When Montgomery City resident Elake Vance began his auto detailing business in May, he was thrilled with the opportunity of not only being a first-time entrepreneur, but having plenty of money in his pocket.

“Last year, I did pressure washing and I switched up to detailing because I saw a bunch of stuff online about it,” Vance said. “It makes a lot of money. You can get up to $150 per job. That’s my average job right now. You can get up to $250 for trucks and all of that. It makes pretty good money.”

Vance’s business, which is called Ev’s Auto Spa, serves the Montgomery County area as well as neighboring counties such as Warren and Gasconade. He works on detailing and deep interior cleaning on the customers’ cars at their driveways. Before his business began, he invested $500 in cleaning equipment.

Vance, who is a junior at Montgomery County High School, said he has done over 30 jobs since he started his business just four months ago.

“Right now, it’s making me pretty good money,” Vance said. “Once I start running ads, I’ll make a lot more money. I’ve seen people make $15,000 a month from running ads on detailing. The most customers I got in a day was seven, which made me probably $900. The average job is $150.”

Vance recently hired one of his friends for help with marketing his business.

“He’ll sometimes be out going door to door while I can’t,” Vance said. “Let’s say if I’m at football practice, he’ll go and do that and get more sales. It’s going pretty well.”

Vance said his first month as entrepreneur was pretty successful.

“I did one of my family’s cars just to get used to it,” Vance said. “Then, I did a real job down in Fredericktown, Missouri because I was down there with my parents. They called me out there. I did a (Dodge) Challenger and that was pretty cool.”

Vance currently plays for the MCHS football team and competes in track in the spring. He has already set plans for himself when he graduates in 2028.

“After high school, once I’m 18, I’m going to start running business ads to get more customers, get a better setup and just invest a lot more stuff to make my business get more customers and more clients,” Vance said.

To make an appointment, call Vance at 573-590-6632.