you know, get some customers, I can make some money, you know, back from the, you know, initial investment and then make more from that. Um, so it kind of started as like a side hustle kind of, but sure, you know, grew into something, you know, more bigger than we could ever imagined. So yeah. For sure. Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: So, so Caleb, you said you started it.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: So when did you bring Connor in?

Caleb Dunlap: Um, I kind of. I saw the video, and then I thought of the idea, and then I kind of just immediately showed him the video. Yeah. And then at first it was kind of like a joke because, you know, we didn’t we never really started up a business before. And, you know, it’s it was like a risky thing. Um, so I was like, it was more of, like, a joke at first and then. So I didn’t really take it seriously. And then toward the end of the vacation, he was like, oh, okay, so we’re just going to buy the equipment once we get back and then let’s do it. And I was like, let’s do it.

Joshua Kornitsky: So what type of stuff did you need to buy?

Caleb Dunlap: Um, so, I mean, it’s a it’s a number of things.

Joshua Kornitsky: Because you’re not just talking about car washing. Yeah, yeah. Not just a sponge in a bucket.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah, yeah, yeah I mean, it’s it can be whatever, you know, you want it to be. So the initial investment could be, you know, $500 in equipment, it could be $200 in equipment, it could be $1,000 in equipment.

Joshua Kornitsky: Um, what type of stuff did you buy?

Caleb Dunlap: So we bought, um, a pressure washer, which, you know, just needed to, you know, wash the outside of the car and you could you could use a water hose to it wouldn’t be, you know, as effective and not not as professional, but, um, a water, um, a water hose you need to buy as well to go with the pressure washer. Um, a vacuum, just standard vacuum to vacuum out cars. Um, you need your chemicals. So interior cleaner, uh, car soap, stuff like that.

Joshua Kornitsky: How did you guys know what to buy?

Caleb Dunlap: Uh, it was all on YouTube, so. Yeah, everything’s on YouTube. Like, they have, like, a bunch of videos that just have that run down everything you need to start the business. Um, I mean, you don’t have to start with a pressure washer. Like I said, you can use a water hose and.

Joshua Kornitsky: Sure.

Caleb Dunlap: Uh, some towels and soap, like, you can start up the business with that, you know?

Joshua Kornitsky: So you guys came back from vacation? Yeah. You you spent some money? Yeah. You got ready to roll? How’d you find customers?

Caleb Dunlap: Um, we. Yeah. Friends and family. So we started with our mom was our first customer. Like, pretty much. Pretty sure that’s everyone’s, like, first customer.

Joshua Kornitsky: Probably. So.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah. But, uh, we we started with, like, free. Everything free. So I think it was like our first five details were like, completely free. We just wanted, um, a Google, a Google review in exchange. So that’s how we started with, you know, friends and family and then friends of friends and family and and stuff like that. And you keep expanding. Um, and then after that’s kind of when we get into, I guess. Yeah. Word of mouth is a big form of that, because people tell other people about your business and then they want, you know, their car detailed. Um, after that, we kind of got into like, uh, next door, uh, the app. Okay, so we were posting on that, and then we also started like Instagram and TikTok, um, which are like, you know, posting content is like a big, uh, form of advertising because, you know, you let a bunch of people know about your business online. And then that’s kind of how we got, um, a lot of our customers through. Next door was a big one, um, next door and word of mouth where two big, really big, um, forms of how we get our customers during the start of the business, for sure.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yeah. So now how long has the business been running?

Caleb Dunlap: Um, about a year. Maybe a year and a half now. Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: Um, was it originally, like, after school because you started in high school? Was it after school and weekends and then.

Caleb Dunlap: Uh, no. So we started in the summer of, um, between school. So we weren’t in.

Joshua Kornitsky: School at the time. You had the ability to dedicate the time to it?

