Custom interior work can be a lucrative endeavor for the right body shop
Whatever type of custom interior work is involved, however, the skills required are similar. In addition to traditional body repair skills, such as paint and disassembly, technicians need sewing and design skills, which they typically learn on the job. What can't easily be taught is the innate artistic talent that this kind of work also entails. Body shops that get into custom interiors typically have one or two technicians dedicated to that area who also may fill in with general shop work, depending on the volume of business. And since the majority of the cost of custom interior work is labor, those employees can be particularly valuable.
It took Colbert a significant amount of time and persuading to convince one of the technicians who does his custom work to make the move from another company. Now that the technician is on board, Colbert has assigned a helper to him so that the helper can learn the business first-hand.
Get 'in' the money
With the right technicians in place, the custom interior business can be lucrative. Jobs retailing for $2,000 or more are commonplace — and as much as 50 percent of that can be profit. The billable labor rates for custom interior work can run anywhere from $40 to $80 an hour, depending on geography and the shop's reputation.
A typical $2,000 job could take a few days to complete, but most shops avoid quoting a specific time frame, as unexpected issues can arise. "There's no telling what you will get into when it comes to finding parts," says Victor Calvert, an interior detailer for Hodge Restorations, a Boiling Springs, S.C., -based shop that specializes in restoring Chrysler products built between 1968 and 1972.Entering the custom interior market doesn't require a huge up-front investment for many body shops, as they are likely to already have most of the equipment required for such work — although they may need to invest in a sewing machine. A bigger change for some shops, however, is the need to take extra care in keeping the interior in pristine condition as they work on it. "If you get a grease spot on the headliner, you've ruined the whole headliner," notes Colbert.
Custom outsourcing
As an alternative to doing their own custom interiors, body shops also may choose to subcontract the work to another shop specializing in that area. Customers often want both custom paint and custom interior work, but some body shops may prefer to only handle the paint job. Margins on subcontracted custom interior work are likely to be quite slim, however. Hodge Restorations has grown so popular that it is now booked two years in advance and therefore, does not handle jobs for body shops. But Calvert says when a shop like Hodge handles work for other shops, a typical arrangement is to sell the parts to the body shop at wholesale price, but to charge the full labor rate.
Word-of-mouth, always important for body shops, is even more critical when it comes to custom work — although some shops promote their custom business through participation in custom car events or on the Internet. Not surprisingly, some shops that become successful at custom work eventually give up their lower-margin collision repair jobs.
