Step-by-step car wash business plan. How to Start a Car Wash from Scratch: Business Plan Car Wash Ideas

Every day, with every kilometer, any car gets more or less dirty. We are all used to seeing car washes for SUVs, minibuses and cars, but there are sorely lack of places where you can wash a truck 20 meters long. Not every production facility, let alone a grocery warehouse, will not allow dirty cars to enter its territory; such requirements for heavy vehicles are more common at warehouse food depots. If for passenger cars a car wash is available in almost every city, then in the case of heavy trucks the statistics leaves much to be desired.

The main consumers are long-distance truck drivers, bus drivers, and, in the future, vehicle fleets. Since the flight can last 5 or more days (sometimes it can take 2-3 weeks), the drivers have to live in their cars. There they eat, sleep and live. Naturally, the cockpit must be neat and tidy. But they also do not forget about the outside of the truck, therefore they use the services of car washes.

The essence of the business idea is to satisfy the need of drivers and owners of trucks for washing heavy vehicles, tractors, buses.

Experts say that a car wash as a business is a very profitable business. And in order for it to bring real income, a number of important points should be taken into account.

It is assumed that the funds will be provided by the bank, or investors, so that the costs of starting a business are not large, a portal car wash can be leased.

Capital investments- 2740.8 thousand rubles.

Net profit- 409 thousand rubles.

Payback period- 6-7 months

Return on sales - 68,2%.

2. Description of the business, product or service

It is planned to start a business with one portal installation worth 2.5 million rubles. After the payback of the first installation, it is planned to install the second gantry car wash.

After the two installations start to generate a stable income, it is planned to install a stationary car wash with the same gantry installation. It will be possible to expand the range of services, for example, to open tire fitting, because you always need to develop.

Also, open a small store of auto parts for consumables, i.e., these are car oils, filters, various liquids such as antifreeze, antifreeze, diesel fuel mixtures, etc. Later, open a car wash for passenger cars.

3. Description of the sales market

This business is just beginning to gain momentum in our country. And it is not developing very quickly at the moment. It is not very developed in our city either.

Washing of trucks as a business is not only a promising, but also highly profitable enterprise. Profits from such activities can significantly exceed the income generated from car washes for passenger cars.

It is enough to compare the cost of the service:

• For the owner of a car, washing the car costs 250 rubles. (average service price).
• The minimum cost of washing trucks varies from 1,000 to 2,000 rubles.

Therefore, it is worthwhile to actively develop this industry, it will bring considerable profit, enable truck owners to keep their truck clean, and provide people with jobs.

In our city, according to the portal 2gis, there are 9 car washes for trucks. There are more than 45 car washes for passenger cars. These are the main competitors. Most of them are located on the outskirts of the city, i.e., in places where there is a fairly large flow of cars.

Car wash place

A competitive advantage is expected to be achieved through the choice of a place for a car wash and additional services. The place for a car wash is located along the Dachnoye highway.

Because Since this site is located on the outskirts of the city, the flow of both trucks and cars is ensured, especially in spring, summer and autumn.

4. Sales and Marketing

5. Organizational structure

First, you need to decide on the form of business organization. Two options are possible here: either registration as an individual entrepreneur (individual entrepreneur), or "opening" a legal entity, for example an LLC. Each of these forms has its pros and cons, therefore, to make it easier to make a choice, you need to familiarize yourself in more detail with each of them.

Both for registration as an individual entrepreneur and for opening a legal entity, state registration is required, the procedure for which is determined by the Federal Law on the Registration of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs. When applying to the registering authority, it is necessary to draw up an application in the prescribed form, prepare and submit constituent documents, as well as pay the state fee.
The next step will be to obtain permits allowing you to run a car wash business.

In particular, these are:

• permission from the local authorities, which are in charge of the territory in which it is planned to open a car wash. To obtain it, you must submit a letter of application to the administration of the city or district for the allocation of a land plot for its construction;
• car wash project, which is being developed by the design organization. Without fail, this project must comply with the current sanitary and epidemiological, architectural, environmental and fire standards and be coordinated with the authorities responsible for compliance with all these standards;
• permission of the architecture committee, sanitary and epidemiological station, environmental protection department, fire protection and labor protection for the provision of vehicle washing services. In the absence of at least one of the conclusions listed here, the project will not be approved;
• an act for permanent or temporary land ownership, which is drawn up after the approval of the project. Only after receiving this document, you are allocated land and a warrant for the construction of your facility is issued.