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah. Yeah, we had the ability. I mean, we spent like, you know, the two months we started in, um, June and then we went through the summer. Um, but once school started, we kind of, you know, let off the gas a little bit just because school started up and we had, um, like, SATs going on. Um, so we kind of took a break from it. Um, but, uh, once, um, the next semester rolled around, I think we were in senior year. Um, we kind of started getting back into it while doing school. So that was another challenge we had to tackle.

Joshua Kornitsky: Sure.

Caleb Dunlap: Um, but so, yeah, I mean, that was a challenge.

Joshua Kornitsky: And do you have any employees or just the two of you right now?

Caleb Dunlap: Just us two?

Joshua Kornitsky: Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So how do you how do you maintain, uh, flow of business? Because word of mouth is great. Yeah. Um, and and understanding. And I do want to talk more about the detailing itself, but understanding at the, at the highest level, what you’re doing is, is taking a car and making it look much better when you’re done with it. Yeah. How much time does it on average take. And I know that there’s, you know, there’s the RV that takes nine hours and there’s the Mini Cooper. That takes half a minute. Yeah, but I mean, how much time does it typically take in order for you to to get the cars and trucks done right?

Caleb Dunlap: Um, it usually takes, um, for a full detail. It really depends on what service you’re performing, because if you’re performing something a lot more basic, um, like a just a basic vacuum and wipe down, it could take as little as, like an hour to an hour and a half for an interior detail. Um, for a full detail. Let’s say let’s say you’re doing the full nine yards. So you’re doing the carpet shampooing the the steam cleaning the wash and wax on the outside. Um, really just trying to make it as, um, look as brand new as possible. It can take anywhere from 3 to 4 hours, um, for the trucks, when you get into, like, the F-150, F-250.

Joshua Kornitsky: Those big boys.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah, they can get up to, you know, 4 to 5 hours. It just really depends on, um, your process and how you know how efficient you are. Um, so that’s kind of, you know, how long.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, and I feel like this is the moment to remind everybody that it’s Georgia. It’s Dunlap, Georgia mobile detailing. Right. Because one of the biggest problems everybody loves a clean car. Some people prioritize, some people don’t. But it’s a lot easier when you don’t have to bring it somewhere and then wait to be called or texted to come get it.

Caleb Dunlap: Exactly.

Joshua Kornitsky: So how wide of a range are you guys covering geographically?

Caleb Dunlap: Um, about three cities. So we’re doing well. I mean, we pretty much go anywhere that we, you know, can go within, like, about an hour. Okay. But we the main three cities we service is Woodstock, Kennesaw and Acworth. So those, you know, kind of radius of where we serve, um, that’s where we run our ads as well. And, you know, where we actually market to is, you know, when you post on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, you put your location, you can put your location. So we always put Acworth or Woodstock, Kennesaw, those three areas. So those are our target three areas. But we can service, you know, anywhere within, you know, an hour, even an hour and a half if we, you.

Joshua Kornitsky: Know, depending on what it is they need and whether or not it makes sense. Yeah.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah. It’s not whether it’s not, it’s worth our time, you know.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, and and it makes sense because obviously if somebody’s just looking for a basic service, you may not be the best provider to drive to Gainesville, Georgia.

Caleb Dunlap: Right.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yeah. Um, so let’s talk about your services outside of just basic wash. Yeah. What are the types of things that you offer in in what are you guys really excel at that people should be calling you for?

Caleb Dunlap: Um, yeah. So, you know, we we we of course we do have, like, the basic washes, basic interior stuff. But, um, since, you know, we’re like a detailing company and we want to build our business around, you know, just making a car look really, really good. Um, we have a few services that we just we like to push, and we’re kind of specialized in, um, and that we really like to do, uh, for our customers and, you know, all that stuff. So, um, you know, getting into, like, the the more, I guess the, the least, the more basic level of services that are like on the higher end of what we do in details is like the clay bar. So a clay bar is kind of just, you know, a a a it’s a, it’s a clay bar. And you, you okay.

