Today we’d like to introduce you to Sean and Alex Hutchisson.
Hi Sean and Alex, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
SEAN: I’ve always wanted to open my own business. My mom loves to tell the story of my elementary school shoeshine hustle. I used to charge teachers $3 per pair. After I moved to Austin in 2011, I got a job managing the detail shop at a local full-service car wash. Over time, I realized that there really wasn’t any more room for growth, and I felt like I could provide a better level of service branching out on my own.
ALEX: I met Sean in September of 2014 when he was already feeling a little discouraged with what to do next. It kind of seemed like fate. I’m from a family of entrepreneurs; my parents have started several businesses and all of them are still open today. I’ve learned a lot from them about what it means to own a business.
SEAN: I proposed to Alex in July of 2015. It seems like our lives were immediately taken over by planning the wedding. I’m from Ohio and a lot of my family and friends weren’t able to make it down to celebrate with us in Texas.
ALEX: After I visited Ohio with Sean, I knew we needed to do something up north so we could involve the people that were important to him. It seemed like a good idea at the time to do another reception in Ohio two weeks after our Texas wedding.
SEAN: We basically decided to start a business the same year we were planning what amounted to two weddings in two different states. Probably not the smartest decision to be honest.
ALEX: The first challenge was finding a shop space. Real estate in Austin was already in high demand and limited supply. Our financial resources prevented us from building our own shop, ruling out that option. Renting a space was difficult due to the stigma associated with automotive businesses, but also in terms of finding an owner willing to lease to a brand new company with no track record and no book of business.
SEAN: We met with several places and ended up having a definite front-runner in terms of what we were looking for. It was exactly the location we wanted to be in and the right amount of space for us. Unfortunately, the owners rejected our initial leasing application. They just weren’t confident that we would succeed.
ALEX: But we really wanted that space. We decided to see how we could prove to them that we had thought everything through. That proof ended up being a business plan that we wrote together and said that we had identified this area was under-served in terms of auto detailing and paint protection. We were able to make our case and the property owners decided to give us a chance.
SEAN: We officially opened the doors in May of 2016. In the beginning, it was me doing the work with Alex pitching in after she finished work at her “real” job. And that worked fine because, at first, no one knew we had opened. We didn’t really have a big budget to spend on marketing or advertising to get our name out there.
ALEX: One thing I didn’t know is that, in this industry, business is primarily obtained through word-of-mouth referrals. People don’t want to just hand their car over to anyone, especially car collectors.
SEAN: Right. You do good work and then you get more customers. But how do you do good work when you can’t get customers? We had to get creative in figuring out how to let people know that we were there. That’s where Alex came in because I have very little interest when it comes to working with computers or graphic design.
ALEX: One thing I had really pushed for when building up Taurus was that we had to have a good website. It may not seem like something you should worry about in some industries, but it is generally the first time you get to make an impression on potential customers. It definitely made a huge difference for us, and we’ve received tons of compliments about it over the years.
SEAN: Alex also designed our first fliers and business cards. Once those were printed, I started passing them out to surrounding businesses and really anyone that would take one. If I wasn’t detailing a car, I was out trying to find the next job.
ALEX: We also tried to think of unconventional ways to say “hey, we’re here” and make our presence in south Austin known. Sean joined local buy-and-sell groups on social media and professional networking groups. We eventually got to where we had more work coming in than the two of us could handle on our own. That’s where our next challenge came in.
SEAN: I always feel like it’s too soon to hire someone. I know that I’m having trouble staying on schedule and finishing the work, but when you’re looking at the books, then it makes you nervous about whether you can afford to hire help. Alex, on the other hand, was able to see the bigger picture and knew that if we had help, we could continue to grow.
ALEX: After interviewing some people that weren’t the best fit, we realized that both of us needed to be on the same page about what a good candidate looked like, both on paper and in person. I think, at first, we were so excited that we were growing enough to hire someone that we probably scared some people off by telling them how they would play a big part in our long-term goals. This was not the best way to go about hiring someone.
SEAN: We learned to be more selective and are proud to say that two of our employees have now been with us for over four years and our team keeps growing. We are also constantly contacted by people wanting to come work at Taurus.
ALEX: We have finally learned to play off each other’s strengths. Sean has an amazing ability to interact with people, really listen to their concerns and figure out how to deliver solutions, even if that means going off menu.
SEAN: Alex is great at seeing the big picture and instinctively knowing when it’s time to take the next step, whether that means hiring a new person or expanding into the space next door. We have found some great people to help us continuously surpass the goals we set. Most importantly, we do our best to make sure Taurus clients are happy and that our employees know we value them.
ALEX: And Taurus just keeps hitting every goal we set. After two years with the doors open, we decided we were doing well enough that we needed a larger shop space.
SEAN: At the five years mark, we ended up expanding again to take over two different shops and offer more services. We now have a dedicated space for the auto detailing and a second space where we do paint protection film and window tint. We’ve been lucky in some ways and made good decisions in other areas that have enabled us to build a pretty solid reputation in the south Austin area.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
We’ve had several challenges that we’ve had to overcome. In 2017, right before our one-year wedding anniversary, Sean was learned the cause of some health struggles he had been having for years. While it was good to finally receive answers, the diagnosis meant that he had to undergo a surgical procedure to remove a tumor from inside his spinal canal. He ended up having a piece of his spine permanently removed. Our sole employee at the time, one who had been working with us for about six months and was heavily involved in our strategy to keep the business going, bailed at the last minute with a no-call, no-show. We haven’t seen him since.
We ended up having to close the doors of Taurus for about three months while Sean had surgery and recovered. In a lot of ways, Taurus had to start over with Sean working alone at the shop again but the handful of loyal customers we had built relationships with made a huge difference by sticking with us.
While the bones in his spine still haven’t grown back (haha), we are beyond lucky that Sean is functioning even better than before, when it could have had a completely different and devastating outcome.
Two years later, at the end of 2019, the world entered into a global pandemic. With some many unknowns and the world in a state of crisis, Taurus was once again forced to temporarily close its doors.
Fortunately, we were able to keep both of our employees on the payroll and to eventually (and slowly) reopen. We know how fortunate we are to have once again be operating when many other small businesses have not fared as well.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Sean was shy, quiet and reserved. He gets his love of cars from his dad, who got him interested in drag racing and car shows.
Alex was shy and reserved except around people she was close with.
Contact Info:
- Website: taurusautodetailing.com
- Instagram: @taurusdetailing
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/taurusautodetailing/
Image Credits
Photographer: Ethridge Productions
