BusinessHABCar washes do it yourself near me: Some people are naturally attracted to this business. They like to see clean cars and they like working to make cars look clean. A Car Wash can be a rewarding and profitable business that with enough effort and knowledge, anyone can learn how to run one.
Read on: 25 Ways on How to Set up a Drive Thru Car Wash
Car washes do it yourself near me
It’s not an experiment if you know it’s going to work. You can request publication of your article for publication by sending it to us via our Email below. businesshabblog@gmail.com or SMS/WhatsApp) or call +2347034920650. Click here to start business now with businesshab.com
businesshabblog@gmail.com
What are the costs involved in opening a car wash?
The costs involved in starting this business depend on the level you want to operate.
1. Level One – Hand Car Washing
Anyone who can afford a few hundred dollars can start at this level. You will need:
- A water supply (monthly cost is $20+)
- Buckets – $10 each
- Soap – $20
- Sponges – $10
- Window Squeegees – $10 each
- Chamois – $10 each
- Industrial Wet/Dry Vacuum – $100
- Promotional Flyers – $50
- Signage – $75
- Shade Cover – $150
Car washes do it yourself near me
2. Level Two – Self-Service Car Wash
This type of operation requires a significant investment of up to $200,000 or more depending on the location. You will need:
- Self-Service Car Wash Equipment – $50,000
- Car Wash Shed Building – $100,000
- Lease Payment and Deposits – Allow $5 per square foot. For example, a 1,000 square feet facility would typically require $5,000 per month rent and a $10,000 security deposit.
- Signage – $2,500
See also: How Do I Open Water Touchless Car Wash Near Me( Read this 15 Tips)
3. Level Three – Car Detailing
Some automatic car washes and touchless car washes offer car detailing as an enhanced service. However, it is also possible to operate a car detailing business independently and do all the work by hand. The startup investment for an independent car detailing business is similar to a hand-washing business, except because you will offer more services you will need additional supplies and perhaps helpers. You will need:
- A water supply (monthly cost is $20+)
- Buckets – $10 each
- Soap – $20
- Car Wax – $25
- Water Repellant – $35
- Armor All – $50 (used for treatment of tires and other surfaces)
- Window Cleaner – $25
- Leather Restorer – $30
- Air Freshener – $20
- Chrome Polish -$25
- WD-40- $50
- Sponges – $10
- Window Squeegees – $10 each
- Chamois – $10 each
- Industrial Wet/Dry Vacuum – $100
- Pressure-Wash Cleaning Equipment – $500 (used to clean the engines and undercarriages)
- Promotional Flyers – $50
- Signage – $75
- Shade Cover – $150
Car washes do it yourself near me
4. Level Four – Automatic Car Wash
This type of operation requires a significant investment of up to $500,000. It is a much bigger facility than a self-service car wash. You will need:
- Automatic Car Washing Equipment – $250,000
- Car Wash Building Construction – $200,000
- Lease Payment and Deposits – Allow $5 per square foot. For example, a 5,000 square feet facility would typically require $25,000 per month rent and a $50,000 security deposit.
- Signage – $5,000
See also: How to Open Quick Quack Car Wash Business
5. Level Five – Touchless Washing
This is the highest level of car washing that uses automated equipment with lots of hands-on workers. Luxury vehicle owners are especially attracted to this type of car wash because nothing except human hands and soft clothes touches the car. These facilities can easily cost up to $1 million or more to start and many find it easier to buy an existing one rather than create a new one. You will need:
- Touchless Car Washing Equipment – $250,000
- Car Wash Building Construction – $500,000
- Lease Payment and Deposits – Allow $5 per square foot. For example, a 15,000 square feet facility would typically require $45,000 per month rent and a $90,000 security deposit.
- Signage – $25,000
Car washes do it yourself near me
If you are going to open a commercial car wash you will need to make a significant investment in the equipment needed to operate the car wash. The best places to have a commercial car wash are on very heavily used streets with lots of auto traffic passing by. This means the rent will be a very substantial expense.
6. Plenty of space
Car washes need to have plenty of space for the cars to pass through the washing system and for them to be parked while they are being dried by hand to make each car ready. Typical car wash lots are at least 5,000 to 10,000 square feet and rent for a minimum of $10,000 to $50,000 per month. To be really successful operating a commercial car wash, you will need to do at least 100 cars per day at an average profit of $10 each per car.