Joshua Kornitsky: So I, I fear full transparency. And I told you guys this earlier, I was born in the automotive industry. Yeah. Right. So I know that in the wrong hands, a great tool can cause great damage, right? Uh, tell me what a clay bar is because it predates my time. Uh, but I also want to talk about ceramic coating, because I think I know what that is, but I probably don’t. But what? Clay bar. Okay. So I’ve got a hunk of Play-Doh. Yeah. Right. What’s the point of it?

Caleb Dunlap: So there’s a on a car. There’s a lot of things that can happen in the paint. Um, there’s a lot of stuff that can that can bond into the paint if it’s not taken care of properly. So think, like, um, bud bug guts or, um, iron fallout. Um, tree sap tar. There’s so many things that, you know, can get on your paint and can etch it into the paint and bonded to it over time. So what a clay bar does is it gets that stuff out so it kind of grabs. You know, when you when you drag it over the surface of the car, it drags all those heavy contaminants out of the paint that you wouldn’t be able to get out with a normal wash. Um, and it really just in the simplest way, it decontaminates the surface. So basically, you know, when you’re when you’re rubbing your hand along a decontaminated car, it’s going to be rough. It’s going to be like super rough. You’re going to feel the contaminants when you clay bar a car after you’re done with it. The surface is just going to feel smooth. And that’s how you know it’s fully just clean. Um, and that’s that’s the that’s really the best benefit of of it because once your car is really, you know, free of contaminants, um, you can apply protection over it, um, such as, like a wax.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, I mean, that was going to be my next question because I, I grew up in South Florida and we would get lovebugs. I don’t know if you ever seen them, but, you know, you get off the highway. I think it was in September, and the whole front of the car would be covered in them, and to a certain degree you can wash them off. But but after enough sun and time, you know, some of those poor things are embedded forever, right? But if you were to take the clay bar to it, and assuming you’re able to pull them out, then you aren’t you leaving the paint exposed?

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah, right.

Joshua Kornitsky: So you have to put something over it.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah. So you’re leaving the paint exposed? Um, it’s it’s, you know, you can clean the surface, but after that, if you don’t apply any protection to the paint, then it’s just going to, you know, your problems are going to come right back, right? So that’s why, you know, after we clay bar, um, a car, we like to apply a wax over the paint. That’s just going to make sure that, you know, it’s just going to be a layer of protection over the paint that’s going to protect things from from bugs, from bonding into the paint, um, water spots, from etching into your paint. All that stuff is just going to be protected. And it’s going to make the car look, um, you know, as clean as possible for as long as possible. That’s what we like to say to our customers.

Joshua Kornitsky: So I have to ask this question because I know and I am going to ask about you guys sort of paying your education forward as far as your detailing knowledge, because we talked about that, and we’ll get to that in a minute. But if somebody’s listening to this right now and they’re like, okay, so I can order this off Amazon because Amazon has everything. I don’t know what a clay bar costs, but you know, it’s it sounds to me like sort of what I intimated earlier that if you put this in the wrong hands, I don’t know if you can hurt the paint, but you certainly sounds like you can damage it.

Caleb Dunlap: Yes. Yeah you can. So for sure. Well, I mean, yeah, if you if you use it the wrong way, you can actually like cause marring into the paint. So, um, it just that, just straight up damage to your vehicle. Um, it’s like it’s micro scratches into your paint that if you do that to your paint, it can only get polished out by paint correction. And that can cause car owners up to thousands of dollars. Right. So like, yeah. So if, if you want to buy a clay bar off Amazon and you just try to take the clay bar and just put it right on your paint and just keep going to town, you’re just going to jail. It’s very bad. Yeah. So you need. So you need the proper lubricant. So we use I mean, we can use, you can use a number of things, but we like to use either, you know, a pH neutral car soap, um, just to, you know, make sure there’s lubrication on the surface before we do it. Um, or we can use an iron remover. So that’s going to be another step to like, getting the paint like smooth. Is that iron decontamination. So, um, once you, you know, clay bar the vehicle, um, there’s still maybe a little bit of iron fallout in the vehicle. Um, that will be, you know, your paints going to be smooth, but it’s not going to be, like, buttery smooth. So that’s when that iron decontamination stage comes in. Um, and then that’s when, you know, that’s that’s when you get the, uh, the surface really prepped for that wax or, you know, sealer or whatever. But yeah. So if you, if you, you know, use it in the wrong hands, it can be very damaging to your vehicle and it costs you thousands of dollars to repair.

