22-year-old is on track to make $77,000 a year from his side hustle turned business—without a college degree

Outside Randy Roblero’s single-story family home sits his cargo van, emblazoned with the red and blue signage for his company, Beyond Limits of Palm Beach, a mobile car detailing business in West Palm Beach, Florida.

The van isn’t just for advertising — a “moving billboard,” he calls it. It’s also his office. Inside is everything he needs to clean and restore vehicles: an electricity generator, a 100-gallon water tank, pressure washer, Shop-Vac vacuum, waxing equipment and various cleaning products.

Six days a week, Roblero, 22, works out of the van, servicing three to four clients per day. To avoid the stifling Florida heat, he usually starts at 7:30 a.m. and works until late afternoon.

Roblero started cleaning cars as a side hustle when he was 18, but it wasn’t until he purchased the van in 2021 that he got the “courage” to become a full-time business owner, he says.

(Randy Roblero cleaning a customer’s car. Mickey Todiwala | CNBC Make It)

The decision has paid off so far. In January 2022, he quit his $20-an-hour entry-level accounting job at an aerospace repair company to pursue his side hustle full-time, earning $51,000 that year.

In 2023, Roblero found more clients and started making money from car detailing videos posted on his YouTube channel. He’s on track to bring in about $77,000 — nearly double the $41,000 he earned at his old job.

From side hustles to starting his own business at 18 Roblero was born in Bailey, North Carolina, but has lived in West Palm Beach, Florida, for most of his life.

His parents were undocumented immigrants from Guatemala who came to the United States in the 1990s. His father worked as a freelance handyman, while his mom was a homemaker who took care of Randy, his older brother, younger brother and youngest sister.

Money was tight, but the family got by. It wasn’t until he recently overheard his mother talking about his father that he “realized my father lived paycheck to paycheck,” says Roblero, who earned extra cash in middle school by reselling sneakers.

In high school, after “a lot of begging,” Randy’s father bought him a used 2006 Nissan Altima. He bought some all-purpose cleaner, microfiber towels, brushes and a Shop-Vac and, “I just started cleaning it inside and outside — all the nooks and crannies — making it look as good as possible.”

(Randy Roblero’s mother holding up a picture of Randy as a child.Mickey Todiwala | CNBC Make It)

Roblero used the car for his part-time job as a pizza delivery driver servicing the upscale, barrier island town of Palm Beach, home to Donald Trump’s primary residence, the historic Mar-A-Lago estate. The tips he earned were good, typically over $100 for a few hours of work, most of which he put into savings.

After graduating from high school in 2019, Roblero enrolled at Palm Beach State College, but only stayed for two semesters. “I realized college was not for me,” he says. “I’m a hands-on type of person, I like to go out and do actual physical things,” he says.

Instead of going to school, Roblero worked full-time at the aircraft repair company. But he kept thinking about starting a car detailing business, inspired by the effort he put into maintaining his own vehicle.

In May 2020, he decided to go for it. He spent $2,500 from his savings on a trailer and supplies, then set up Instagram, Facebook and Google My Business accounts to advertise his company.

Finding early success with his company During the first few months, about a quarter of Roblero’s customers were friends or family, while the rest were people who discovered the company through its social media accounts.

(Randy Roblero at work. Mickey Todiwala | CNBC Make It)

Ref: 22-year-old is on track to make $77,000 a year from his side hustle turned business—without a college degree (cnbc)