About Refract
Refract Car Care Products wouldn't be what it is today without its ground roots that started over 20 years ago! With Scott, (now Managing Director) having a huge interest & passion for all things vehicle detailing & a curiosity for business led onto the journey that unfolds below!
Learning the trade, honing his skills & completing jobs for friends & family on-the-side whilst whilst working other non-detailing jobs in various states he worked in, led to the creation of Refract Mobile Vehicle Detailing in Perth, Western Australia.
With a growing client base & many years of working out of a van as "Mobile-Only" tho, he started to struggle & grow tired of not being able to provide his full potential, high level of quality & any extra services that required larger equipment or more in-depth time consuming procedures to clients.
Having limited van space, carrying large professional equipment, not being able to control the detailing environment consistently or providing his level of quality became too frustrating.
Clients would often ask for after-care products & maintenance procedures but without any products to offer or the time to sit & explain each step due to time restraints left him referring them to larger retail stores!
Handwriting those products, steps & procedures on scrap bits of paper for his Clients just wasn't good enough!
He knew by sending them to large retail stores to purchase their after-care products & getting the correct information they needed had disaster written all over it!
The Retail stores have a huge selection of products BUT it's often over-whelming & without step-by-step direction!
The Refract Vehicle Detailing Studio Concept was starting to evolve & take shape!
Whilst there's a small selection of "good-performing-products" in the market he grew tired of having to waste money trying to find them and they weren't easy to get!
Purchasing the only available "over-priced" or the disappointment of "under-performing" products from major retailers or suppliers often left a sour taste in his mouth and this then grew his interest into the "Where", "How" & "Who" side of products & companies!
He wanted to find Companies that shared the same level of passion for Detailing that he did & had great products to match! He could use those products in his own business & also offer after-care to his clients! Problem Solved!... For Now...
Over the next few years of product research & establishing relationships with detailing companies around the World he aligned with Maxshine & SGCB Auto Care in China & Taiwan. Both of these Companies had a professional & unique look at Car Care Products & Detailing as a concept, not just a product.
With extensive travel, establishing close working relationships, endless emails and learning International business culture eventually led to obtaining sole-Australasian distributorship contracts with both companies
Aligning it all with Refract Detailing..
The Refract Detailing Studio concept was formed. Plans were drawn up, products were finalised & a website was created. Both Maxshine & SGCB products were going to be offered in the Studio that had all the bells & whistles whilst providing high-quality vehicle detailing & paint correction to clients around Perth!
It was a massive undertaking but the idea of creating a very unique & high quality detailing studio in Perth, Western Australia was taking shape!
Things were going well & It was all going so well... but then..
With Scott's rapid business learning curve & at-the-time being "Business- Green" he quickly learnt how long some critical business things could take & how quickly the hidden expenses of starting a business of that size could add up to!. The banks couldn't see his vision & he still wasn't able to market & promote without a final product. funds were drying up & he had no choice back to scale it all back & save some more money before "getting in" too-deep!
Almost 12 months later and armed with a lot more research, information & relationships under his belt he decided to launch again! But differently....
Whilst initially losing basically everything he had including a stack of money, having to sell personal assets, taking a whack on his mental health & having to sell basically everything he owned including real estate and personal belongings to pay down his debts it was time to relaunch Refract and go-for-it again!
Introducing Refract Car Care Products Australia!
In Australia's often harsh economy and expendable income becoming scarce in hard working Aussie households, what did people really want?
Australians love their cars and love working on them but paying top-dollar for professional detailing was often a luxury and not a necessity! This became more & more evident as inquiries were often made as to how they could get professional results & do it themselves!
Fast Forward to early 2019...
Refract Detailing was born-again. Starting out with a bare bones warehouse tucked way in a southern suburb of Perth & a vision to create their own-branded detailing products in a unique environment was started! The new initial concept & structure was to still provide professional-result detailing whilst in the background, creating step-by-step detailing processes for DiYers that wanted the same results as Refract did!
They already had the online website offering Maxshine, SGCB & other products they supported but didn't have the step-by-step process!
This is where Refract Car Care Products was to take shape!
Fast forward another few months and you can see here how the new Refract Studio is coming along!
As of Feb 2020, Refract have a full line-up of products almost ready that have been carefully created, tested & trialed on all types of vehicles & surfaces! this has taken a massive amount of time & effort by Scott but his passion, drive & determination is always in full force!
He now has ownership of a chemical manufacturing company in Malaysia, works with over 30 different factories throughout the world and through many ups & downs of company start-ups brings you the Refract 4 Step Detailing Process Products & a Pro Tool Garage Range that takes Detailing & Garage Fit-out products to a whole new level!
With so many, ups, downs.. wins & losses, his determination and passion for helping others get the information they need & without the confusion is what drives him to become one of best respected & trusted Car Care Products Company in Australia & throughout the World!
Oh my god, i'm so sick of talking in third person! 😆
Thankyou,
Scott Byrne
Managing Director
Refract Car Care Products Australia! 😎