The Lounge Q+A: Rigo Flores, Mobile Detailer

This Mexican American, mobile detailer manages property by day and cleans cars as his side hustle. Watch him take his show on the road!

Nice to meet you!

I’m very happy to be here to meet you guys and put a face to the actual App and believe me when I say the PocketSuite App has helped me out tremendously.

What is your story?

I was born in California in a town called San Bernardino, and I went to go apply to be an electrician, to be an apprentice. So that was my goal in my life at that time. I just so happened to meet up with one of my very good friends. I knew him since elementary school. He introduced me to detailing and I saw what he was doing mobile wise. I got hooked on it. Honestly, I wasn’t looking for a niche. I wasn’t looking for anything to supplement myself financially. I got into detailing. I bought one piece of equipment and the rest is history. Now I’m mobile and I’m still doing this part-time. I work a full-time job as well. I’m very busy whenever I’m not at home. I’m out here working with my clients and washing cars – like crazy.

What else do you do?

I work in apartments. I’m a maintenance technician. I fix faucets. I do plumbing, electrical, and air conditioning. I work at a senior property. That’s what I do Monday through Friday. Anytime after five o’clock, I go and hit the streets detailing.

Why do people love mobile detailing?

The biggest difference between mobile detailing and going to a carwash or a detail shop and dropping off your car is you have to leave your car, but then you’re stuck with having to get picked up. It sets you back in your day. I’m going to somebody’s house. It allows them to use that time to do what they have to do in the day, to get work done, or just enjoy their time off.

What is the worst mess you had to clean up?

Do you want to know the nitty-gritty? I mean, I could be featured on Dirty Jobs. A friend called and said, “Dude, this is an emergency!” Usually, when that happens, it’s either the day after New Years’ or somebody’s birthday. I show up to the job and everything looks great on the car. I am vacuuming and doing my thing on the driver’s side, finishing up on that side of the vehicle. Then I went to the passenger side and there was throw-up on the carpet. I knew exactly what they had for dinner the night before.

How do you handle two jobs?

I think the one word here that describes everything, in a nutshell, is discipline. You don’t see that in everybody. You see discipline in boxers and professional athletes. Those are the disciplined ones. They’re the ones who get up at five in the morning, do their routine, get up, go to work, and don’t stop until whatever time of the day or night. That’s one of the biggest things I feel that I have that has allowed me to succeed in life and business. I’m disciplined. When I say I’m going to do something, I buckle down, and I do it. I run into many more people who aren’t people of their word and are just kind of lazy. Those are bad habits to have if you want to succeed. You’ve got to have good habits and good habits sparks by being disciplined.

What do you love about your job?

The love that I have is the love of meeting new people. I love meeting new clients and I get gratification out of closing a deal because everything starts with just a text message. The majority of my marketing is on Instagram. People who hit me up have never seen my face and don’t know what kind of habits I have. They play it by ear and so do I with them. I like earning people’s trust. Once I get to somebody’s house, finish a job, get paid for it, that is where my passion is.

Where do you get your tireless work ethic?

I have my dad to thank for it because he sold life insurance his whole life. He succeeded with all odds against him. He succeeded. I thought about what it took for him to put food on the table for us. He hit it, man. We would go on trips to Cancun and Cabo because he was one of the top sellers. I have my dad to thank for it all.

What are some of your struggles?

My Grandparents came from Mexico. My mom is from Mexico, so she doesn’t speak any English. My dad was born in the USA, and he speaks English and Spanish and is perfectly bilingual. It’s a struggle to come up being Mexican American. I have to show the Mexicans I’m Mexican and I have to show the Americans how American I am. You live by two standards.

What is your dream car/truck?

I am driving my dream vehicle. It’s a Ford F-150 SuperCrew and it’s six inches lifted. It has a lift kit and 35-inch tires. I’ve always driven a very, hoopty style kind of car. I never really had anything nice. Last year, December 6th on my birthday, I went to the dealership and got my dream truck.

How has Covid19 affected you?

It’s been nothing but booming because of the industry that I’m in. I am in the automotive industry, but also connected to the cleaning industry as well. Right now, sanitation, disinfection, cleanliness, is at an all-time high. I’m getting a lot of calls for interior details as opposed to exterior. I also carry an ozone generator, which cleans the air and is really popular right now.

Where do you want to take your business?

I want to take it to the next level. Cars have been great to me and customers have been great to me. My next thing to do is enter the residential side of cleaning. What I can do for the customer’s car, I can do on the inside of their house. I can steam clean mattresses. I have a hot extractor. I can clean mattresses and suck out the sweat, bacteria, dust mites, and disinfect them. A huge thing for me could be carpet cleaning. Those are the ideas that I have. The timing is good right now because people are spending a lot of time at home.

What is some advice you would give to someone thinking of starting their own business?

If you want to do a career change, write it on paper. That’s how I started this business. I literally created a very small PowerPoint presentation when I was sitting at my sister in law’s house. We are a family of nine and were sitting around the TV. So I cast my laptop to the TV and I showed everybody the packages I wanted to offer. I told them this is what I want to do. Now my brother in law is my employee.

Final words?

In terms of PocketSuite, don’t stop. Keep going because I have seen PocketSuite, change, and grow. It’s helping me grow and it goes hand in hand with my business. For business owners, if it’s slow right now, you gotta figure out how to go in a different direction. There is no excuse. There is none.