Read on: Top 13 Ways to Start Car Wash Business
7. What are the ongoing expenses for a car wash?
Water is really expensive, especially in places like California where the water is in short supply. Reclaiming water is important. This requires capturing the water and pumping it through a filtration system to clean it before it is used again.
Automatic car washes use a lot of electricity as well. Labor is paid at the minimum wage because the workers also get tips.
8. Level One – Hand Car Washing
The expenses depend on the number of cars you wash per month.
To wash about 50 cars your monthly expenses will be:
- Water – $20+
- Soap – $15
- Replace worn out sponges/equipment – $25 to $50
- Flyers – $50
9. Level Two – Self-Service Car Wash
Your expenses will be water, supplies, electricity, rent, and the cost of maintenance of the equipment. This averages in total to be about $5,000 to $7,000 per month.
10. Level Three – Car Detailing
If you work independently your expenses will be similar to hand washing of about $135 per month, except you need to allow for additional supplies of $150 per month. You may have to pay a commission and/or a fee to have an association with another business.
Car washes do it yourself near me
11. Level Four and Five – Automatic and Touchless Car Wash
Your monthly expenses for this type of operation will include the following:
- Rent – $10,000 to $25,000 per month
- Labor- $5,000 to $12,000 per month
- Water – $2,000 to $3,000 per month (depending on the part of USA)
- Supplies – $2,500 per month
- Electricity – $3,000 to $5,000 per month
See also: 23 Tips to Start Door to Door Car Wash Business
12. Who is the target market?
The best customers are the ones that return weekly to get a car wash. Many car wash companies give a free wash after a certain number of washes to get customers to come back again and again.
13. How does a car wash make money?
Each car wash has a basic charge and there are typically additional things that can be requested by clients, such as using auto freshener or wax that are sold for an additional charge. Detailing is the most expensive because of all the additional services provided.
Car washes do it yourself near me
14. How much can you charge customers?
The average price for a simple hand car wash is $5 to $7. For self-service systems, the charge is usually $1 to $2 for a 15-minute use of the washing equipment. Vacuum charges are about the same. The average customer might spend $2 to $4.
For automatic car wash systems, the average charge is $10. Most customers like to add some extras and can pay as much as $15 for a wash with the extras of interior cleaning, freshener, tire treatment, and the application of car wax.
Touchless wash is about $20 per car and with some extras added on the charge can go up to about $30 per car. Car detailing is the most expensive and the customers pay about $50 to $150 per car.
15. How much profit can a car wash make?
Level One – Hand Car Washing
- About $7 per car
Level Two – Self-Service Car Wash
- About $3 per car
Level Three – Car Detailing
- About $50 to $75 per car
Read on: How to Go Through Mister Car Wash
Level Four – Automatic Car Wash
- About $10 to $15 per car
Level Five – Touchless Car Wash
- About $12 to $18 per car
Car washes do it yourself near me
16. Get the Estimated Cost:
An automatic car wash operating at 100 cars per day at the average price of $10 per car will make $1,000 in gross profits per day. Labour will cost about $60 per hour so for an eight-hour shift that is $480 plus $120 more for employment taxes paid by the employer. Electricity will be about $200 per day and water about $75 per day and supplies about $25 per day. Insurance will cost $2,000 to $3,000 per month. Taking these expenses into consideration gross profits per day would be about $220 per day.
The owner of a modestly successful commercial car was would make around $6,600 per month in profits after paying all the expenses. In really busy areas, it is possible to make up to ten times this amount.
17. How can you make your business more profitable?
Level One – Hand Car Washing
- Also advance from simple hand-washing to offer car detailing as well.
Level Two – Self-Service Car Wash
- Open in multiple locations and create brand awareness.
Level Three – Car Detailing
- Contract for providing service to customers of high-end luxury hotels and luxury auto dealerships.
See also: How Do I Open Car Wash Near Me(Read the Tips)
Level Four and Five – Automatic and Touchless Car Wash
- There is an excellent opportunity to sell additional items to clients who are waiting for their car wash to be finished. One terrific and very successful idea is to have a drop-off dry cleaning and laundry service associated with a car wash.
- Offering fast food is another revenue source. The typical car wash customer, using an automatic or touchless car wash, is waiting for about 15 minutes at a minimum for their car to be washed. This is an excellent time to sell them other things.
