I started a mobile detailing business in college as a side hustle to make some extra money. I went to a great private college and now work full-time remotely for an insurance company in a finance position where I'm quickly climbing up. Promoted quickly, intern mentor, highest close ratio on my team, etc. Now, 7 years later, while detailing is still a "side hustle," the income the business generates in 9 months (the mobile detail season in my area) is quickly catching up to my much more respectable finance job and I'm not sure how to feel about it.
I'm 26 and make ~$85k + 5% bonus at my day job. My business did ~$72k last year, working from March to November all by myself part-time, so nights and weekends only. I also own 2 duplex rental properties.
Detail clients who I talk to tell me I'm crushing it and are always impressed, but I can't help but feel embarrassed to know that I went to such a great college for a finance degree, and here I am shooting soap at cars and chiseling melted candy out of minivan cupholders. I've even met a few business owner clients for breakfast just to chat about business.
I have a fully custom trailer, and I just added a top of the line ford transist connect mobile detailing setup, wrapped with my logo. I also built monthly maintenance revenue of ~$5k each month, so those are jobs I don't need to find each month, it's my new base revenue. The business does too well to ignore, but it feels so beneath me to tell people what I do. Very few friends and even family members know because I try to keep it as secret as possible. I don't want to be seen as somebody who went to school for finance, and now they shoot soap at cars for a living. It makes me feel like such a failure, even though the business can produce $12k months working solo only part-time. I have few expenses so it's mostly profit.
Does anybody else have similar feelings towards their business? Should I put more focus on my real career or this business?
I built a business I’m too embarrassed to talk about
byu/Make_That_Money inEntrepreneur
Posted by Make_That_Money