This is a list of basic documents that are required to open a car wash. There are no special requirements for their compilation and form.

6. Financial plan

7. Risk factors

We will assess the potential risks of the project on a 5-point scale.

External:

• Potential change in legislation. Risk Assessment - 1. This risk can aggravate the environment for business development and reduce the level of profitability. Compensation is carried out at the organizational moment when the form of government, type of ownership and form of taxation are introduced.
• War, natural disasters, cataclysms, accidents and emergencies. Risk assessment - 1. An event objectively can entail large material losses. The property can be severely damaged or destroyed. However, this risk is regulated by the insurance service.
• Opening in a city with a population of 410,000, new car washes, price cuts by competitors. Risk score - 3. As we said, demand exceeds supply, but revenues may fall slightly. This is regulated by the creation of a personal customer base, active promotions and the development of interesting offers. It is necessary to reward the client for his correct choice.
• Seasonal decrease in the number of services. Risk assessment - 5. This risk has no clear time limits. It all depends on the weather. This risk is managed by marketing policies, promotions, and downsizing.

The car has long become the main vehicle around the world, including Russia and the CIS countries. Every year the number of car owners is growing, and at the same time the demand for thematic services is growing: gas stations, car services and car washes. In this article, we will talk about how to open a car wash from scratch with a minimum investment of money.

Choosing the type of car wash

Before you open a car wash, first of all, you must decide how much money you are willing to invest in your business. The type of car wash that you can open will depend on the amount of investment. Consider the main types that are currently on the market.

• Manual contact sink- involves the manual application of detergents and cleaning with sponges. This type of car washes is the most common, since the entrepreneur does not have to spend money on expensive equipment. The downside in this case is that physical contact with the vehicle can lead to scratches and damage to the body. Another disadvantage is the long service time of the car. You won't be able to serve a large number of customers in an hour, as is the case with other types of car washes.
• Manual non-contact washing- the procedure is carried out in several steps. First, most of the car is cleaned under the pressure of water. Then an active foam is applied, which removes the remaining dirt. Further, the foam is washed off under a high pressure of water. The final step is to apply the polish. The initial costs for this type of car wash will be more than in the previous case, since special equipment will be needed for the work.
• Self-service car wash- if you want to open a self-service car wash, then this is a very right decision. This type of sink is gaining more and more popularity every year. Customers in this case do not pay for the car wash, but for the time they spend in your car wash. Thanks to the fact that your customers do everything themselves, you can save money on car wash employees, since a large number of personnel are not required for this.
• Automatic car washes- it should be noted right away that choosing this type will lead to a large initial cash investment. You can save on the number of employees, but the minimum cost of equipment for such a wash starts at 3 million rubles. In turn, automatic car washes are divided into two types: portal - when the car enters the box and is cleaned due to the fact that special equipment is installed around it, tunnel car washes - imply that the vehicle is installed with a moving belt and during the movement cleaning occurs in several stages ...

The best option in this case is to open a contactless car wash with employees, or on the principle of self-service.

Business seasonality

Car washes are a seasonal business. In summer and winter, demand in this niche drops sharply, while in autumn and spring, on the contrary, it grows. This must be considered when starting a business.

If you are going to open an automatic car wash, the best time to do this is right before the start of the season.

In the event that it is planned to open a standard car wash, then it is better to do it in the off-season for the following reasons:

• Personnel need to be trained
• The strategy for working with clients is not debugged
• Supply of consumables is not debugged

If you open early in the season and immediately run into a large flow of customers, then either you or your employees may simply be overwhelmed.

What services can car washes provide?

In addition to the usual body wash, this company can provide an even wide range of other services, which will bring great profit. Many car washes take advantage of this and can offer their customers a wide range of services. For example, interior cleaning is usually one of the most expensive services and one such clean one equates in profitability to several standard car washes.

