LOWELL — Following his lifelong love of the automobile, Lowell native Tom O’Hearn, 27, has begun his own mobile detailing business, called On The Spot, which sends him out to clients’ homes and offices instead of having them come to him.
O’Hearn’s business venture caught the eye of Entrepreneurship for All, which first awarded him $750 to support On The Spot, and he recently received another $1,500 from the organization’s Accelerator Program, which will assist him in launching two service locations in Lawrence. O’Hearn hopes to bring his business to his hometown as well, and anywhere else that will have him.
Q: How did you come up with your business idea?
A: I’ve always been passionate about cars, and I’ve detailed every single car that I’ve owned. On The Spot really started when I learned about Entrepreneurship for All. I had been introduced to EforAll through a family member, and he had said they’re a great resource, very supportive and really take your business to the next level. At that point, I’d really only been detailing my friends’ and family’s cars, never really as a business or for any sort of income, but I did really see an opportunity there.
Q: What had you wanted to do before this?
A: I always wanted to be a teacher. I went to UMass Amherst for a year then to UMass Lowell to study history, but I didn’t complete my degree. The focus just wasn’t there. I do want to go back to school to finish my history degree, because I’m already so far along, and then I’ll probably go back for a business degree somewhere along the line.
Q: What is driving you now?
A: I have a lot of energy, and I’ve started to understand that I want to have a very sustainable future and income, so being an entrepreneur is great. It gives me all that freedom to do so.
Q: So what is detailing, anyway?
A: Detailing is a way-more-advanced car wash. You’re basically reconditioning your vehicle to bring it back to like-new or showroom condition, so you’re getting all the particles, sand and any type of foreign dust — you get that all out. Full shampoo, wax — you get the full nine yards. A car washing is more of a temporary clean. A detail can protect your vehicle for up to months if you do it properly. It’s really a way to maintain the value of your car.
Q: Why decide to go out to your clients?
A: There aren’t many mobile options in this area. It’s a way to differentiate myself from other detailers, and there’s a real demand in that service because a lot of people want to have their car detailed but they don’t want to have to surrender their vehicle up to someone for a whole day. I’m responding to a demand I’ve seen.
Q: How far are you willing to go for a client?
A: If I’m doing one car, anywhere in Greater Lowell. If it’s a whole fleet of vehicles, I think I’d be willing to drive up to a half hour away.
Q: So you’re at someone’s house or office building. How do you contain the water and other materials you use?
A: I just recently purchased a very new equipment and method for washing cars that uses barely any water. To wash an entire car, I can use a quart of water now. If you were to pour that on a parking lot, that’s not even a puddle. I’ve built my company responsibly, and I include the environment in all of my decisions. All of the materials I use are all-natural, biodegradable and they’re completely safe for the environment and anyone that were to come in contact.
Q: What are the service locations you are working on now?
A: I’m working with the property managers of two sites in Lawrence, an office building on Island Street and Marston Medical Center, to provide detailing for tenants, customers, doctors and patients. I expect these locations to be up and running by the end of April.
Q: Have you come across any unexpected clients?
A: One of my first subscribed customers was Lowell’s Spiceventure Food Truck. I’m also working with a high-end landscaping business in Westford that has a fleet of 11 vehicles and health-care facility in Chelmsford that is also interested in detailing patients’ wheelchairs.
Q: Where do you see yourself and your business in the next three to five years?
A: My three-year plan is to have 10 locations up and running anywhere in the Merrimack Valley. I have a lot of spots along the 495 band between Lowell and Lawrence that I’m sort of looking at. I want to have a pretty large workforce working for me. In five years, my personal goal is to have a second venture up and running. I really want to be able to empower the economy around me.
For more information and for links to On The Spot’s social media pages, visit onthespotma.com.
Follow Alana Melanson at facebook.com/alana. lowellsun or on Twitter and Tout @alanamelanson.
