Jeff Crone is on a roll. His not-quite-two-year-old mobile vehicle-detailing business, Fig’s, will roll right up to your door — at home or work — and, using eco-, pet- and driveway-friendly products, clean away your stress (along with pet hair, grime, goop, gunk and whatever got stuck under the seat). But the roll the 37-year-old former rugby player is on goes beyond a mere four wheels.
How important is the value of mentorship?
How I look at myself in the business community — I’m just a child, growing my business and my reputation in this community. Having someone like Mary Lou Newbold from Mayfair Optometric Clinic, or Heather Williams from Hi-Rise Advertising… that’s been such a significant part of my growth. They’ve really embraced me as a business owner and an individual and Fig’s as a brand. That’s just something that money could never buy.
This is the first business you’ve started, so why mobile detailing of cars, RVs, boats, everything?
I was working with youth and adults with extreme behavioural disabilities for six years, and, obviously, with the pandemic happening, I was reaching this burnout point. It kind of caught up to me. My wife is a business and mindset coach for female entrepreneurs. I asked her to coach me for an hour, and it just so happened that I cleaned our vehicles and she said to me, “You should create a business out of cleaning vehicles.”
What makes Fig’s different?
My target audience is professional females, and I did a lot of market research to get to that point. Women are just such powerful beings and they really can encompass the heart of the home and they know how to make decisions based on convenience and time.
I went in with a lot of good intention. I wanted a good name, I wanted a good brand strategy and I wanted to be different in the sense that I don’t want people to focus solely on the fact that I’m just a detailing service.
Was it a challenge starting a business during the pandemic?
I have so much belief in the network around me, it wasn’t even a thought I would fail or do well. I refuse to not see something through. I’m OK with failing. That’s how you learn. And how you grow.
What does a clean car say about its owner?
That they live an organized life, and they’re doing quite well for themselves, whether it’s with money, or with their at-home life or with work … What I’m going for is I want people to feel relaxed. It’s a lifestyle choice, that’s how I want people to perceive it. I’ll show up to their car and some people are like, “I keep my car clean.” Yeah, but there’s your clean and then there’s a detailer’s clean.