Joshua Kornitsky: And there’s nothing quite like a good DIY start.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: It ended up, uh, what was the example? Someone once told me that I can spend $75 making a dish that I had at a restaurant at home, or I can go to the restaurant and have it for 15. Yeah. Yeah.

Caleb Dunlap: You know.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yeah. Um, well, but you mentioned you both mentioned this idea of of iron, and I don’t know, I mean, I know what iron is, but what are you guys referring to? Because I’ve never heard that term before in relation to detailing.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah. So, um, I guess like the, the best example I can put it is, is, you know, when, when even when your car is made, um, in the factory, um, you know, there’s a lot of metals going around in the factory. And, you know, iron fallout is one of the things that tends to stay in the factory. Right.

Joshua Kornitsky: Literally.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah. It’s iron. Yeah, yeah. So it’s literally iron. And, uh, that’s where mostly comes from is the factory when your car is being made and all the panels and stuff, um, you know, in the paint can be iron Fallout that has just, you know, bonded in there because it’s, it’s been there since it has been made.

Joshua Kornitsky: And it’s in the paint.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah. Right. So, you know, that’s why when we do our services, we make sure all that stuff’s out. Um, so when, when when I say follow the best way. When you see it, you can see like little tiny either black specks in the paint. Um, and you have to look pretty closely, but it’s going to be there or like orange specks in the paint. Those are two examples that you can, um, that you’ll be able to see it on your car if you do find it. Um, and then that’s how you, that’s how, you know, there’s iron. So you can, we can get that out with our.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yeah. And is that via clay bar or via some other mechanism.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah. So you do like a mechanic. Sorry a chemical decontamination. So you use a chemical, um, to get it out. Uh, so you would spray it on the paint, you’re going to see it being removed, like you’re going to be able to physically see it being removed because it’s going to start bleeding. Um, yeah. And then, you know, you spray it down and then once that’s all off, then you go in with the clay bar, get all that other embedded contaminants off the paint. And that’s how you know, your, your paints.

Joshua Kornitsky: And now I can really understand not that I didn’t, but now I can really understand how this can take hours. Right. Because depending on the the physical size of the vehicle you’re working on. Yeah, yeah, that can take quite a bit of time. Yeah. So what’s the difference then, between wax, which you’ve both mentioned, and the ceramic coating.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah. So with the wax okay. They’re pretty different. Um, I would say the wax, uh, the main purpose of it is, you know, to provide a little bit, a little bit of protection. You know, 1 to 2 months, um, and then make your car look glossy and everything. Um, so it’s more of a short term protection with the ceramic coating that can last up to ten years. So it’s like, really? Yeah, ten times as longer. Um, it’s 100 times harder than a wax.

Joshua Kornitsky: And it’s literally transparent ceramic.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah. Yeah. So it’s.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yeah, you don’t have to bake this or take. No, no, you can do it in front of somebody’s house.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah. Yeah. I mean you can buy the bottle off Amazon and you can do it yourself.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yeah. We already talked about that. The last thing anybody wants is a ceramic coated left hand. Yeah. Right. So but if pardon me, if somebody, uh, wants to learn more, obviously you must have to get the car prepared.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah, yeah. For sure.

Joshua Kornitsky: What are those steps?