Examples of services provided:

• Standard body wash, the main specialty of this business
• Interior cleaning
• Drawing with bumper and wheels
• Cleaning the engine
• Body polishing
• Dry cleaning
• Trunk cleaning
• Treatment by means of "Anti-rain" or "Anti-fogging"
• Washing wheels from dirt with drying
• Removing difficult stains
• etc.

It should be noted that the more services you want to provide, the more you will need a variety of equipment. The salaries of employees will also rise, as they will be engaged in the provision of difficult services.

Location

In this example, a business plan for a car wash, after you have chosen its type, the second step is to select a place. It is necessary to decide on the place where to build our enterprise as early as possible, since it will take a lot of time to obtain permission to create a car wash. You will learn about this a little later.

Mobile car wash


When choosing a place, it should be noted right away that instead of building a new building or refurbishing some garages, you can choose a mobile car wash for your business. It implies a moisture-resistant box that can accommodate one or two cars. The cost of such boxes starts from 700 thousand rubles and a huge plus is that if you settle in some unfavorable place, then at any time you can move with all your equipment to another. This is especially beneficial if you want to start a self-service car wash from scratch with minimal investment.

In garages


An excellent option would be if you can rent several garages for a car wash. In order to have a good flow of customers, they should be located near some kind of highway, or next to a large area of ​​residential buildings.

The main difficulty in this case is that you will have to invest in order to adapt garages for your business. You will have to asphalt the road, connect various communications.

Also, ordinary garages cannot boast of high resistance to dampness and over time they will begin to deteriorate, and this will lead to additional expenses for major repairs.

On the outskirts of the city

The next option is to stay on the outskirts of the city next to some busy highway. The plus in this case is that most likely you will not have to argue with the city administration for a long time and persistently to obtain a permit, since there will be no residential areas nearby, in which there will be people dissatisfied with the location of a car wash next to their house.

In the town

It is very difficult to obtain a work permit for a business in the center of a residential area. But if you succeed in doing this, then most likely you will create a business that will never need to find clients.

In some cities, industrial buildings such as factories or warehouses are sometimes located right in the city center. You can try to get permission to open a car wash in such places. Of course, the flow of clients will not be as large as if the business is located in the main square of the city, but in any case it is better than accommodation in small neighborhoods.

In the parking lot


In many large cities, car washes in parking lots are a success. They can be located in street parking lots of shopping centers, or in underground ones. The profitability of such car washes directly depends on the number of parking spaces and their occupancy.

Also, such car washes are placed in underground parking lots in elite houses, where people drive expensive cars and daily car washing will not hit their wallet.

In the village

If you want to open a car wash in the village, then you should definitely assess the potential demand. As a rule, villagers do not drive expensive cars often and prefer to wash them on their own. Considering also the fact that the population of villages is usually small, opening a business in such a place, you may never see a profit.

The situation changes dramatically if the village is located on a busy highway. In this case, the idea has the right to life.

On your own plot in a private house

Many people wonder if it is possible to open a car wash on their own site in order to save on renting premises? This is a great idea, but it should be borne in mind that according to the law, each piece of land must be used strictly for its intended purpose. Therefore, if you open a car wash in your country house, then you will not be able to use it to grow vegetables, fruits, etc.

What do you need to get permission to open a car wash?

A car wash is a rather complex business, the opening of which involves the collection of many different documents and permits. So what does it take to open a car wash?

To begin with, we must register a legal entity, namely an individual entrepreneur or LLC. If this is your first business and you do not have either one or the other, then we recommend stopping at the option of registering an individual entrepreneur. Thus, you will save yourself a lot of time and effort.

Next, you need to choose which taxation system you will work with. We recommend the simplified taxation system (STS). She offers two options for paying taxes: 6% of income, or 15% of profits. In the case of this business, we recommend choosing the payment of taxes 15% of the organization's net profit.

Accounting under the STS does not involve any big difficulties, so you can do it yourself, or by hiring a freelance accountant.

The next step in our car wash business plan, which must be completed, is the filing of a letter of application and obtaining a resolution from the city administration. You must obtain permission from the city administration to create your enterprise. At the same time, you should already choose and decide where you want to place your business.

