This story is part of CNBC Make It's Millennial Money series, which details how people around the world earn, spend and save their money.
Outside Randy Roblero's single-story family home sits his cargo van, emblazoned with the red and blue signage for his company, Beyond Limits of Palm Beach, a mobile car detailing business in West Palm Beach, Florida.
The van isn't just for advertising — a "moving billboard," he calls it. It's also his office. Inside is everything he needs to clean and restore vehicles: an electricity generator, a 100-gallon water tank, pressure washer, Shop-Vac vacuum, waxing equipment and various cleaning products.
Six days a week, Roblero, 22, works out of the van, servicing three to four clients per day. To avoid the stifling Florida heat, he usually starts at 7:30 a.m. and works until late afternoon.
Roblero started cleaning cars as a side hustle when he was 18, but it wasn't until he purchased the van in 2021 that he got the "courage" to become a full-time business owner, he says.
"I felt like I was never going to find out if running my own business was meant for me unless I tried," he tells CNBC Make It. "And I thought, 'I'm young, I can still start over if this doesn't work out.'"
The decision has paid off so far. In January 2022, he quit his $20-an-hour entry-level accounting job at an aerospace repair company to pursue his side hustle full-time, earning $51,000 that year.
In 2023, Roblero found more clients and started making money from car detailing videos posted on his YouTube channel. He's on track to bring in about $77,000 — nearly double the $41,000 he earned at his old job.
Here's how he got there.
From side hustles to starting his own business at 18
Roblero was born in Bailey, North Carolina, but has lived in West Palm Beach, Florida, for most of his life.
His parents were undocumented immigrants from Guatemala who came to the United States in the 1990s. His father worked as a freelance handyman, while his mom was a homemaker who took care of Randy, his older brother, younger brother and youngest sister.
Money was tight, but the family got by. It wasn't until he recently overheard his mother talking about his father that he "realized my father lived paycheck to paycheck," says Roblero, who earned extra cash in middle school by reselling sneakers.
In high school, after "a lot of begging," Randy's father bought him a used 2006 Nissan Altima. He bought some all-purpose cleaner, microfiber towels, brushes and a Shop-Vac and, "I just started cleaning it inside and outside — all the nooks and crannies — making it look as good as possible."
Roblero used the car for his part-time job as a pizza delivery driver servicing the upscale, barrier island town of Palm Beach, home to Donald Trump's primary residence, the historic Mar-A-Lago estate. The tips he earned were good, typically over $100 for a few hours of work, most of which he put into savings.
After graduating from high school in 2019, Roblero enrolled at Palm Beach State College, but only stayed for two semesters. "I realized college was not for me," he says. "I'm a hands-on type of person, I like to go out and do actual physical things," he says.
Instead of going to school, Roblero worked full-time at the aircraft repair company. But he kept thinking about starting a car detailing business, inspired by the effort he put into maintaining his own vehicle.
In May 2020, he decided to go for it. He spent $2,500 from his savings on a trailer and supplies, then set up Instagram, Facebook and Google My Business accounts to advertise his company.
Finding early success with his company
During the first few months, about a quarter of Roblero's customers were friends or family, while the rest were people who discovered the company through its social media accounts.
Repeat customers and referrals led to more bookings, as did curious neighbors of clients who happened to be walking or driving by while he was cleaning their vehicles. This happened at least once per booking when CNBC Make It filmed Roblero over two days.
But despite garnering a customer base, he was still figuring out the basics of running a business.
"I didn't know how to do pricing, so I started low," says Roblero, who doesn't remember the exact rates he initially charged. Currently, he charges $120 for a simple cleaning to $350 for a full detailing package.
In 2022, he purchased the van for $8,000 and spent another $2,500 on upgraded equipment. But by then, he was earning enough to leave his 9-to-5 and focus on the car detailing business full-time.
"Basically, I took a leap of faith and went full-time with car detailing," says Roblero. "If I wasn't going to do it then, I was never going to do it."
In January 2023, he started a YouTube channel, where he shares weekly behind-the-scenes videos of his car detailing process.
It became an unexpected source of revenue. Videos titled "How To Start a Car Detailing Business With Only $500" and "How I Make $700 in 5 Hours Detailing" attracted hundreds of thousands of views, which led to ad revenue and paid sponsorships. By the end of 2023, Roblero expects to earn over $77,000, with about $18,000 coming from YouTube revenue alone.
Dealing with a family tragedy
In the early days, Roblero's father encouraged his business.
"I remember one day he came up to me and told me he was very proud of me," he says. "You're from here, you're in America. You can achieve things that me as an immigrant can't do," Roblero recalls him saying.
But in September 2020, just three months after he started the company, Roblero's father collapsed from cardiac arrest. Although doctors were able to resuscitate his heart and get him breathing again, he never fully recovered due to a lack of oxygen to his brain. He died a few months later, in April 2021.
"When my father passed away, it was pretty devastating," says Roblero. "We took a huge financial hit. My mother had to start working again. My brother had to start working overtime at his job. We all came together to provide financial stability for the family."
Roblero says he spent around $15,000 of his savings on medical and funeral costs.
To make matters worse, the landlord sold the house they were renting, forcing the family to find a new home. Roblero, his older brother, mom and sister now share a new place, with Roblero and his older brother covering the monthly rent, which is $700 higher than their previous home. His brother covers all the utilities for their new home.
As a result of his father's medical expenses and increased rent, Roblero took on more bookings for his car detailing business in the wake of the tragedy: "I had to work more than I ever had in the past."
How he spends his money
Here's how Roblero spent his money in June 2023.
- Rent and utilities: $1,000
- Discretionary expenses: $798 for entertainment, clothing, dental braces
- Food: $549 for groceries, restaurants
- Transportation: $189 for gas, car insurance
- Phone: $35 his portion for a family plan
- Subscriptions and memberships: $12 for Sam's Club, SoundCloud, video editing app
Roblero's business brings in around $6,500 per month, and he puts about $1,500 to $2,000 back into it each month. After taxes, his take-home pay comes to about $3,200 per month.
Roblero rarely splurges, but when he does it's on meals with his girlfriend, or on travel or entertainment, like spending $460 at Walt Disney World in June.
Roblero's biggest indulgence is a red Ford Mustang that he purchased for $17,000 in 2018: "I wanted a nice car."
Otherwise, his household expenses are kept low by splitting the costs with his family.
If Roblero has extra money each month, he puts that back into the business. However, he has no personal investments or retirement savings. That's "because I'm focused on my business," he says, although he intends to put money into investments "later down the road."
Looking ahead
Going forward, Roblero would like to invest in more vans so he can take on more clients and expand throughout Florida. He sees himself eventually managing the business and hiring employees to clean cars.
"I wake up and I go to sleep thinking about my business," he says.
Making more money is a goal too — at least enough so that his mom doesn't have to work anymore. "I want my family to be more financially stable than it is today," he says.
It's also about "doing my own thing and seeing what I can achieve, what my abilities are."
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