Former Pinellas homeless couple now run $1.5M car detail firm

Read the article in the Business Observer here.

Crippled by drug addictions, Corey Eberhardt and his wife Piper found themselves broke, homeless and filtering through prisons at the peak of the pandemic. Years of partying and allowing bad influences around them to metastasize took a toll on the Pinellas County couple. “We decided that we weren't going to do this anymore, and we couldn't take it. I couldn't take it,” Corey says.

Their way out of that life was to start and now grow a franchise-based car detailing company. Corey initially focused on ceramic coatings, and later expanded to paint protection film (PPF). Driving his motorcycle to a gas station near the Showtime Speedway, a racetrack in Clearwater, he pitched ceramic coatings to strangers until one finally said yes. 

The couple opened CoaterZ in 2020 out of a one-bay garage in Palm Harbor. With no tangible assets or business education, they “bootstrapped the company” without financial backing or assistance, according to Piper. That led to significant challenges, such as learning how to market, sell and price their products.

“It was literally like one step in front of the other. Then more and more would connect, and more and more would connect. Then the ball started rolling,” Corey says. 

That “ball” started with revenue of just $46,000 in year one. Revenue increased to $500,000 in year two, to $900,000 in year three and then reached $1.5 million in 2024. The Eberhardts now aim to open five to 10 shops throughout Florida and beyond within the next five years, through a franchise model.

The company also has a deeper meaning than profit and loss sheets. “This is our freedom, and this is our sobriety,” Piper says. “This company is not just this company to us. This is what gives us freedom from all of that [drug addiction].”

Trial and error

Other national PPF franchises, like Tint World and Ziebart, capture market share, but Corey views those companies as a model for CoaterZ, saying, “the goal is to be like Ziebart, a national company.”

CoaterZ sells a variety of ceramic coatings that protects cars against sun damage, chemical stains and light scratches.

It’s a growing niche. Fortune Business Insights forecasts the global PPF market will grow from $593.9 million in 2024 to $962.6 million by 2032, a compound annual growth rate of 6.2%. This growth stems from three main factors: cars are remaining on the road longer; they are becoming more popular as a pastime and hobby; and new EPA guidelines weaken the strength of paint allowed on cars due to environmental concerns.

“There are a lot of factors in place that make this a good growth industry,” Corey says, adding that “the weaker [the EPA] makes the paint, the better it is for us.”

Reaching seven figures in sales five years into business isn’t accidental, the couple says, rather the result of trial-and-error practices in marketing, branding and more; responding and adapting to customer needs quickly; and making shrewd decisions on product development. 

Another key? Coming back from failure and mistakes — something Corey, 42, and Piper, 49, know well. According to Piper, aside from a few sporadic part-time jobs, the couple’s lifestyle left them virtually unemployed for nearly a decade before starting CoaterZ.

“Failure is great; I learn from the mistakes,” Corey says. “I will never accept a reason why I can't do something if there's another way. I'm always looking for other opportunities and other ways to do something. How do I get there? What do I have to do to get there? Failure is a great option, but after failure, what are you doing next to overcome that failure?” 

Test run

Ceramic coatings, a liquid polymer solution that protects cars against sun damage, chemical stains, light scratches and more, account for 50–60% of the company’s revenue. PPF, a transparent film that protects cars from similar damage, accounts for most of the company’s remaining revenue and is considered more durable than ceramic coatings.

In response to customer demand, the couple has begun offering additional services, including window tinting, aftermarket car modifications and general detailing.

Corey and Piper also made a shrewd decision to work directly with a manufacturer to develop and brand products, which include everything from the ceramic coatings themselves to the rags used in the shop. The Eberhardts have eliminated the middleman and effectively assumed the role of distributor. “It's unusual for a shop to take on the role of distributor,” Corey says. “Essentially, we give the specifications directly to the manufacturer. I don't know anybody else [doing this].” 

This approach enhances profits, affords them final say over the research and development process and ensures all their locations have a standardized product line. “If it doesn't work, we don't sell it or we get a refund,” Corey says, explaining he tests products on personal cars when they arrive at the shop.

Spread the word

Franchising, meanwhile, has always been part of the Eberhardts’ plan. With their first franchised location opening last year in Lutz, they will soon open their second in Sarasota. 

The cost of opening a CoaterZ franchise ranges from $375,000 to $500,000, according to Piper.

That cost covers software, products, marketing and a training program. Franchisees also pay an upfront $50,000 franchising fee, a 3% monthly royalty and cover 10% of their monthly marketing budget.

The training program for franchisees is intensive, and the Eberhardts are heavily involved in it. 

“It's probably about a two-month process from the contract signing to picking a location and remodeling. Once we start remodeling, we start training their key guys,” Corey says. “They come here for two weeks, we throw as much as we can at them, and they just train.”

“We will do what's needed because we need them to succeed,” Piper adds.

The Eberhardts target wealthy car hobbyists to become franchisees. They even tapped loyal customers to open the first two franchises. “I sold him everything I could possibly sell him, and I was like, ‘Hey, do you want to buy a franchise?’” Corey says, describing how he sold the Lutz franchise to owners Rob and Heather Kimrey. “He said, ‘Absolutely.’”

That approach is paying off. The shop in Lutz has ambitious goals of reaching $1 million dollars in revenue in its first year. 

Again, relying on trial and error, they made the mistake of being overly involved in opening their first franchise. 

They found themselves in operational roles, working as front desk staff, salespeople and the marketing team. That prolonged the franchisees' training process, the Eberhardts say, because they weren’t learning from mistakes.

To fix that, they began working backward to replicate the successful organizational structure of the Palm Harbor location. This meant hiring a staff, including salespeople and a service manager — something the couple says they had Sarasota franchisees Francisco and Silvia Carpio do right away. 

Franchising is now the future of the business. “We don’t sell ceramics anymore — we sell businesses,” Corey says. “Join the CoaterZ team, I’ll give you the blueprint, and we’ll grow together.”

The most significant challenge the couple faces as they look to expand? Building and maintaining CoaterZ’s brand strength. 

The couple has launched aggressive marketing campaigns on that front. Future franchisees, for one, will need to allocate $100,000 solely for marketing. They are also exploring alternative marketing strategies. Floated ideas include running ads on non-competing platforms with similar target audiences and purchasing the follower lists of niche car publications that have built strong online presences.  

“You can’t have a great product and not be present,” Corey says. “People have to know who you are.”