- Making deals with auto dealerships to wash cars at night is a great way to make extra money. Typically, the public is not looking for a car wash at night. However, car companies and auto rental places need to have cars washed at all times of the day and night. This is a great deal to seek for extra income if there are such dealerships and car rental places nearby.
Car washes do it yourself near me
18. What will you name your business?
Choosing the right name is important and challenging. If you don’t already have a name in mind, visit our How to Name a Business guide or get help brainstorming a name with our Car Wash Name Generator
If you operate a sole proprietorship, you might want to operate under a business name other than your own name. Visit our DBA guide to learn more.
When registering a business name, we recommend researching your business name by checking:
- Your state’s business records
- Federal and state trademark records
- Social media platforms
- Web domain availability.
It’s very important to secure your domain name before someone else does.
Read on: 10 Best from Car Wash Business
19. Labour Safety Requirements
It is important to comply with all Occupational Safety and Health Administration requirements.
Relevant regulations include:
- Appropriate hazard identification
- Injury reports
- Proper safety precautions when operating potentially dangerous equipment
Car washes do it yourself near me
20. Get Certificate of Occupancy
A car wash is generally run out of a physical location. Businesses operating out of a physical location typically require a Certificate of Occupancy (CO). A CO confirms that all building codes, zoning laws and government regulations have been met.
- If you plan to lease a location:
- It is generally the landlord’s responsibility to obtain a CO.
- Before leasing, confirm that your landlord has or can obtain a valid CO that is applicable to a car wash business.
- After a major renovation, a new CO often needs to be issued. If your place of business will be renovated before opening, it is recommended to include language in your lease agreement stating that lease payments will not commence until a valid CO is issued.
- If you plan to purchase or build a location:
- You will be responsible for obtaining a valid CO from a local government authority.
- Review all building codes and zoning requirements for you business’ location to ensure your car wash business will be in compliance and able to obtain a CO.
Car washes do it yourself near me
21. Get business insurance
Just as with licenses and permits, your business needs insurance in order to operate safely and lawfully. Business Insurance protects your company’s financial wellbeing in the event of a covered loss.
There are several types of insurance policies created for different types of businesses with different risks. If you’re unsure of the types of risks that your business may face, begin with General Liability Insurance. This is the most common coverage that small businesses need, so it’s a great place to start for your business.
See also: 10 Tips to Promote Car Wash Business for Free
22. Learn more about General Liability Insurance.
Another notable insurance policy that many businesses need is Workers’ Compensation Insurance. If your business will have employees, it’s a good chance that your state will require you to carry Workers’ Compensation Coverage.
Car washes do it yourself near me
23. Define your brand
Your brand is what your company stands for, as well as how your business is perceived by the public. A strong brand will help your business stand out from competitors. If you aren’t feeling confident about designing your small business logo, then check out our Design Guides for Beginners, we’ll give you helpful tips and advice for creating the best unique logo for your business.
If you already have a logo, you can also add it to a QR code with our Free QR Code Generator. Choose from 13 QR code types to create a code for your business cards and publications, or to help spread awareness for your new website.
24. How to promote & market a car wash
Level One – Hand Car Washing
Your best promotion will be receiving positive word-of-mouth referrals from existing customers. Giving them a discount card to hand out to their friends and business associates is a really good idea. Distributing flyers in the local area and walking around to do a “meet and greet” with local residents and businesses is an excellent way to find new customers. Offering to collaborate with another business such as a restaurant or a parking lot is another way to create new business.
Read on: The Ordinary Hair Care How to Use( See 20 Tips)
Level Two – Self-Service Car Wash
Staying open 24-hours with bright signage when located on a busy thoroughfare is the best way to attract business to this kind of operation. People are attracted to use these services by seeing them when they drive by.
Level Three – Car Detailing
For this type of business, you will be looking for customers that have luxury vehicles. One excellent way to promote your services is to create an affiliation with a five-star hotel and offer the car detailing to guests. You will make their cars look perfect overnight and ready the next day as sparkling clean.
Level Four and Five – Automatic and Touchless Car Wash
These businesses use different equipment; however, the promotional methods are the same.
