Harry planning to clean up with new car products business
A young Stourbridge entrepreneur has turned his passion for cars into a fledgling business.
Harry Batham, aged 24, has put aside the pressures of Covid-19 to launch So Wax Detailing, a car detailing company that has developed its own range of vehicle cleaning products to challenge some of the biggest brands in the country.
Working with a specialist manufacturer, he has used his experience of valeting to tweak existing formulas and is now selling his own 20-strong range, including shampoos, detail spray, wheel cleaner, glass cleaner and rubber dressing.
They are intended to be used by the public, motor enthusiasts, expert detailers and dealerships.
It seems to be an approach that is working with more than 400 litres of products already sold in just a few weeks, the majority of which have come from word-of-mouth recommendations and through Facebook and Instagram.
“I’ve been cleaning cars since I was 10-years-old and really started to get into the finer details when I was completing restoration work on my own vehicles,” explained Harry, who has strong connections with Crossroads Garage in Lye and Roundabout Cars in Stourbridge.
“During this time, I’ve used lots of mainstream cleaning brands and, whilst they’re generally really effective, I felt there was room for improvement, so approached a number of chemical specialists to help with the formulation and putting some of my ideas into practice.”
He continued: “One responded and, together, we have been developing the So Wax Detailing range ready for the official launch. We believe we’ve come up with some really good improvements that we are now keen to showcase.
“People ask how I came up with the name and it’s a bit of a funny story. My Dad sad there was a 50 Wax number plate up for sale, which would be really good to have for marketing. I registered So Wax as the company and then tried to purchase it - turns out it was available for £4500, a bit outside my price range when launching a new business.”
Harry has invested all of his personal savings into So Wax Detailing and is offering clients valeting, detailing and ‘return to lease’ services for cars, vans and motorbikes.
These are completed at his base in Lye, with all of the products he uses coming from his own exclusive range.
“The retail element will be the big driver for our business, and we are currently in discussions with a number of outlets, specialist detailers and dealerships who are considering adopting the product across all of their maintenance operations,” continued Harry.
“We’ve also got a lot of exciting plans with the chemical specialist, including increasing the product range and even introducing new scents, the latter based on feedback we’ve been getting.”
He concluded: “The vision is that So Wax Detailing is good enough for the best in the industry, but also accessible to people who simply enjoy washing their cars.”
With so-wax.com now live and the increasing popularity of the So Wax Society forum, Harry is expecting sales to quadruple over the next three months and this could lead to investment in his own dedicated showroom and valeting area.