After submitting the documents, you will have several weeks before you receive feedback. During this time, you must prepare a sketch of your car wash and coordinate it with:

• City administration
• Municipal architect
• Fire service

After you receive a response from the city administration and coordinate your sketch with the services described above, all received documents must be sent back to the city administration. Then you can start developing a full-fledged project for a room or building a building.

What documents are needed to open a car wash:

• Individual entrepreneur agreement on tax registration
• Agreement on the ownership of the premises or its lease
• Agreement on the right of ownership or its lease for a land plot under the premises
• Electricity supply agreement
• Agreement on connection to water networks
• Contract for the removal of solid waste and waste water

The finished project is sent for examination to the same organizations, and in case of positive feedback, you reach the final stage - state examination.

The procedure for obtaining permission to open a car wash is not so easy and you may need the help of professional lawyers. The cost of services will be approximately 10-20 thousand rubles.

Important Requirements

Compliance with environmental regulations is a very important requirement of this business. Every day, car washes dump sewage into the sewage system, so it is necessary to conclude an agreement with a water supply and sewerage facility, which will indicate the maximum amount of water that you can discharge and its composition.

Installing a water purification system is a must. The more water you use, the more powerful the system you need. For example, on the outskirts of the city, heavily polluted jeeps will come to you from the forests and steppes. To clean them, you will need 160 liters of water; to clean an ordinary passenger car driving only in the city center, 60 liters will be enough. This means that outside the city, water purification systems should be more powerful and, accordingly, more expensive.

Such treatment systems reduce the volume of waste discharged into the sewage system and operate only at temperatures from +5 degrees.

Equipment

After you select the premises and receive all the necessary permits for the car wash, you need to buy equipment for the car wash itself. The equipment may vary depending on the services provided. As new services are added, you will purchase the necessary equipment. Below is a list of the equipment of a self-service car wash business plan and with employees.

The most popular suppliers of car wash equipment in Russia are the following companies:

• Karcher
• Carebridge
• California kleindiest
• Weidner

Of course, this is not the entire list. There are other less popular manufacturers from Europe.

In addition to specialized equipment, it is also necessary to equip a rest room for employees and a waiting room for customers. If you can save money on the premises for employees and put only sofas, tables and chairs, then the waiting area for customers needs to be thought out.

It's no secret that with the same cost of service, clients will go where they are more comfortable. Therefore, you should try to arrange the waiting area well. You can put high-quality armchairs, a TV that will show car programs and a hot drink dispenser.

How much it will take to equip the rest and waiting area depends only on you and your budget. This amount can be 100,000 rubles and 1 million.

Staff

After purchasing and installing all the necessary equipment, you can proceed to the search for employees. Applicants for this job do not need to be educated. It is enough that they are in good physical shape, know little about cars and be friendly with customers.

For a small enterprise, 2-4 employees with a salary of 20,000 rubles will be enough. Of course, if you are going to open a car wash in Moscow, then the salary should be higher.

Attraction of clients

The final step in this business plan is customer acquisition. The most effective time-tested way to attract customers is promotions.

After opening your business, you can do the following promotions:

• "Free car wash from 14 to 20 September!"
• "Discount for all clients 50%"

These promotions are the most profitable. You will grab public attention. Yes, for some time you will have to work in a negative way, but a large number of people will find out about your business and if they are satisfied with your service, they will come to you again and again.

You can inform people that you have opened and you have a super-cool promotion in the following ways:

An example of unusual public involvement can be seen in the community “Carwash st. Herzen, 94 Tyumen Behind the Voyage shopping center. This is the VKontakte community of a non-existent car wash in nature, which was created by two schoolchildren. They attracted public attention due to tough marketing, which was later written about by major Internet publications. In their community, they instantly gathered 10,000 people who at first did not even suspect that a car wash did not exist.

An example of provocative publications from this community

How much money does it take to open a car wash?

