Abdirahman Saeed, left, and Abdinur Mohamed clean a customer’s vehicle recently at their business, Black Diamond Detailing, at 409 Sabatus St. in Lewiston. Andre Kahn/Sun Journal
LEWISTON – They don’t drive flashy cars or wear designer bling. In fact, he drives an older model Ford Focus and his “designer” clothing includes a gray hooded sweatshirt with the logo of his company, Black Diamond Detailing.
A year ago, Abdinur Mohammad and Abdirahman Saeed were sitting in a small office in Auburn, talking about business ideas. For an hour, they say they talked about opening a day care, a juicing company and a long list of business ideas they could start. Suddenly, it just clicked, Mohammed said, snapping his fingers.
“I was like: ‘My car is dirty. How much can we charge people for details?'” he said.
They started buying whatever they wanted and started investing their money. By the end of January, the decision was made.
“We were like: ‘We’re going to take our first step. We’re going to detail people’s cars,'” Mohamed said.
“Teamwork” is the unofficial mantra of two young African American entrepreneurs, who have overcome the dirt and grime that accumulates in nearly every car in Maine. Fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine glass fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine fine powder
Which begs the question, how dirty are the cars they clean?
“It’s not as crazy as you think,” Saeed said. “If you go inside your car and pick up the trash here and there you’ll be surprised and it will look a lot cleaner than before.”
True, but some of the cars on their social media website look pretty rough at first.
The pair started as a mobile detailing business, going door-to-door, on the streets, in businesses, just about anywhere. Customers have chosen and loved the convenience of the mobile concept — they will come to you. In May 2022, they participated in the LA Metro Chamber of Commerce’s “Top Gun” competition, earning a few more mentions.
In October, they announced a brief hiatus as they prepared the next step in their progress by taking the plunge and leasing a brick-and-mortar location at 409 Sabatus St. Last week, they announced the addition of a valet service to facilitate pickup and dropoff. of vehicles.
Abdirahman Saeed, left, and Abdinur Mohammad stand in front of their business, Black Diamond Detailing, at 409 Sabatus St. in Lewiston recently. Andre Kahn/Sun Journal
It was definitely an on-the-job training experience for both of them, who initially didn’t know much about the details of automobiles.
“We watched a lot of videos, learned from mistakes we made,” Saeed explained. “Trying new chemicals, trying tools to see what works, what doesn’t. When you do a lot, you know what works. What is and what is not. We just adapt!”
Adapt to them by upgrading to some specialized tools to do a better job. They bought an extractor and steamer to help remove stains, which help in the nooks and crannies of people’s cars, and they bought some boar hair brushes to help clean surfaces like dashboards.
They have also grown their team by adding a marketing person who handles their website and social media. Abdurahman Saeed calls him a great addition to the team. They have added a few others to help run the seven-day-a-week operation.
“I just learned that in business — it doesn’t have to be detailed but any business out there — you can’t do it yourself,” Saeed said. “You have to have a good team behind you to bounce ideas back and forth, because at the end of the day, you can’t get to the top by yourself.”
Saeed, 22, is the team’s exciting spark who was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and grew up in Lewiston, graduating from Lewiston High School and attending Central Maine Community College for two years. 23-year-old Mohammed is the more thoughtful of the team. He was born and raised in Lewiston and attended Roxbury Community College in Boston, where he took two years of business management courses.
Mohammed said that after a year the business has changed its character. He said that he is more patient than ever and that he sees life in a different, more positive way. “You know since I started this business, I think anything can change. I detail a car – it looked bad – I clean (and) it just looks better! I’m like, my character can change like that, you know?”
His father, who had returned overseas, owned a small variety and butcher shop in Lewiston. He was back in Lewiston last week and stopped by to check out the new shop. “He said, ‘You know you’ve learned a lot from me because when you were little you used to listen when I told you things.’ He was proud.”
Business is apparently going well.
“This is a great community, I can’t lie,” Abdirahman said. “From the day we started until now, there has been nothing but support. We have not received any negative feedback from anyone. If anything, we’ve gotten helpful feedback from people to help us improve our business and that’s really great.”
Mohammed and Saeed work together, perhaps without even thinking about it, and they are fast and thorough. His mind is constantly thinking about what lies ahead. Maybe getting into the used car business?
“Yes, it is possible,” said Mohammed. “I was also thinking we could have this in every other state. We wish, in the near future, to have a franchise like bringing it to every other state. That’s one of our goals!”
Black Diamond Detailing is open Monday to Friday 10am to 7pm and Saturday and Sunday 10am to 5pm.
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