“I started packing equipment and tools into crates and my parents would drop me off at customers’ houses,” recalls the Bradford resident, who started the business as a hobby at the age of 14.
David Marr points to a 2020 photo of a sedan loaded with tools for his specialty, mobile vehicle detailing, where equipment takes up almost all of the trunk and interior space except for the driver's seat. There is.
He was a 16-year-old high school student with determination.
The determination remains undiminished and the ride quality is vastly improved. He currently picks up a trailer large enough to carry all the tools and water and tows it with his truck. Last year, his company, Status Detail, operated 600 cars and 45 boats that carried him and his crew around his home base of Bradford, as far south as Lake Ontario and as far north as Orillia. I think I cleaned it.
Along the way, he won the Young Entrepreneur/Business Excellence Award presented by Bradford Board of Trade last autumn. Mr Marr and his business met all the requirements, explains Charlotte Kapralik, chief administrative officer of the board.
“David's work is an inspiration to aspiring entrepreneurs and proves that with passion, perseverance and a clear vision, you can achieve remarkable success at any age.” she says.
This year, he may end up going further afield to add a small squadron of single-engine aircraft to his workload. But that deal is still in the works.
All this and school too. The 20-year-old is in his third year of the University of Waterloo's Honors Urban and Regional Planning Cooperative Program. It's all a bit of a juggling act, Marr admits. However, I try to stay focused by prioritizing school, knowing that my business depends on the quality of my work and customer service. He says that happens through the support of clients, friends, family and community leaders.
The detailing business started as a hobby when he was 14 years old restoring his parents' cars to used condition. Then he worked on his neighbor's car. A business, now called Status Detail Co., sprouted.
“I started packing equipment and tools in wooden boxes, and my parents would drop me off at customers' houses,” he recalls. “I bought my first car with this money and drove myself and my crew to work when I got my driver's license.
“Fast forward to 2024. We are a licensed, insured, and completely self-sufficient mobile auto, boat, and aircraft detailing business, and I own my pickup truck and trailer. We use it to serve the Greater Toronto Area.”
Ma attended the University of Waterloo's Entrepreneurial Cooperative Program, so his business no longer has to be limited to the summer. And he's looking to grow it even further.
But there is also another aspect: urban planning. This is a profession he intends to pursue in earnest, developed out of a fascination with seeing his hometown grow with him. He recalls drawing the city as a child, spreading his vision over several pages. From there, other towns and cities with roads that his Hot Wheels cars could drive would grow.
“It gave me inspiration about how communities, people, infrastructure, nature and cars work: they interconnect, function and direct our daily lives,” he says. said.
“Long-term plans are to finish school and get to the point where I can run my own business,” he says, adding that he hopes to have a store with multiple trucks and a company he can run as he goes along. He added that he was imagining it. Career in urban planning. “I don't want to wake up in the morning because I'm afraid to go to work.”