It is very difficult to predict what the costs will be when creating a car wash, as it depends on many different factors:

• Will it be a self-service car wash or not
• Automatic or manual
• The premises are rented or owned

So, we will demonstrate a car wash business plan with calculations, an example will be the following:

• We have 8 employees, with a 2/2 schedule
• We rent premises
• The car wash will provide various services described earlier in the article
• We need to buy equipment for contactless washing
• Work schedule from 12 noon to 12 noon

Based on this, we get a table of expenses.

As a result, the initial cost of opening a car wash is 1,895,000 rubles, and the monthly costs are 250,000 rubles.

Income

Our company can serve approximately 50 clients per day. Depending on the seasonality, there may be different workloads, suppose that the workload will be 76%, then we will serve 38 clients per day. The average check will be approximately 350 rubles.

Income per day- 13.300r.
Monthly income- 399.000 rub
Net profit for the month- 149.000r
Payback- 13 months

Car wash franchises

There is an easier option for opening a car wash - buying a franchise. Then you do not have to figure out what equipment to buy on your own, they will help you choose a profitable place for placement, help you solve legal issues. In general, buying a franchise will make life easier.

But there are also negative sides:

• You will have to share the profit
• Any organizational changes will have to be coordinated

A huge disadvantage is that some franchises prohibit the provision of any additional services. And this is a loss of profit for us. Therefore, before signing the contract, you should take into account all the points.

If these disadvantages do not scare you, then we can proceed to the review of franchises.

Washing Max

This franchise offers two formats for doing business.

Mobile car wash

• Lump-sum contribution - 250.000 rub
• Investment volume - 890.000 rubles
• Payback - 6-9 months
• Monthly profit - 246.000 rubles

Stationary sink

• Lump-sum contribution - 250.000 rub
• Investment volume - 990.000 rubles
• Payback - 6-10 months
• Monthly profit - 260.000 rubles

To cooperate with this franchise, the following conditions must be met:

Zebra

This franchise holds the record for starting a business. After purchasing it, you can start full-fledged work within 10 days. Full payback will not be long in coming either.

The amount of investment is only from 300,000 rubles to 500,000 rubles

Requirements:

• 6 employees
• Premises not less than 10 sq.m.

Digital moika

The franchise has a different set of packages. The cheapest package costs only 39,000 rubles, the most expensive 549,000 rubles.

This option is good for those who do not want to invest too much in this business. You can open a very small and simple car wash and see if customers will come to you or not. If not, then you can close without a big loss of money, but if there are clients, then you can expand.

Requirements:

• 3 employees
• Minimum area 2 sq.m.

I want to buy a ready-made car wash business!

There are a huge number of ads on the market that offer you to buy a ready-made business or rent it. I would like to note that the goose that lays the golden eggs is rarely sold, with good car washes the situation is exactly the same.

Most likely, after buying a car wash, you will find things in it that you will have to work on well. For example, unqualified personnel, repairs, absence of clients, etc.

If you still want to buy a ready-made car wash business in Moscow, St. Petersburg or in some other cities, then you should definitely check everything before buying.

You need to check the following:

• Does the car wash satisfy all the requirements of SES, firefighters, etc.
• Documented performance for the last year
• Documented profit for the last year
• Is the owner of the premises going to evict you?
• Are employees ready to work for the new owner?
• Does she have a good reputation among car owners?

Also, check when this car wash opened. The less it existed, the more likely it is that something is wrong with it.

The cost of a profitable car wash will start at 1 million rubles, you can find these ads on Avito.

The number of cars in our country is growing even despite the outbreak of the crisis. This means that any car business will be guaranteed to generate good profits. One of these types of business is a car wash. Let's analyze how to open a car wash from scratch, what is needed for this and what is its profitability.

Introduction

Car wash is a profitable and stable business that generates constant income. In order to organize it, you do not need experience or any skills. The car wash is not a seasonal business, although some decrease in the number of customers can be observed in the summer. In the summer, clients often order expensive procedures (interior, engine cleaning), so the total amount of income does not fall.

Car wash is a profitable and promising business

How to start?

The first step is to study the market in your city and draw up at least a rough business plan. It should take into account the following factors:

1. Location.
2. Study of the demand for services.
3. Average income of prospective clients.
4. The total cost of renting a plot and building.
5. The cost of building a car wash in the absence of an alternative.
6. Equipment purchase costs.
7. Mandatory monthly expenses (wages, utility bills, taxes).

