Details matter when these teens get down to business


CARTER NOTHEM (left) started a car-detailing business with his friends Steele Ribbens (center) and Harrison Ebbers to help raise money to buy his father’s 2012 Chevy Cruze. Sisu Lower photo: Friends Harrison Ebbers, Steele Ribbens and Carter Nothem (from left) of Port Washington are maintaining jam-packed summer schedules between part-time jobs and their business, Sisu Details Co. Photos by Sam Arendt
By 
MITCH MAERSCH
Ozaukee Press Staff

For three Port Washington teenagers, the dollars are in the details this summer.

They just didn’t expect so much of either.

Carter Nothem, Steele Ribbens and Harrison Ebbers, all 15 and incoming sophomores at Port High, have been busy running Sisu Details Co. on Highway KK several days per week and are booked into August.

“We thought it’d be slow for the first couple of months,” Nothem said. “It skyrocketed compared to what we thought.”

The trio cleans cars Sundays through Wednesdays but squeezes in customers on Thursdays when they can.

They would do more, but in blowing the stereotype that all kids are lazy, each already has another job.

The car-detailing endeavor started soon after Nothem’s father Mitchell planned to get rid of his commuter car, a 2012 red Chevy Cruze. Carter said he wanted to buy it and began crunching the numbers in May.

His part-time job at Sherper’s in Port wasn’t going to earn him enough money to make the purchase, so Mitchell suggested starting a business. Carter was up for it and contacted Steele, one of his friends who worked with him at Sherper’s. The two want to own their own car shop someday, and getting started as entrepreneurs motivated them.

“That became an idea in our heads, and we became fixated on it,” Steele said.

“A week later, they had a logo set up and email, Facebook and Instagram,” Carter’s father said.

Harrison, who works at Cedar Creek Outdoors and once fixed Carter’s and Steele’s bikes, was soon brought into the mix since the enterprise needed a third person.

They lucked into a location at Carter’s father’s business. Mitchell had been renting a spot in the far end of the building next to his CBD by Design shop when his tenant said he would be willing to share some of the space.

Carter’s father got the teens some equipment, and after testing their work on the vehicles of family members and friends, they got the business up and running in June.

Their performance is driving their profits.

“A lot of people are shocked,” Steele said. Customers will say “I’m going to put a shoutout for you guys.”

The business’ name came from one of Steele’s hobbies. He’s a big skier and he saw the Finnish word “sisu” in a skiing video. It translates to “determined” in English.

The trio has figured out a system. Two work on a vehicle at a time. It takes about three hours working together, so they complete three cars per day.

Three packages of increasing work and prices are offered — veterans get a 20% discount — with upcharges for extra time due to “excessive dirt.”

“We clean a lot of gardener’s cars,” Ebbers said.

Pet hair is another add-on.

“If there’s a lot of dog hair it can be annoying sometimes, but we’ll get it done,” Steele said. It’s difficult to get out of upholstery, sometimes requiring removal by hand.

“That definitely adds a lot of time,” Steele said.

Customers are told ahead of time about upcharges, and payment isn’t taken until after the cleaning to “make sure they’re happy,” Steele said.

Cars are steam cleaned and vacuumed. Door panels and trim are cleaned with soap and a rag. A finishing shine on the center console and buttons give plastic and leather “a new look,” Carter said. Windows and mirrors are cleaned as well.

“I usually vacuum the back and Carter does the dusting,” Steele said. Carter also often handles the steam and shampoo jobs.

“We like to split the car up into sections,” he said. “Most of the job is just learning to be efficient.”

Loose items found in vehicles are placed in a bag and given to customers.

Oddly enough, the bigger the car, the simpler the job.

“There’s more space, and the vacuum and drill brush get in there,” Steele said.

The physical job comes easier for Steele, who said he is a hands-on learner.

“I can’t really sit still,” he said.

Carter handles the accounting, taxes and text messages to customers when their vehicles are finished. The business offers shuttle rides when possible.

The three take pride in seeing their finished products, but it’s someone else’s opinion that really matters.

“It’s great seeing the joy in the customers,” Carter said.

One of the trio’s biggest challenges is their attention to detail. “That’s what we’re here for, Carter said.

It can get warm inside vehicles, but the teens keep working to the sound of random country songs on their playlists and sometimes “a little rap,” Carter said.

A new challenge arose barely a month into business. Ebbers injured his foot mountain biking and is on crutches, but that isn’t stopping him from working.

The trio has already seen the benefits of running their own company.

“Being able to make up your own hours on the job,” Carter said.

“Being your own boss is so nice. It gives us so much more freedom,” Steele said.

Carter’s parents don’t mind it either.

“I get to have them around all day,” Mitchell said.

“I think it’s super cool. They all have other jobs,” Bielinski said. “Their biggest thing is making sure their customers are happy.”

So far, Sisu Details Co. has been on “one heck of a ride,” Carter said.

Come fall, school may slow business but not stop it. Weekend work and perhaps cleaning one car after school are in the plans.

“As long as they keep their grades up,” Bielinski said.

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/Sisu.details.

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Wisconsin’s largest paid circulation community weekly newspaper. Serving Port Washington, Saukville, Grafton, Fredonia, Belgium, as well as Ozaukee County government. Locally owned and printed in Port Washington, Wisconsin.

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