Local says his Mobile Detailing is a struggle but he manages to raise 5 kids on the income

Business Owner M.D. Francis seen detailing truck in Chesapeake.
photo: abhi ahmadadeen/BMLTV©


(BMLTV) CHESAPEAKE VA, April 12, 2013 – Norfolk resident M.D. Francis says says that he started this Mobil Detailing business “Buds Suds” 2 years ago with the intentions of generating enough income to raise 5 kids as a single parent. M.D. spoke about how he was looking to expand the business after first year, “but that hasn’t happened quite that way he explains”. 

While it is a struggle I am making money and there should be no reason for me to complain. “I’ve got the freedom to take this business anywhere. The United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) compiles occupational projections data on many occupations. The agency does not maintain a dedicated category for auto detailers though, instead lumping these workers in with "cleaners of vehicles and equipment."

This broad and somewhat nebulous category, cleaners of vehicles and equipment, accounted for nearly 350,000 US jobs in 2008. The occupational outlook anticipates a modest one percent growth over the decade from 2008 - 2018. BLS reports that median annual wages in this occupation are "very low" at $19,450. 6.5 percent of vehicle and equipment cleaners are self-employed. 

 by abhi ahmadadeen