A Conversation with Danny Ansara, Founder/Owner of Forward Detailing

From CanvasRebel: "We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Danny Ansara. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Danny below."

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Danny, appreciate you joining us today. Your ability to build a team is often a key determinant of your success as a business owner and so we’d love to get a conversation going with successful entrepreneurs like yourself around what your recruiting process was like -especially early on. How did you build your team?

I started my business by myself and I was the sole employee for the first year. I first used my personal vehicle to get things in motion, before upgrading to a 1999 Chevy Express cargo van. My goal was to learn the detailing process in bite sized pieces. As I gained knowledge and skill I learned of more efficient methods and better equipment to use for my jobs. When I wasn’t working on customer vehicles, I was practicing my craft on my own cars. Before I focused on hiring a team, I was building a sufficient customer base and establishing myself as a reliable and meticulous detailer. It’s important that I spend time as the owner of the business smoothing out operations by seeing what works, and sorting out the things I’ve tried that make things more difficult. Once I started to become comfortable with my routine, and that it was one that I can easily train people to follow, I started enlisting the help of some part time workers. This was a good experience for me overall, and I was able to learn how to improve the process of training as we went along. Fast Forward to today, and I am in the process of hiring my first full time employee, I have two vans fully outfitted, and I have plans to break ground with a brick and mortar in the next year. Besides my first employee coming on board, I have been blessed to have such an amazing force of good behind the scenes working miracles for my company in every way. Tyler does everything from manage the website, to creating newsletters for customers, and coordinating events in the community. His efforts help to provide Forward many excellent opportunities of exposure and networking. As my business continues to grow, so will my team with it! I’m excited to see what is in store for Forward Detailing as I bring more people into the fold.

Danny, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started my company almost 3 years ago. The inspiration for Forward Detailing came from conversations that I had with friends about starting a mobile auto detailing business. Detailing is something that I’ve had an interest in for many years, but only recently started taking up. I struggled to get customers the first year after I went full time with my detailing business. Making a name for yourself when you’re just starting is always a struggle, but I stayed determined and never gave up on my goal of growing the company. As I continued to improve the quality and time of my jobs, I began to get more and more referrals from customers. This is really what helped me get Forward Detailing on the maps, and continued to gain momentum. After almost 3 years, my hard work is starting to pay off in ways that I didn’t even imagine. I have had the opportunity to promote Forward at the Woodward Dream Cruise of 2022, I took part as a vendor at Showtown in Motown on Belle Isle, and I had the honor to of participating as a sponsor at Detroit Concourse on September 17th this year! Having the chance to work with the community and take part in such awesome events is something that I am extremely proud of. I couldn’t be happier with the direction that Forward is heading in. I will always dedicate my time to solving the many intricate problems that our customers bring to us. That is what Forward Detailing is all about.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Family and friends spreading the word to their circles has helped tremendously. Going above and beyond for every customer has helped ensure that we receive repeat business and a steady stream of referrals.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I stay consistent with my posting. My goal is to enlighten viewers and followers on what it is that we do on a daily basis. By engaging our audience with content that shows how we work, we are able to build interest in our brand and more people will start to follow what we do. Staying consistent is the key, and finding creative ways to engage your audience with your brand is extremely important as well. It’s easy to be drowned out with all of the noise and competing detailers on Instagram in particular.