Meet Ricky Martinez of Coastal Detail in San Marcos

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ricky Martinez.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Ricky. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
This story begins back in 2011, it was my fifth year working for a Mexican restaurant in my town and I was starting college. I wasn’t happy there and decided it was time to part ways. Not knowing what to do other than keep going to school, I figured I would use my downtime to find another job, one that was more suitable for my college schedule. In June of that year, I ran into a friend I had not seen in about a year, and he mentioned in passing that he was detailing cars and that if I’m looking for a job, I should apply.

After he mentioned this to me, all I could think of was that it would be nice to work outdoors instead of being cooped up inside all day. So I went ahead and applied, got the position, and thought that it would be a quick way to make some cash. What I didn’t realize was that detailing in the summertime was hotter than I had previously imagined. Talk about impeccable timing. I thought about quitting two weeks in.

I decided to work through the summer and see how I feel about this line of work. Next thing you know, I’m getting used to this line of work. From late 2011 to 2015, I was dedicated to this job. Around early 2015 the company I was working for was looking to expand to North County San Diego. It was perfect timing as I was looking for somewhere to move out to in Vista at that time. I agreed to help expand since logistically, it made sense, and with that in mind, we found a truck and trailer and began servicing north county.

I was in charge of my own accounts, which consisted of construction companies, boat owners, breweries, and other various businesses. It took about a year of running the expansion that made me realize that I was handling all the clients, the scheduling, and the payments without any help from said company. I was pretty much doing all of the work. It made me start to ponder how I could run something like this on my own. I started to research all the necessities of running my own Detailing business.

I won’t forget the date. It was Feb. 13th of 2016 when the time came to make the big leap in moving forward with starting my own company while breaking away from my previous partner. Things started to fall into place. I found some of my own accounts: truck, trailer, and equipment. Little by little, my own business was coming to fruition. Coming up with a name was fairly easy since I’m a heavy beach-goer. I wanted it to relate to the ocean. My brother Danny and I shot some ideas back and forth and finally landed on “Coastal Detail”. Something simple, yet ideal.

The first two months were difficult, I had to start over with finding new clients and maintaining a persistent work schedule. Luckily, my previous clients liked what kind of work I produced and referred their friends and families. We were slowly making our way back to being a busy company.

I did have a falling out with my previous company, but sometimes you have to move forward with tough decisions to continue your own growth. We did have some of their accounts contact us to schedule work since they saw our standard of work and didn’t want to lose our business.

Once I acquired my previous clients and found new clients, the workload became a lot. At the time, my brother Danny was already helping me on and off, and he decided to hop on board full time and has helped me since. I can’t thank him enough as well as my friends and family that have also contributed hours of their own time to help me as well as the company’s growth since then. You know who you are.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Like everyone else, I wish I could say that it was a smooth road. It was overwhelming and scary diving into the unknown. The physical aspect of it was something I knew how to do, but I didn’t know the true logistics behind running a business. Luckily branching off the old company I had worked for provided a template and gave me experience in running the business management side of things.

The next step was actually going and purchasing everything you’d think you’d need to run this type of business successfully. That was frightening and I asked myself, “Would it all pay off?” Once I purchased all the necessary products, equipment, and found some helping hands it was time for me to break away from my previous partner, which would come with a lot of resistance and repercussions.

It’s not easy to tell someone you are close with that you no longer want to be a part of their business. With growing a company, you have to make some tough decisions and one of those was confronting the issue that my previous partner/friend would become my competition.

Once that was established, I thought for a moment that it would be smooth sailing from there. I was wrong. I had to quickly adapt to putting myself out there to meet new clients. It was the toughest part of the whole experience. I’ve found that most clients are easy going and friendly. I’ve also found some clients that are tough to work with. It’s how you manage the latter that dictates a successful business. I think that the more obstacles you face in life, the more it defines you as a person. With that in mind, I take every situation, dire or easy, as a lesson learned.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Coastal Detail is a mobile auto detailing service. We first started with basic car washes, but have started focusing more on Detailing. Detailing consists of protecting, correcting, and enhancing your vehicle’s paint. We also focus on scratch repair, overspray removal, and interior detailing.

Beyond that, we can do decal removal, paint coatings, headlight restorations. We do a lot of high-end cars, plenty of boats, but our bread and butter is your everyday driver vehicles. One that has built up grime in high traffic areas such as steering wheels, door handles, and everything in between.

I take pride in how consistent and steady our work is. I always tell my clients unless you hear from me, always expect us there. It’s easy as a sole business owner to take days off or show up when I want, but I’m proud of the consistency in Coastal Detail. I’m proud of how hard we work and the appreciation that goes into our work. I would even say that is what truly sets us apart from other detailing businesses. That and the simplest things such as being communicative with our clients.

What were you like growing up?
My friends will tell you I am someone who worries about the smallest of things. I was always outside playing in our backyard helping my grandpa with his garden, just being a curious kid. As time went by, I would say I was one who took life more seriously than others, especially when it comes to work. For example, I was always trying to stay one step ahead of doing what needed to be done around the house. I did this so that my parents wouldn’t have to ask me to do it. In my mind, it was a terrible and guilt-laden feeling. Realistically it was nothing worth burdening over.

Having this constant feeling of being liable and responsible is what led me to get a job so soon in the first place. Most importantly, I cared what my employees thought of my work ethic. As soon as I clocked in, it was (and still is) straight to business.

Outside of work, I am a very outdoor driven person. I Always had an interest in sports that most people were not doing at the time. While everyone enjoyed football or baseball, I was buying rock climbing shoes and trying to get on routes at Mt. Woodson. The beach draws most of my friends to surf; meanwhile I am looking for waves breaking right on the sand so I can Skimboard. It’s the thought of me and my friends getting to do these lesser-known sports that drives me.

As I sit here now, I would say the “seriousness” in my personality has eased up. I find myself enjoying the time spent with friends and family more important than before. It is easy for me to get frustrated at times, but I remind myself that even being frustrated is a temporary feeling that will go away sooner or later. I’ve started to see the fragility of life and in doing so find myself appreciating the little things.