Caleb Dunlap: So the steps to prepare is basically just, you know, giving a good exterior detail on the car. So wash and then clay bar iron decon and then um, we take our polishers and buffers and we just buff every, you know, most of scratches like the micro swirls. I don’t know if you see, you know, on some cars that go through drive through car washes, that they have a lot of swirl marks, especially black cars that they, um, show the most. But, um, we want to make sure before we apply any ceramic coating that those scratches are, you know, 90% removed out of the defect of the, of the paint. Because when you apply a ceramic coating and the paint’s not, you know, uh, smooth and, you know, the paint’s not perfect or not, it doesn’t have to be perfect, but.

Joshua Kornitsky: But close enough to it that that you’re not sealing that swirl mark underneath.

Caleb Dunlap: Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So there’s that reason. And then the coating won’t last as long if it’s applied on a uneven surface. So, um, the scratches are deep into the paint, then it’s going to be like like the paint’s going to look like that. It’s going to look like, um, jaggedy like.

Joshua Kornitsky: Um, and it literally can last ten years.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah. So they can last up to ten years. They can last three years. I mean, they can last even one year. It just depends on what you, um, want to get from it. But, um, and to make sure they last that long, you have to properly maintain it after you get the coating. So, uh, regular hand washes. You never want to take it to the drive through car wash after even before you like in general, people shouldn’t even take it through.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, so so let’s talk about that for a minute. And, uh, I’ll preface this by saying we’re not talking badly about car washes. We’re talking about the difference between maintaining something to the highest standard versus just running through the dishwasher when it’s dirty. Right. You know, I’m I like to cook at home, and I never, ever put a good knife in the dishwasher. Yeah, because that’s just not a good thing for the knife. And I’m going to equate it to that bye bye metaphor, because if all you want to do is get the crap off your car, there’s I presume there’s nothing wrong. You’re not damaging your car holistically by taking it through a car wash.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: That having been said, if you particularly love your vehicle and you want it to look its best, it sounds like that that hand detailing makes a world of difference. But what are some of the things that those car washes do so that somebody who’s listening right now can be like, yeah, I guess I have noticed that.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah, right. Um, I guess, well, the biggest thing is, is just the micro scratches that you can get. So when you think about, like an automatic car wash, like a tunnel car wash, um, you think about just car after car going in to the, you know, the wash, right. Trying to get, you know, cleaned. And it’s coming out clean, right. But when you think about the brushes, um, they’re not being cleaned after each car is being washed. Yeah. Or ever. I mean, yeah, you don’t know who’s working there. I mean, it just depends, right?

Joshua Kornitsky: But it’s funny, uh, as an aside, but still relevant, the reason there are so many is that private equity got involved and started getting people to invest in these car washes because they, they were portrayed as just ATMs. Yeah, they just make money all the time. Yeah. And that’s why they’re on every corner, right?

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: Uh, but nobody I’ve never in my life seen anybody in there cleaning the equipment. Ever. To your point, yeah. So on that side, let me ask. And this will be the hardest question I’m going to ask you. But it occurs to me as we’re talking people are concerned about the environment.

Caleb Dunlap: Mhm.

Joshua Kornitsky: You guys are talking about using all sorts of materials. Are they okay.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: So are they safe.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah. So I mean the only stuff that, you know, as far as the chemical goes, um, they’re all, you know, like safe to use and, and to my knowledge, they don’t like, you know, they’re not harmful to the, to the environment. Um, and then, you know, as far as the equipment goes, like all you use is water and power, right? So, um, you’re just using, you know, either the client’s power, so water spigot or if you have a water tank, um, or just a power outlet, you know, all all that stuff is safe to use and none of it’s.

Joshua Kornitsky: Low carbon footprint because you guys are doing all the work.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah, exactly. So, exactly. You know, it’s, you know, you a car wash is going to be using way more way, way too much water. Right. Um, you know, when washing even one car because it’s just constantly pumping out soap and water and power and stuff like that, so.

Joshua Kornitsky: Sure. And they’re not just sitting there idle when they’re not in use. Things are still moving.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: So what are things people should look out for? Uh. And. Well, let me back up. I got a new car. My family got a new car three months ago.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: When do I need you?

