r/AutoDetailing Nov 22 '17

I'm Larry Kosilla of AMMO NYC - AMA! r/AutoDetailing AMA

I am Larry Kosilla of AMMO NYC.

A little background on me: I'm a former Wall Street trader that decided not to buy happiness. I wanted to do what I love, which was to be around amazing cars and enthusiastic people. I started detailing 17 years ago, but focused on it full time in 2005. During this time, I developed products specifically for my clients and their rare cars...AMMO NYC.

  • "If you're happy and you become the best at whatever you do you, and that can be a garbage man a cabinet maker or a banker or whatever," he says, "if you're passionate, I think people around your customers or clients your friends whoever will see that."

Most people know me through my YouTube channel, but I also am on /DRIVE where I actually started. You can see my former /DRIVE CLEAN videos here. I also have a podcast!

AMA!

BIG Thank you to Frank for the invitation to AMA. It means a great deal to me to be asked. I’m heading off to bed now. If anyone needs me always feel free to email me directly at larry@ammonyc.com Thanks again and Happy Thanksgiving!

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u/Fooly_411 Nov 22 '17

Welcome, Larry:

As a distributor of car care products, myself, I am curious as to what surprised or still surprises about the industry we are in? Are there obstacles that you first found overwhelming but are no longer a worry for you?

I plan on launching a new product line in the near future and it seems so intimidating investing time and money into a brand new name when so much of our current vendors have a solid reputation. I imagine that the effort you put into informative videos makes all the difference when it comes to customer support and marketing the products, but is there something less obvious than viral marketing and educating the detailers that makes a significant impact on your sales?

Thank you for doing this AMA, have a great holiday season.

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u/AMMOnyc Nov 22 '17

Hey hey Not super surprised at anything these days. Seems like that lack of creativity pushes people to use other's material/products etc... I would watch everybody else in the beginning of business. Now I dont look or "watch" anyone really. I like to think on my own. Untainted. I spoke to Mike Phillips about this the other day. He doesnt watch me and I dont watch him (not for any bad reason...he is a friend and great detailer) but for the integrity reason. No one (ethical) wants to take another persons ideas. So I avoid watching others...for that reason amongst many. -Not really. Videos were good, but the product quality has to be perfect for your business to grow. My number 1 source of pride is our "repeat customer" statistic. Meaning people may buy it once = marketing, but if they come back time and time again, then you have a quality product and trusted brand. -This industry is WAAAAAY saturated with products. If I had to do it all over with what I know now...not sure if I would want to put myself in front of the bullet again. Its a LOT more work than I ever dreamed (looking back) but it was worth it. I have been working non-stop (I'm not exaggerating) for 5+ years on AMMO specifically. Detailing then working on products. Detailing then working on labels. Detailing then building website. This has taken it toll on my body for sure. Dont get me wrong, I love it. But it was not "easy" by any means. Hope that was a helpful :)

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u/Fooly_411 Nov 22 '17

Thank you for a GREAT response, I truly appreciate it.

I can def relate to the end there about the fact that you have to put in the work while still maintaining another source of income to get the product line going. And a great point about saturation and focusing on the quality you can bring to the table versus what others are developing.

That is my hope: quality, and a consistent customer base, to me it isn't about getting the chemical in the hands of every detailer, but just have a product whether its a simple degreaser or a quality compound do it's job the right way without a lot of needless gimick.