Dr. Beasley’s Founder Jim Lafeber Says This Is What Sets His Products Apart

The best way to detail a car doesn’t always come down to expertise—often times, it’s about the tools being used. That’s what Dr. Beasley’s founder Jim Lafeber says in his new interview with Chicago Auto Pros’ Jason Otterness. You can check out the full interview below, along with some choice quotes from Jim!

On formulating his own products

“I opened up Simon’s Shine Shop in 2004, and I had no interest in making chemicals or anything—I just wanted the best. So, in six months, I realized the products I was using, I wasn’t happy with, and more importantly, my customers weren’t happy with—because I would get complaints. So, I would use some top-notch products, and let’s say I would condition the inside of the vehicle. Well, if it’s a Porsche, people would get upset because it looked greasy and slimy, didn’t smell very good, and it was sticky.

So then I would try different products out there, and I would still get this sheen that I think people were happy with in the 80’s, on plastic, but my German car owners were very displeased with. So, I went back to, I started to think back to my chemistry days. And I said, ‘I can reformulate this, I need lanolin to make leather soft, I don’t need silicones, I don’t need oil, I don’t need all these other things.’ So I started to formulate a product that would give it a nice, even look—even a matte look—but it would still nourish the leather and keep it soft and prevent it from wrinkling.”

On the origin of Dr. Beasley’s

“I was just making products here for the first four years, just for my own clientele and for us here at Simon’s Shine Shop […] I had customers that moved on from Chicago, and they said, ‘You made my car look great, you did this or that, how can I buy that stuff that you have, what stuff are you using, what brand?’ And I said, ‘Well, I make that here.’ They said, ‘Really? Can you bottle that and ship it out to me?’

And then I started thinking, ‘Oh, ok, maybe I should start to bottle.’ I would ship some stuff out to them in some kind of bottle, but then I said, ‘Maybe I need to make this.’ And so in 2010 is when we first put up a website. I had the name—Simon’s is named after a dog, and Dr. Beasley’s is named after a dog also, Alaskan Malamute.”

On creating matte-safe products

“We had a blog about matte cars, and we started to get all these hits, because there wasn’t much out there regarding matte. And one of my guys said, ‘Jim, we’re getting all these hits on matte. You need to have a matte product!’ I go, ‘Really?’ And he says, ‘Yes!’ And I go, ‘Okay!’ So I went to the body shop, got some [test] panels painted matte—we had never had a matte car here before—and so I had to have a kit for matte, and then I realized all the problems that you’re having, you can’t clay it, you can’t buff it, you don’t want a traditional protectant on that because that will make it shine up. And you need the original look. So we put together a kit that will take care of matte and keep it looking that way for years and years. And that’s probably the product that made—I realized having a niche product really can make a difference and make you seen out there. ”

On the secret to making better detailing products

“We really search for the best quality ingredients out there. And we think a little bit goes a long way. You can look at different products and a lot of them have a lot of water, and our stuff I want to make sure is concentrated. There’s a lot of chemical companies out there that are owned by financial investors. So they look at the bottom dollar, ‘How much does this surfactant cost? Can I save a nickel? I’m gonna go cheaper. Can I add some water, is the profit going to be higher?’ I don’t look at that. I look at the best quality, highest quality ingredients I can put in there, without regard to price.”