25. How to keep customers coming back
Asking existing customers to spread the word about your services by giving them a discount coupon to give to their friends is an effective marketing method. Register the discount cards, which are numbered, to the person you give them to. If someone uses the numbered discount coupon, the registered person gets a free wash.
Loyalty programs work very well. Issuing a reward card for the number of washes and giving a free wash after a certain number of paid washes is a terrific way to keep customers loyal. Giving rewards to customers that come back for repeat business is a really good idea.
In dirty environments, such as big metropolitan cities or winter road conditions that throw destructive salt up to the undercarriage, a car wash is needed about once per week. This means that a single customer that returns once per week for a year will be a very valuable customer.
See also: What Hair Care does Kenya Moore(Read the 19Tips)
Car washes do it yourself near me
26. Create your business website
After defining your brand and creating your logo the next step is to create a website for your business.
While creating a website is an essential step, some may fear that it’s out of their reach because they don’t have any website-building experience. While this may have been a reasonable fear back in 2015, web technology has seen huge advancements in the past few years that makes the lives of small business owners much simpler.
27. Here are the main reasons why you shouldn’t delay building your website:
- All legitimate businesses have websites – full stop. The size or industry of your business does not matter when it comes to getting your business online.
- Social media accounts like Facebook pages or LinkedIn business profiles are not a replacement for a business website that you own.
- Website builder tools like the GoDaddy Website Builder have made creating a basic website extremely simple. You don’t need to hire a web developer or designer to create a website that you can be proud of.
Car washes do it yourself near me
28. Set up your business phone system
Getting a phone set up for your business is one of the best ways to help keep your personal life and business life separate and private. That’s not the only benefit; it also helps you make your business more automated, gives your business legitimacy, and makes it easier for potential customers to find and contact you.
There are many services available to entrepreneurs who want to set up a business phone system. We’ve reviewed the top companies and rated them based on price, features, and ease of use. Check out our review of the Best Business Phone Systems 2023 to find the best phone service for your small business.
Read on: 15 Tips to Make the Best Career in Groome Transportation Shuttle Services
29. Is this Business Right For You?
Let us share a real-life story about a man who came to America as a refugee from Myanmar. He was a fairly wealthy businessman in Myanmar and became successful selling the delicacy of bird eggs. The government got jealous of his success and literally took his business from him. He left Myanmar with almost nothing.
When he arrived in the USA, he took a job as a dishwasher at a fancy restaurant. He could not even speak English, but he washed the dishes so well the owner was very impressed. On a lark, the owner, using sign language, showed him the owner’s car and asked him to wash it.
Because the man was previously wealthy in Myanmar and he had a nice car there, which is an incredible luxury for a person in such a poor country, he took very good care of it. In the past, he washed his own car so well and when asked to wash the restaurant owner’s car he washed it with the same enthusiasm. The results were spectacular and the owner was very happy.
In this fine restaurant, the customers would drive up and give the keys to the valet to park their car. Normally they would stay having dinner for two or three hours. This man from Myanmar asked the owner using sign language if he could wash the customer’s cars.
Car washes do it yourself near me
The restaurant owner immediately recognized the opportunity to make his customers so impressed. They could have a dinner and have a hand car wash done while they were eating. He immediately set up the special offer to give a free car wash for the diners. He also took the man from Myanmar off of washing dishes and told him to concentrate on washing the cars of the customers.
Of course, the customers paid a nice tip to the valet for parking the car and paid an even better tip for a perfectly clean and washed car. The man from Myanmar got to share in the tips and the restaurant became even more popular. The reason for telling this story is the only real requirement that you need to enter this business is to love washing cars.
Read on: 15 Tips to Carry out Manual Car Wash
By the way, the man from Myanmar is a real man. He went on to learn English and built up his efforts to wash cars. He now owns two professional car washes in California and he became a multi-millionaire from this effort. His name is Mr. Tan and his car washes are named after him. It all starts with loving to wash cars. You can do this also if you like to make cars look great!
30. What happens during a typical day at a car wash?
Get the supplies. Turn the water on. Get the equipment ready and make sure the helpers show up. If you need inspiration play this song, Car Wash.
Level One – Hand Car Washing
- You will want to make sure you will have some cars to wash. The way to get customers is to locate on a busy street or have an affiliation with other businesses. You may spend some daily time looking for other opportunities to find cars to wash.
