Its all in the details- Woitas fills a niche with mobile boat, car, RV cleaning business

By Jean Lundquist

 

In 2008, Tyler Woitas was a 20-year-old man with an eye for detail and a willingness to work hard and get dirty.  That year as college let out in the spring, he saw his expected summer landscaping job evaporate in the weak economy.

 

That summer Woitas' turned his skills into what has become Overboard Detailing-a one man boat, car, RV, and in one case, even mailbox detailer. "I had been working on a boat at a guy's house.  He thought I did such a good job, he asked if I could do something for his mailbox, so I did," Woitas says.

 

How meticulous is Woitas in his hard cleaning, maintaining, protecting and enhancing the items he's working on?  One of his tools is a tooth brush.  "If you can see it, it will be clean!" Woitas says.

 

As Woitas contemplated how to make money that summer, he thought about mowing grass or washing cars.  As he researched the pros and cons of each, his research led him to the idea of boat detailing, knowing there are a lot of recreational lakes in southern Minnesota.

 

After detailing the family lawn mower, his car and his mom's vehicle for practice, Woitas made his first stops at Dale's Marine and Stormy's Motorsports and Marine, both in Madison Lake.  He landed his first job detailing a pontoon boat through Dale's Marine later that week.  "Marinas get a lot of requests from boat owners to do detailing work, but most of them don't do it."

 

His first season, Woitas detailed 12 boats and admits he spent the whole summer, and much of 2009, learning about the techniques and products to use.  He didn't buy in bulk, so his expenses were high.  He didn't own much equipment, so his labor was mostly by hand and took longer. "I god burned (by what I charged) on a lof of boats."

 

Since then, Woitas has spent the money to aquire a heavy-duty vacuum, and has invested in a buffer, as well.

Woitas says many of the boats he details each year are high-end boats, but he details everyday fishing boats, too.  "People call me up, tell me they've been fishing, and have fish guts everywhere and they need it cleaned."

 

A big portion of his business comes in the spring, when boats are taken out of storage.  "If they've been wrapped in plastic, and there's any moisture in there with them, they probably have mold on them."  A prime location for mold is vinyl seats.

 

Removing the mold from them is a a multi-part process, Woitas says.  "I use a pretty strong soap to scrub them, so when I get the mold off, I have to use a conditioner to put the moisture back in.  Then I rub that in andwipe them down."

 

Another trick to the detailing trade is understanding oxidation, he says.  "Oxidation is like a sunburn.  If you have water on your arm, the sunburn will be worse there, and it's the same for paint.  Over time, oxidation can do some serious damage if it's not checked."

 

It's ironic that on of Woitas' degrees from Minnesota State University is in marketing.  Being a one-person business, he hasn't had time to do marketing beyone producing a brochure.  "I've been relying on word of mouth, doing a good job, having a good reputation and referrals."

 

A good share of his business comes from Dale's Marine and Stormy's Motorsports and Marine and Stoufer's Auto Sales, also in Madison Lake. 

They get a request for a detail of a boat, car or RV and schedule it with Woitas.  "That's good," Woitas admits, but has it's down side, too.  "Those people (vehicle owners) don't get to meet me, and I don't get to work my charm on them."

 

He's only partly joking.  Another share of his business is in making house calls, like the job in which he was asked to work on the mailbox.  "When I'm at their home, people get to see how I work and how hard I work, and they often recommend me to their friends."

 

In addition to house calls in and around the Mankato area, Woitas has traveled to New Ulm, Blue Earth and Waterville.

After a starting year with 12 detailing jobs, Woitas had 40 jobs last summer.  This year, he's on track to double that.

 

Having spent so much time around boats has made a mark on Woitas.  He had never gone fishing until last summer.  He bought a kayak and went fishing for the first time.

 

Woitas will graduate in December with a major in Leisure Planning and Management, and his minor in Marketing.