Caleb Dunlap: Um. Right away. Yeah. Right away. If you want to. If you want to have preserve the car for as long as possible, you need to call us right away. I mean, really. Uh, especially, I mean, in specific to ceramic coatings. Yeah. Um, so, like.

Joshua Kornitsky: Sooner is.

Caleb Dunlap: Better. Yeah. For sure. I mean, with your car, do you park it in the garage or do you keep it outside?

Joshua Kornitsky: Uh, my car’s outside.

Caleb Dunlap: Outside? So that’s exactly, you know. So, I mean, I don’t know if, you know, the Georgia sun is literally cooking through car’s paint every single day. I mean, I mean, right now it’s really cold, but in the summertime, I mean, it’ll just cook through paint over time, right? So with the ceramic coating, um, you know, the sooner you apply it to your new car, the longer it’s going to be preserved. Because, you know, if you park your car outside for a long time and it’s not having a ceramic coating on it, it’ll, you know, burn through paint faster than if it had the ceramic coating on it. Um, so that’s why, you know, you get the coating on it and it’s protected from sun damage. Um, it’ll get dirty less often. Um, it’ll be extremely hydrophobic. So the water will just bead right off the paint. Um, I don’t know if you see on YouTube, like, you could search up ceramic coating car effects and people will be like pressure washing a car, and the water will just like it’s like it’s not even. It just bounces off. It’s crazy. It’s a crazy effect. But yeah, yeah, for sure. Definitely need to to call it, you know, either us or another detail out right away.

Joshua Kornitsky: Um, so now the opposite side of that. Yeah. Right. I have in my house we have a 2010 Honda CRV. Yeah. And, you know, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s it’s one of them. Belongs to one of my daughters. Uh, what could you do for a car? That just is a basic car. It’s probably run through car washes in its life. Yeah. Is there any, uh, obviously, sky’s the limit on what’s possible, but can you revitalize that car?

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah. Uh, to a certain extent. Um, you know, sometimes, you know, if it’s a very old car, chances are it has been through a bunch of car washes. Um, and some of the scratches that may have occurred through the car wash may have, may have already gone too deep into the paint.

Joshua Kornitsky: Or just through life. Yeah, yeah. Not not always throwing mud at the car wash.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, but, you know. Yeah, to a certain extent. Right. So, um, what we see in a lot of older cars is, is the, uh, the wheels are always, you know, pretty dirty usually. Um, like, a lot of brake dust has just been, like, baked onto the paint. Right? Um, we we cleaned the wheels and tires really well with our, you know, specialized wheel cleaner. And we have an assortment of brushes we use to make sure that the wheels looking as clean as possible. That that does a big difference when you’re when you’re detailing an older car. That’s the biggest thing that you notice is when the wheels are clean and the tires are shined. Sure. Um, and then, you know, as far as, uh, the body, um, just doing a nice hand wash clay bar, um, and then a then a wax over. It really helps with the gloss. Um, another big thing is like headlight restoration. So, you know, on older cars.

Joshua Kornitsky: You guys do.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah. Yeah. So we do do headlight restoration, um, on, uh, you know, older cars, the the headlights are usually fogged up.

Joshua Kornitsky: Oh, I’ve seen it. Yeah, yeah. Very close.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah. And, um, oxidized. So, you know, we offer the service to the client. When we get to the job site, we see the, you know, the headlights are foggy. We say, hey, you know, you know, we can go and fix this for you. Um, we clear up the headlights, make sure you know, they’re completely clear. Um, it helps with visibility. And then we apply a protectant over it just to make sure that, you know, it stays there as long as possible.

Joshua Kornitsky: Um, so it sounds like, realistically, you you can do a great deal to help an older car. You can help protect a newer car. Yeah. Um, I have one other thought, though. What about. And I’ve got a friend who who has and loves his Ferrari. What about when you’re talking on the high end? Because those. That type of car owner. Yeah. Little particular. Usually. For sure. Are you guys willing to work on those types of vehicles?

