Community Highlights: Meet Jon McKnight of Blackline Car Care

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jon McKnight. 

Hi Jon, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
Hey, I’m Jon! I’m a 21-year-old entrepreneur and owner of Blackline Car Care. My story started back in 2019 when I decided to end my formal education and drop out of college to start my mobile auto detailing business out of my 2005 Honda Civic. After a couple of months, I invested in a Van, which I built out to be completely mobile. I began to create videos of myself detailing cars and would post them to Tik Tok. After only a few weeks of posting, I amassed a decent-sized following of 200,000 followers on Tik Tok. I saw this as an opportunity because, during the entire time building my detailing business, I had also found success through e-commerce. I would sell all sorts of products online by creating stores through Shopify. Doing this opened my eyes up to the world of online business, and the landscape of opportunity Tik Tok presented to brands. In November of 2021, I took a leap of faith and closed down my mobile detailing business, and sold my Van to start a detailing product brand. I used my knowledge of detailing products and experience with e-commerce to start the brand. Even though the car care market is extremely competitive, I still saw a massive opportunity. There are TONS of detailing product brands, but very few that truly stand out. I used the money from the Van to order what would be the very first product for my brand. The Blackline Foam Cannon. (It is a premium foam sprayer used for washing your car). I still remember my stomach dropping after placing the very first order of inventory on Christmas Eve of 2021. After placing the order, I had a 3 months wait for it to come in. Since I closed down my detailing business, I put all my focus on building my following and “Stacking The Deck,” so I had people ready to buy when it came launch day. I documented the entire brand-building process on my Tik Tok page by showing all of the hardships and struggles that go into building a business. This resonated with my followers. The inventory finally arrived at my 900-square-foot apartment, and I launched Blackline Car Care on March 19th of this year. After a few short weeks, all of the 500 units were sold out. I was always told to order way more inventory than you think you need. I didn’t believe that until I was sold out… It was truly one of the best feelings to see success after so many months of anxiety, self-doubt, and darkness. Fast forward a couple of months to today, and everything has exponentially grown and allowed me to expand from a single product into an entire product line. Blackline is just in its infancy and is nowhere near where I want it to be, but I can contribute the success thus far to my amazing customers and those who have supported me even when times were dark. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Nowadays being an entrepreneur is very trendy on social media, but it is usually very far from reality. The reality is constant anxiety, sleepless nights, self-doubt, broken relationships, and a lot of red in the bank account. Even though us entrepreneurs go through these struggles, it builds our character and prepares us for what’s to come. 

This entire process has been anything but smooth. It feels like I have been on a roller coast of emotions since the beginning. Lost shipments, constant delays, and staying in stock have been amongst the biggest struggles operations-wise. It’s hard to stay in stock because I am purely bootstrapping the brand with no outside investors. However, every mistake presents an opportunity to learn and grow as a business. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I created Blackline Car Care to bring auto detailing products to market in a way that has not been done before through social media. We specialize in high-performance Foam Sprayers, Soaps, Brushes, and Towels. Blackline is most known for the popular Blackline Foam Cannon. What sets Blackline apart from the crowd is the branding, quality, and ability to listen to our customers. There are hundreds of detailing product brands, but most are a mirror image of each other and don’t take care of their customers. We bring a new style, quality, and transparency to this very competitive market. We also bring a “launch culture” that hasn’t been seen in this industry. I have been extremely proud to see customers coming back release after release. I couldn’t be more grateful. 

Alright, so before we go, can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
I am always looking to work and collaborate others with similar mindsets. Please send me an email at jon@blacklinecarcare.com if you interested or have any questions. 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.blacklinecarcare.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blacklinecarcare/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Blackline-Car-Care-103524265594825