Teenage Entrepreneur Richard Saldana approaches third year of his business: “RS Detailing”

By: Oscar Castaneda

Teenage entrepreneur Richard Saldana showcases his detailing business as he approaches his third year.

Richard Saldana, ‘23 is a full-time student at Redwood High, whilst owning his business within the auto detailing industry at age seventeen.

His business, RS Detailing, offers a wide variety of services between Interior, Exterior and engine-bay detailing. Saldana’s customers highly request service for Premium Interior Detailing.

Saldana first peaked interest in starting a personal business at the age of fourteen during freshman year to support his family members throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, “[He] started off just around with my family members washing their cars, the inside and outside. At times, making 3-4 hours for $30-40 bucks.”

He says he began the business in the auto detailing industry due to accessibility and his interest in cars. “Whenever I work, I can up work up to 12-14 hours and it wouldn’t feel like much. I’d be tired, but I would enjoy my time,” he adds.

At the start of constructing his business, Saldana says how he was able to perfect his art, “After a while, [he] started going on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. Watching videos [like]: ‘How to do this professionally’, ‘How to do this so you won’t mess up.’ ”

By viewing these resources, he says it is entertaining to educate himself on the components to maintaining a professional atmosphere.

The name RS Detailing was titled for simplistic memorization purposes, “I wanted to keep it simple. I just used my initials – RS Detailing – and I came up with a pretty simple logo as well so it wouldn’t be to complicated.”

“For example, if you wanna look at other businesses the simple ones are easier to remember. There is other companies with longer names and it’s just harder to remember, “ he continued.

Running a business on your own no doubt requires you to learn other skills such as marketing or sales. Saldana, throughout the two years, has learned many skills. He says he acquired skills in “marketing, photo editing, reaching out to customers, time managing, scheduling, and also how to work money.”

Saldana gets the exposure through platforms such as Instagram, google maps, Apple maps, Yelp and Facebook. Saldana also offers business cards.

Over the two-year period of this business, he has detailed over two-hundred vehicles. “For about every $15 or so in projects I can make $150-200 in profit,” he says.

Saladana says the unique part of his business is pricing. “I see what others charge and I think I charge a reasonable amount without giving my work away,” he says.

As of now, Saldana has no official hired employees, but has had people help. He says, “A year from now I’m not gonna be in high school, with college you get much more time, so within a year I want to have at least one employee or two if business is good.”

An obstacle he faces in his business is mobility. Using his parents as transportation, which he is required to opt for gas. “There’s a lot of mobile detailing; they have more marketing so its harder to stand out,” he adds.

Saldana is aiming to use this business as a peddle stool to reach greater things, such as “a key to college and ultimately making more money.”

The inspiration behind the creation and growth of his business lies within his need to becoming different.

Saldana says he often reflects on his dream to create a function business, “[He] was thinking a couple years back, ‘Do[es] [he] really want to be like every other teen and work at a fast food restaurant making minimum wage, having to work a certain amount of time?’” His personal business allows him to accommodate to his schedule.

Redwood Student Alan Islas, ’23 is a regular customer of RS Detailing. Islas says he is pleased with Saldana’s detailing, especially ”for such a young age. He takes his time to do his work and it comes out really good like a new car.”

Some advice Saldana has for those who are wanting to start up their own business. He advises those interested to persevere throughout the highs and lows:

“Be patient, persistent and stay strong. You’re not going to start a business and a month later be exactly where you want to be; it’s not realistic. You have to be patient, you have to struggle. Have faith in yourself because if you really put your mind to it you’ll get there.”

Richard Saldana, ’23 advising fellow and upcoming business owners to persist

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