Two Hopkinton High School (HHS) students, Connor Merkle and Colton Spavento, launched their car detailing business, C&M Elite Mobile Detailing, over the summer. Merkle and Spavento operate their mobile vehicle detailing business by traveling to their clients and providing both interior and exterior services.
When asked how they got started, “It’s our love for cars, and working on our own cars, while we were just getting into it,” Merkle said. “We started at the end of the summer, hoping to help people out, and then it turned into something big.”
With no prior experience, Merkle and Spavento researched and practiced extensively to prepare themselves for the challenges of running a business. “I think it just took a lot of practice,” Spavento said. “We did our own cars so many times — like ten, twenty times.” “We definitely researched the materials that we needed,” Merkle said. “We experimented on our cars, going through different products, seeing what works best.”
Starting a business from scratch while attending school comes with no shortage of obstacles to overcome. Additionally, building a business while balancing other commitments is challenging. “Competing with some of the bigger businesses is definitely hard since they already have an established client base,” Spavento said.
“We’re both on the hockey team here at the high school, and we both play club hockey. We also both work outside of our business, as well. So, there’s definitely a lot of time and energy that goes into it, but we love doing it.
Despite being a new business, the two owners have recognized that providing people with a service has made the experience rewarding. We love helping people out. So it’s worth it,” Merkle said.
For more information, check out @cm_elite_mobile_detailing on Instagram.
About the author: Dylan Hatherley is a HHS junior taking a class in journalism.