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah. Of course. I mean, we work on any type of vehicles. Actually, our target, um, clients are, you know, higher end vehicles, even, like supercar owners and luxury car owners. So.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, I imagine. Does it require a higher attention to detail, or is it just you putting into practice what you already know?

Caleb Dunlap: Um, it’s a little bit of both, I think. Um, a lot of times when people come out or they call us out to detail their Lamborghini and, you know, luxury car supercar, right? You know, the car isn’t going to be trashed because, you know, people keep their car clean if it’s a supercar, right? So, you know, they’re not hiring us to do a, you know, clean clean. Yeah. Like, I mean, it’ll be like, you know, some dirt here and there, but they’re hiring us to get, you know, those little, uh, some details that, you know, have to be touched up a little bit. Um, but it’s never like, you know that. I mean, they are particular about it, but they’re also hiring us for the little things, too. Um, you know, to get under the seats, to get in the little cracks and stuff like that. Alcantara. Yeah. Alcantara too. That’s another big part of, like, supercars is, you know, they have like, Alcantara, which is a.

Joshua Kornitsky: I’m not familiar with this word.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah. So it’s, uh, it’s basically, um, I don’t really know how to explain how it looks. It’s like it’s like fuzzy, the fuzzy like the black fuzzy material in, um, some like supercars that like, you know, on the steering.

Joshua Kornitsky: Wheel b y I don’t know what it is.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: So it’s a high end material.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah, yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: A lot of. Okay.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah, a lot of Porsches.

Joshua Kornitsky: Who has it knows the word.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah. A lot of people like Porsches, Lamborghinis, um, Ferraris, stuff like that. Mclaren. They all have like some sort of Alcantara in it, which is, um. It’s a hard material to clean. You need. You need a specialized cleaner for it, and you need to know how to clean it. You can’t just spray cleaner on it and rub it, and it’s not gonna ruin it like that.

Joshua Kornitsky: So that sounds like an expensive DIY problem.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah, yeah. If you clean it wrong, you’ll probably end up messing it up. And that’s in a supercar.

Joshua Kornitsky: And replacement parts for a vehicle like that are cheap.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah. And it’s the material is expensive.

Joshua Kornitsky: So I can only imagine.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah. It’s you know, it’s definitely a harder material to clean. Um, but we know we have our dedicated, dedicated Alcantara cleaner, um, we know how to clean it properly. So, you know, that’s that’s.

Joshua Kornitsky: Knowledge makes a difference.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah, yeah. You pay. You know, when you pay a professional detailer, you’re not just paying them to do the work. You’re also paying them for what they know.

Joshua Kornitsky: Sure.

Caleb Dunlap: So, you know, expertise is a big one when it comes to, like, picking the right company to come clean your car versus just, like, doing it yourself. Yeah, it makes a big difference.

Joshua Kornitsky: Well, so so let me ask you, we started this for free Google reviews. Where are you now with regards to your reviews?

Caleb Dunlap: Uh, I think we’re at 84, five star reviews.

Joshua Kornitsky: That’s fantastic.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah, yeah, we, um, we’re kind of just getting trying to get a review from every customer after the, uh, after we detail their car, um, a new client, even, like existing clients. We asked, you know, hey, I know you leave the. You left the Google review last time, but do you have another Google account? You could, you know, leave a review on and that’ll that’ll help us a lot. Sure. And, um, yeah. So we kind of incentivize it to we say, you know, before the detail, hey, I’ll give you $10 off if you feel this Google review out right now on the spot and they do it. And then that’s kind of how we’ve been building it. Um, and then in regards to like other stuff in the Google business profile, there’s, you know, there’s not only reviews, there’s there’s photos you can add. Um, that also makes the review better. Um.

Joshua Kornitsky: Because they can see the, the outcome of the work you do, but it also gets Google more people looking.

Caleb Dunlap: Google it ranks you higher. So yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: Um, well, I have one other question that I want to ask before I ask how people get in touch with you. And it goes back to one of the very first things we talked about when we met initially about you guys kind of paying it forward, because I really liked this concept. You said that you learned everything you needed to learn from YouTube. Are you guys sharing what you have learned and what you know with your community?

