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Wednesday, Nov 13, 2024

Businesses Bring Their Services to You

More and more businesses are offering to come to their customer's homes. Here Hitch Bekraoui builds a new electric bike  at a home in Manhattan Beach, CA recently in October,  2022. Photo by David Sprague
Hitch Bekraoui assembles an electric bike for customer Tom Brandis at his home in Manhattan Beach.

The number of small businesses in California has grown during the past several years. According to business-strategy company Oberlo, the number of small businesses in the U.S. reached 33.2 million this year, a 2.2% increase from last year and a 12.2% increase over the past five years.

But some entrepreneurs have stepped away from traditional brick-and-mortar shops and business models to put their companies on wheels.

Axel Maderos of Axel’s Mobile Expert Detail polishes a customer’s Ford Bronco in Marina del Rey.

After eight years working in a car wash for very little money, Axel Maderos started his own car detailing business

in 2008, South L.A.-based Axel’s Mobile Car Wash. He started off by purchasing a 1987 BMW stocked with a small air compressor, vacuum, soap and rags. He recalled knocking on people’s doors and asking them if he could wash their cars, but did not garner many customers in that manner.

“I got depressed for a couple months because I would knock on doors and get rejected a lot,” Maderos said. “The bills would come around again, and I was responsible for those. Regardless, I kept going.”

With time, the people who gave Maderos a chance recommended him to their friends, family and co-workers. In 2012, he was able to upgrade his car and his cleaning materials.
Maderos said he gets to spend more time with his customers and pay more attention to the quality of his service running his own company instead of working at a car wash.

“A customer is happy because they can be in their office or in their home continuing with what they need to do, and meanwhile I come, wash their car, and all they have to do is come out for their keys,” Maderos said. “Mobile is 100% better than a physical location because the customer saves time and I have the ability to do better work.”

 

Marilou Lekanne of Doggie’s Groom Mobile pampers Brownie in Sherman Oaks.

 

Finding customers

Maderos said his biggest challenge running a mobile business was finding clients. The same goes for Eddie Bustos, owner of Encino-based Premier Studio Mobile Barbershop, who said his largest obstacle going mobile was finding clients.

Prior to opening his barbershop on wheels, Bustos opened a physical shop with a business partner, which he eventually had to leave. He then worked in a friend’s shop, but missed running his own busiess. So, in 2019, Bustos took to the road.

“It was kind of a survival move for me … I went from being my own boss to working for someone and was far from where I used to work, so I lost all my clients,” Bustos said. “That’s when the idea came up. What if I go mobile, and then there’s no excuse of me being far because I can go to them; I can be in any location I want.”

Bustos said he can’t imagine having a brick-and-mortar location again.
“It’s more than just a haircut; I sell people their time back,” he explained. “I show them that instead of wasting 30 minutes driving to the barbershop, 30 minutes waiting, I give them something that’s more priceless to them.”

More and more businesses are offering to come to their customer's homes. Here yoga instructor Jessica Bishop works with her client Aaron Hammersly at his home in Burbank, CA recently in October, 2022. Photo by David Sprague
Yoga instructor Jessica Bishop works with client Aaron Hammersly at his home in Burbank.

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DESTINY TORRES Author