How to start a ceramic coating business.
The level-up craft, written down: the gear that matters, how a coating day runs, the quality bar, the insurance step, and what your first week looks like. No fluff, no get-rich promises. Just the playbook we hold our own network to.
Why ceramic
The step-up craft, for good reasons.
The craft detailers grow into
Decontamination, machine polishing, surface prep: if you've detailed seriously, you already own half the skill. Coating is the discipline that turns polish work into protection work.
High-ticket work, serious customers
Nobody impulse-buys a ceramic coating. SleekRide customers picked their package and paid before the job ever reaches you. You meet them at the appointment instead of the negotiation.
Results that keep speaking
A correctly prepped and coated panel stays glossy for years, and every before-and-after you shoot builds the portfolio. The work compounds. So does the reputation.
The starter kit
The kit is the easy part. Prep is the craft.
Ceramic asks more of your hands than your wallet. If you already own wash gear, one good polisher and a reputable coating line put day one within reach. Add the level-up gear as jobs justify it; every item on the second list pays for itself in capability.
Brands are your call. Consistency beats labels: the same products, used the same way, every job.
Day-one core
- A dual-action polisher with a starter set of pads (the single investment that matters most)
- Compound and finishing polish for the correction passes
- Iron remover and a clay bar or mitt for full decontamination
- Panel-prep wipe so the coating bonds to bare paint, never to polish oils
- A reputable professional-line coating with applicator blocks and suede cloths
- An inspection light that shows swirls and high spots before the customer ever could
- Microfiber towels sorted by stage and washed separately
- Masking tape for trim, rubber, and anything you don't want polished
Level-up gear (when jobs fund it)
- A paint thickness gauge: know how much clear coat you're working with before you polish
- A 3-inch mini polisher for bumpers, pillars, and tight curves
- Infrared cure lamps to tighten cure times and your schedule
- A canopy or a garage bay: coatings want shade, still air, and patience
- Manufacturer certifications (IDA, IGL, Gtechniq) as your ticket to the premium coating lines
A job, start to finish
What a SleekRide coating day actually looks like.
The job lands
A customer books and pays on SleekRide, correction tier and coating grade already picked off the menu. It hits your dashboard with a 1-hour window to accept. Accept and the address unlocks; pass and it cascades to the next pro, no penalty for an honest pass.
Walk the paint with a light
Five minutes under an inspection light: scratches, etching, what the chosen package covers and what it can't reach. Agree on expectations while the car is dry and the customer is standing there.
Photos before you touch anything
Before shots through your portal. They show live on the customer's tracker, set expectations, and they're YOUR protection if anything is ever disputed.
Prep, then coat
Decon wash, iron and clay, machine polish, panel wipe until the paint is bare. Then lay the coating panel by panel, watch it flash, and level before it sets. The coating locks in whatever you leave underneath, including shortcuts.
Status as you go
Tap In progress, Photos up, Ready, Complete. The customer watches live instead of texting you. After photos close the loop.
Complete and get paid
Mark complete and the payout transfers to your bank through Stripe. Send the customer off with aftercare in writing: the cure window, the first-wash rules. Five-star coatings build the track record that feeds you more jobs.
The quality bar
Five standards. They're the whole rulebook.
Care for the vehicle. Keep your insurance current. Photograph every job. Communicate on the platform. Own problems when they happen. You acknowledge them when you apply, customers rate every job, and a real person reviews every issue, with due process that protects good operators.
The grown-up step
Insurance: one afternoon, and you're legit.
This is the step that separates a business from a side hustle, and most people overthink it. Have an agent? Any local one can quote a coating operation in a day.
Don't have one? We'll connect you with one of our insurance partners. Insurance runs in SleekRide's blood: ask in your application notes or reach out after you apply, and we point you to a partner who quotes operators like you every week.
What to ask for
General liability (the standard ask is $1M per occurrence / $2M aggregate) plus garage keepers coverage. Garage keepers is the one that protects the customer's CAR while it's in your hands; general liability alone doesn't. A coating day means the car sits with you for hours, sometimes overnight, which is exactly the exposure garage keepers exists for. Doing pickup and delivery? Make sure the policy covers you driving customer vehicles.
Then send us the certificate
Your carrier emails you a one-page certificate of insurance (a COI). Upload it in your SleekRide settings, a human verifies it, usually same-day, and jobs start routing to you. Until then your dashboard shows exactly what's left.
Pricing
Know your number. We never undercut it.
In your settings you tell us what you need to make on each package, and SleekRide's fee goes on top of your price for the customer. Coating math has three parts: product per vehicle, correction hours at a wage you respect, and the overhead that keeps you legitimate. Price the prep honestly. The bottle is the cheapest thing you'll touch all day.
Your first week
Seven steps. The dashboard walks you through every one.
- 1Apply at /partners/apply (5 minutes; your own legal name works if there's no LLC yet)
- 2Read and acknowledge the standards as part of the application
- 3Get general liability + garage keepers (no agent? we'll connect you with one of our insurance partners); upload the COI from your settings
- 4Set your business hours so the calendar can offer real slots
- 5Enter your package prices (you keep every dollar you list)
- 6Connect payouts through Stripe with your bank
- 7Accept your first job inside the hour, prep like it's your portfolio piece, and lay a coat you'd sign
The playbook's yours. So is the lane.
Everything above is how our best coaters run. Bring the patience and we'll bring the customers, the standards, and a dashboard that never leaves you guessing.