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah. So, um, I recently well, probably a couple of months ago, um, I started like a TikTok account just for, you know, just me. Um, but I’m really, you know, all the content that I post on that account is just, you know, um, advice on how I’ve built, you know, how we built our business. Um, the stuff that I’m doing to, um, to help grow our business and then sharing it with other people. Um, and you know, the best ways to market your business. Um, the best way is to perform a service, uh, like, customer communication, all that stuff. I have it on a TikTok page where, you know, I try to talk to as many people as possible and help as many people as possible, especially when it comes to, like, you know, people DM me and ask, uh, you know, hey, you know, how do you do this? Or what’s the best way to market your business or gain trust or whatever? And I’m always happy to answer their questions, um, and all that stuff.

Joshua Kornitsky: So that makes me really, really happy to hear, because that’s why I do the show, is to help others bring focus to the work they’re doing. And it sounds like you guys are right in that vein. And I think that’s fantastic. And I and I will we will absolutely share whatever links you want to share. But if people want to get their cars professionally detailed at the convenience of their home or office, how do people get in touch with you guys?

Caleb Dunlap: Um, I mean, we’re pretty much everywhere. We’re on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, Google. We’re pretty much everywhere. I mean, um, our website.

Joshua Kornitsky: And it’s Dunlap, Georgia mobile.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah. I mean, there’s a there’s kind of a little bit of different names, but it’s generally the same. The same name is just Dunlap, Georgia Detailing or Dunlap, Georgia mobile detailing. Yeah. Um, and, um, yeah, I mean, our website is kind of I think it’s Dunlap, Georgia detailing. Yeah. So the Instagram, Instagram is Dunlap, GA detailing. Um, the website is ww.com. Um, and uh, and then you can just search up Google Dunlap GA mobile detailing and we’ll pop up on Google. Um, those are the main ways that you know, that we like to our customers to go through. So, you know, see our work, um, you know, reach out, you know, whatever they feel like, you know, they, they want to see.

Joshua Kornitsky: So and people are able to schedule a time and a day and all of that.

Caleb Dunlap: Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: Yeah. So that it’s not just, you know, whenever I get there on Tuesday.

Caleb Dunlap: Right. Yeah. Exactly. They can reach out to us and, you know, we can diagnose their vehicle, see what service they need, and and, you know, go into availability and scheduling from there. Um, so that’s fantastic.

Joshua Kornitsky: Um, Caleb, Connor, thank you so much. I really appreciate you guys coming in and sharing your knowledge first and foremost. And your willingness to help others, I think is is admirable. We are excited to watch you grow as an organization. Uh, excited to see how you guys do as students going out into the world. Uh, we’d love to have you back on as your company continues to expand.

Caleb Dunlap: Of course. Yeah.

Joshua Kornitsky: So excuse me.

Caleb Dunlap: Thanks so much for having us.

Joshua Kornitsky: Oh, an absolute pleasure, gentlemen. And to remind everybody again, my guests have been Caleb and Connor Dunlap of Dunlap GA Mobile Detailing. It’s a growing business that they started in high school, and they bring premium detailing and ceramic coating services directly to customers, combining precision craftsmanship with a drive to build a trusted local brand. Please check them out. We will publish all of their links that they mentioned on air and make sure that you know how to find them. Last, I want to thank everyone at the Community Partner Program and remind you that today’s episode was brought to you by the Business RadioX Mainstreet Warriors Defending capitalism, promoting small business, and supporting our local community. For more information, please go to Mainstreet Warriors. And a special note of thanks to our title sponsor for the Cherokee chapter of Main Street Warriors. Diesel. David ink. Please go check them out at diesel. David. Com my name is Joshua Kornitsky. I am a professional EOS implementer and your host here on Cherokee Business Radio. We look forward to seeing you next time. And thank you for joining us.