Based on this information, you can already make some calculations and think about opening.

registration

Now let's list what documents are needed to open a car wash In your city. The first thing you will need to do is register with the nearest tax office. You can become an individual entrepreneur or open an LLC. There is not much difference between these forms of ownership, except that as the owner of an LLC, you can sign an agreement for the maintenance of the fleet of other companies.

Then you will need:

1. Contact the city council and get their permission to open a car wash.
2. In the event of a new building being built, you will need to contact the local design organization, which will create an appropriate project for you, taking into account the legal requirements.
3. Obtain permits for opening in the sanitary station and fire inspection.
4. Obtain approval papers from the environmental protection department.
5. Get the act to the ground.

Market research

After the business plan is drawn up, it is necessary to assess the level of competition and find a good place to open a car wash. Investigate if there are operating car washes in the district, what services they provide, what price range of services they offer. Try to identify their shortcomings and think about what you would add or change in the work.

Prefabricated car wash is a great alternative to stationary

Think over your list of services. The competition in this market is quite tough, so you need to somehow stand out from the general background. Offer customers not only a body wash, but also an engine, interior dry cleaning, polishing, and scratch grouting. Be sure to equip a relaxation room where the visitor can drink coffee or watch TV while washing.

Note:Car washes, which allow the driver to wash the car himself, have proven themselves quite well. The client pays for the time spent in the box and for the consumption of detergents, while using your equipment.

The best location for washing is in the following places:

1. In a residential area.
2. In the business center of the city (near the offices).
3. Near large highways with high traffic.
4. Near the service station, gas stations, vehicle fleets.

Build or Rent?

If you have enough start-up capital to build it, it is better to build a building than to rent and remodel it. Now many construction companies offer ready-made solutions from metal structures and sandwich at reasonable prices. But what you need to open a car wash by building it from scratch? You will have to take the land for a long-term lease and obtain a building permit. Of the advantages - free architecture (you can independently choose the required number and size of utility rooms), as well as the absence of rent.

If the starting capital is not enough for the construction, then rent the building. This will significantly reduce the level of investments, but you will have to pay 50-70 thousand rubles a month for a room.

Types of car washes

Sinks are automatic and manual. The most promising are the automatic car washes, which allow servicing a large number of cars in the shortest possible time. Automatic car washes are divided into two types:

1. Tunnel.
2. Portal.

Gantry car wash - a practical and inexpensive solution

In a tunnel wash, the car is installed on a special conveyor belt and automatically moves through the box, leaving from the other side completely washed. In a portal car wash, the car is driven into a box and washed with three brushes: two vertical and one horizontal. Brushes move in space, efficiently washing away all dirt. The gantry sink is very compact - it fits well into any room. The washing process in automatic car washes is usually 2-3 times faster than in manual ones, so you can serve more customers per working day and save on personnel.

Note:modern automatic car washes are completely safe for the car. But it is necessary to monitor the condition of the equipment and service it in time.

The most practical is the gantry sink. Its advantages:

1. Mobile dimensions.
2. Absolute versatility.
3. The speed of work is 12 cars per hour.
4. The minimum recruitment of staff.

Modern gantry car wash can be non-contact - all dirt is removed not by brushes, but by special nozzles through which water is supplied under high pressure.

Tunnel car washes require a “tunnel” up to 35 meters long. It is capable of handling up to 20 cars per hour - as soon as the first car moves 4-5 meters in depth, the second can be driven onto the belt.

Types of buildings

Car washes can be divided into stationary and pre-fabricated ones. Stationary car washes are usually attached to complexes: service stations, spare parts stores, tire fitting. All the necessary communications are brought to them and a building permit is obtained.

Car wash goes well with tire fitting and service station

Prefabricated ones will require permission from the architecture department. To do this, you will need to provide:

1. IP or LLC patent.
2. Evidence or lease for land.
3. Car wash project with its appearance.

You will also need to connect the building to the utilities and issue a permit for opening from the firefighters.