The high profitability of car washes has become the reason that the business in this direction is becoming more promising and attractive. Experts say that the Russian market for car wash services is currently undergoing another round of development. Our topic today is a car wash from scratch: a business plan and organizational issues.
general information
Our country is largely oriented towards the West. Let us turn to his specialists on this issue as well. Europeans believe that one gantry car wash should be for every 50 thousand of the population. If we use this data in terms of our country, then we will understand that the Russian car wash market is still far from saturation. Although the initial boom in opening wash stations has passed, the business has yet to be fully developed. This applies to both the set of services itself and their quality level.
What to count on
Experts say that the profitability of car washes reaches 30-40%, and often even higher rates. On average, a business pays for itself in a period of one to one and a half years. When installing expensive equipment (portal or tunnel), you should count on a period of up to 3-4 years. But at the same time, much higher financial turnovers will be formed.
When renting premises for a car wash, the threshold for entering this business segment is 20-30 thousand dollars.
Car wash: where to start, how to succeed
The described type of business, like any other, requires a thorough analysis of the market. In order to open a car wash from scratch, you need to draw up a detailed business plan. You will rely on it when organizing your business. There are several basic steps that you should pay special attention to when planning.
Documents and registration
Registration with the tax authority is the first thing you need to open a car wash. You can register as an individual entrepreneur or LLC. With the first option, significant tax savings are possible. In the future, you will need permits from the SES authorities, the fire department, and the district administration. The whole procedure is quite lengthy and may require a considerable amount of time, therefore, having decided to implement a project, please be patient.
A place
The payback and profitability of car washes largely depend on the right location. First of all, you need to decide what will be the stake in your business - high productivity or a wide range of services provided. Let's figure out why this is so important.
Highways that connect sleeping areas and business centers, and the highways at the entrance and exit of the city, are a good place for a high-performance car wash. This is because the client here will be more casual than regular.
In such places, it is good to install portal or tunnel stations, the service speed in which is many times higher than in manual ones. A potential client, seeing that the queue of cars is small, will more quickly decide in favor of using the services of your car wash. When locating a station on highways, you need to understand that it will be quite difficult to attract regular customers.
Many people simply do not want to go through the whole city, even knowing that your services are rendered an order of magnitude faster than in the washing stations closest to the house. When you rely on high traffic, you must equip the car wash with the most powerful equipment, but sacrifice the possibility of placing additional services at the station. Experience shows that they often remain unclaimed.
The situation is different if the owner wishes to provide his station with the maximum range of services. In this case, it is best to choose a place in one of the prosperous sleeping areas. Here the focus is on attracting regular customers living in the nearest streets and districts. In addition to washing the car, the client can order the following services:
- interior cleaning;
- removal of stains;
- washing the engine;
- blackening of tires;
- panel polishing, etc.
Powerful washing equipment in quiet areas of the city will take too long to pay for itself, which is why many entrepreneurs install hand car washes at several posts. The client understands that it will take more time to wash the car, but arrives at the station knowing that there is an opportunity to order additional services.
In addition to the two listed points, a car wash can be located near a gas station, service station, and a large shopping center. Pay attention to the convenient access and parking lot.
We must not forget that when choosing a place, you need to take into account the requirements of the SES. Car washes should not be located closer than 70 meters in relation to residential buildings.
Rent or construction?
It is good when the premises used for business belong to its owner. But this is not always possible. The financial costs for the construction of the building are significant. Not every aspiring entrepreneur will master them. In addition to monetary investments, you need to go through more than a dozen instances in order to obtain all permits and approvals for the construction of an object.
Another option is to rent a plot of land and order from specialized firms a ready-made car wash design for the required number of posts. This is also a rather costly method, since the cost of a turnkey two-portal station starts at 2 million rubles. You can rent a room suitable for a sink and equip it with the necessary equipment.
Types of car washes
Before answering the question about how much it costs to build a car wash from scratch, let's understand their types. The final cost figure will depend on the equipment of the station.