- You will check to make sure there are enough supplies. You will make sure the water connection is working. If you have helpers. you will supervise their efforts.
Read on: 16 Top Ideas on Self-made Car Wash
Level Two – Self-Service Car Wash
- Each day you will need to make sure all the equipment is functioning properly and there are enough soap and wax supplies to feed the systems. You will remove the coins from the coin boxes to collect the money made from the day before. You will fill the bill changer with coins to make sure the customers can get the change they need to use the system. You will make sure the facilities are clean and attractive to potential customers.
Level Three – Car Detailing
- This can be either an independent business or operated in association with a professional car wash. Car detailing includes not only washing and waxing the car but also bringing the interior back to pristine condition. The main thing you will do each day is to make sure you have enough supplies and if you use helpers you will make sure they show up on time to take care of the clients.
Level Four – Automatic Washing
- These systems are the most common form of car washing. The simple ones will be offered as part of a gas station. Your daily duties will be to check that the equipment is working properly and replace any worn out parts, such as brushes, with new ones. You will check to make sure there are adequate supplies that are needed for the operations such as soap and liquid wax.
- If payment can be made by coins or bills at the entry point, you will remove money from the collection device for deposit to the bank.
Read on: 8 Tips to Practice Self Wash Car Wash
Level Five – Touchless Washing
- Touchless washing combines an automated system to do the rough washing with many employees to do the final cleaning. Besides checking the equipment for proper operation and making sure you have enough supplies, the main part of your job is to make sure there is enough staff on hand to help process all the cars that come through. A successful system may wash 200 to 300 cars per day.
Car washes do it yourself near me
31. What are some skills and experiences that will help you build a successful car wash?
Being a gregarious person helps when looking for customers for hand-washing or detailing services. For self-serve, automated, and touchless car washes, it is important to pick a very good location with lots of automobiles that pass by. Make sure your washing services are excellent and the customers feel very happy with the results. Give them all a little extra bit of attention and they will tell their friends.
Read on: 18 Things You Should Know about Self Car Wash
32. What is the growth potential for a car wash?
Since getting a car wash is a matter of convenience, there is the possibility of having multiple locations served by a hand-wash company or a detailing company. For self-service, automatic, and touchless car washes, it is possible to have one on any major thoroughfare and even add other locations after the first location is successful. Having the locations a few miles apart will help to make sure you do not cannibalize your own market.
33. Find a business mentor
One of the greatest resources an entrepreneur can have is quality mentorship. As you start planning your business, connect with a free business resource near you to get the help you need.
Having a support network in place to turn to during tough times is a major factor of success for new business owners.
Car washes do it yourself near me
34. Learn from other business owners
Want to learn more about starting a business from entrepreneurs themselves? Visit Startup Savant’s startup founder series to gain entrepreneurial insights, lessons, and advice from founders themselves.
35. Resources to Help Women in Business
There are many resources out there specifically for women entrepreneurs. We’ve gathered necessary and useful information to help you succeed both professionally and personally:
- Funding
- Events
- Guides
- Support
If you’re a woman looking for some guidance in entrepreneurship, check out this great new series Women in Business created by the women of our partner Startup Savant.
Read on: 12 Tips on Choosing a Car Wash & Paying
36. How and when to build a team
Level One – Hand Car Washing
You can start all by yourself and then add helpers if you get more cars to wash.
Level Two – Self-Service Car Wash
This type of car wash does not require a permanent staff. You will only need maintenance people to repair broken equipment when necessary. You may want to hire a part-time worker to sweep up and clean the place once or twice per week if you do not want to do this work yourself.
Level Three – Car Detailing
Just like hand washing you can start as a sole owner/operator. However; most of these businesses have at least three people to process the cars more rapidly. Two work the outside of the cars and one works on the inside. Depending on the volume of cars washed, you will add new three-person teams to handle the additional workflow.
Read on: 12 Tips on How to Practice Self Service Car Wash
Level Four and Five – Automatic and Touchless Car Wash
An automatic commercial car wash needs to have at least six people to operate properly if it is a busy car wash. Labourers get minimum wage plus tips. Workers are pretty easy to find. Students are a good source for workers, so recruiting for part-time workers from a nearby college campus is a good idea. Because a touch less car wash uses more workers, you will need to have at least 12 and maybe more. Adding more staff depends on the volume of daily car washes.
BusinessHAB