Air conditioner installation and maintenance business. Refueling and servicing car air conditioners as a business Car air conditioner refueling business

In this article, we will talk about how to properly start your own business using the example of car wash and on-site air conditioning refueling services, set key priorities and warn about possible risks.

Business organization

Premises.

To organize a mobile service for washing cars and refueling air conditioners, you need to rent a room of a suitable size to accommodate maintenance personnel, a dispatch service, and organize a warehouse for consumables.

The location does not have to be in the city center, but it should have a convenient road junction and easy connections to the main densely populated areas of the city.

In principle, including the mobile nature of work, the bulk of the staff will spend most of the working day on the road, so the size of the room should be selected so as to accommodate some of the staff who will be constantly at the workplace.

Staff.

You can't save on service personnel in any case. Both the car wash and the air conditioning service should employ proven workers with experience to reduce the time spent on training.

If you fail to hire experienced craftsmen, do not despair. The proposed skills of washing cars and refueling air conditioners can be learned in a short period of time, and during the training period, employees can be offered a lower salary, which will significantly reduce costs at first.

Air conditioning refueling services do not require separate certificates for work; they can be performed by a master with the qualification of a locksmith.

For the organization of the dispatch service, it is recommended to hire young active personnel, perhaps without work experience, but with high efficiency in collecting and distributing information. The main criterion should be the ability to attract a client and quickly process the information received.

Equipment.

First of all, you should think about providing mobile teams with transport. Depending on the size of the business, the number of off-site vehicles will vary. In any case, you will have to buy or rent several cars, since it will be extremely problematic to get to the client's location using public transport with all the necessary equipment.

To refuel air conditioners, you need to purchase a mobile refueling station. If you want to reduce costs to a minimum, it would be more rational to purchase used equipment, however, this increases the potential risks of its premature failure.

For mobile car washes, a modern set of tools is used that does not require the use of large quantities of water. Dirt is removed from the vehicle using active chemical sprays, and then cleaned off with a prepared sponge. Therefore, to carry out work on washing cars on the road, you will need a set of consumables and special means for cleaning the encapsulated dirt.
This principle of operation is convenient in that it does not require additional permits from the regulatory authorities, since no environmental pollution occurs during washing.

Special attention should be paid to the advertising of the services provided. Nowadays, people trust colorful posters, showcases, original slogans, so it will not be superfluous to place advertisements on a voluminous billboard with interesting text and attractive graphics.

To advertise car wash services and on-site refueling of air conditioners, one should not be limited to binding to a specific place, since such services, thanks to the mobility of the work team, can be provided anywhere in the city.

Marketing activity should be focused on areas with a significant population density. Advertising brochures should describe the advantages of your company's services, such as a favorable price, prompt service time, a guarantee for services, a system of discounts.

Sales of products.

For successful business promotion, you need to remember that any client who asked for help must use the services of your company on an ongoing basis.

To do this, it is necessary to attract the consumer not only with affordable prices and quality of work (this is first of all), but also interest in free promotional offers, additional small attributes. Such actions will form the image of an advanced and solid company that cares not only about its income, but, first of all, about the comfort of its customers.

Financial plan

Investments.

When developing a project for capital investments in a future business, you should calculate the prices for equipment, rental of premises, staff salaries, and the cost of paperwork.

In order to start a business, the required amount will be about 500 thousand rubles, taking into account the rental of vehicles or the presence of your own. If you have to spend money on buying one or two cars, the cost will increase in proportion to the price of the cars, but in the future it will save monthly transportation costs.

Payback.

The average payback period for such a business is from 6 months to 1 year .. It should be remembered that services of this kind are seasonal and bring the main income at certain periods. Car washing will bring more income in spring and autumn, air conditioning refueling in summer.

Net income from this type of activity will be about 40%, of which one third should be set aside for the salaries of employees, one third - for the maintenance of premises and consumables.

The business of a mobile car wash and refueling air conditioners can bring additional income in a short period of time if you correctly calculate your own financial potential, conduct an active advertising campaign and realistically assess the existing risks.

If you are the owner of a car service, car wash, tire fitting or other type of activity related to cars and their owners, then this additional type of earnings will certainly interest you.

This car service does not require large investments, at least at the very beginning of the activity, and you do not need to buy expensive equipment. The process of filling the air conditioner itself is quite simple and there is no need to carry out complex personnel training.

Refueling of an air conditioner in a car can be carried out automatically using a station, and manually, without using this expensive equipment. The acquisition of the station at the initial stage is not entirely appropriate. First, you need to gain experience with simpler and cheaper equipment.

Equipment for filling air conditioners

To implement an extended car service business plan, you will need:

"Freon-134a" for refueling the vehicle air conditioning system.
Gauge manifold designed for this freon.
Electronic scales for tracking the volume of refrigerant charged.

You will definitely need an additional set of accessories. It must include:

An ultraviolet lamp that diagnoses air conditioning systems. It connects to the on-board battery.
Special protective goggles, without which it is impossible to work with an ultraviolet lamp.
Electronic leak detector that reacts to freon.
Moisture meter. Its indicators are needed to assess air humidity before and after refueling. It will also help you understand how the car's air conditioning system works. It should be understood that with proper operation of the air conditioner, the evaporator will draw moisture from the air. If the air humidity is high, it means that the cabin filter is clogged or the evaporator is faulty. During normal operation of the evaporator and the entire system, the outlet temperature should be 6-8 degrees Celsius. 10-12 degrees indicate system failures.
Oil injector. It ensures that oil is added to the system in the required quantities. The injector is put on a cylinder or on a hose of a filling station and, together with freon, is fed into the system.
Adapters. They are needed to connect the monometric manifold to any vehicle.
Special pullers for disconnecting the air conditioning pipes. They are relevant for American and Japanese cars.
Special valve puller. Sometimes leaks are in the valves where the station is connected.

Making a car service business plan a reality (business expansion)

Approximate prices for the purchase of the necessary materials and tools:

Freon-134a - 4800 rubles.
Manometric manifold - 2500 rubles.
Electronic scales with high accuracy (5 grams) - from 5000 to 9000 rubles.
Adapters (manifold quick-detachable valves). Set - 800 rubles.

You will spend about 17,000 rubles for this. and about 10,000 rubles more. for an additional set of accessories for the operator. Only 27,000 rubles.
Refueling one car from 800 to 2500 rubles. The price will depend on the degree of complexity of the work done and on the amount of freon charged, so that your costs will pay off very quickly in total. You only need to refuel 10-30 cars!

Starting a car maintenance business is a laborious process that requires specialized knowledge, some investment and a certain amount of luck, as the market is rife with supply, often exceeding demand. But if you approach this matter more selectively and opt for a narrow segment of the sphere, success will not be long in coming. Alternatively, for this purpose, you can purchase equipment for refueling automobile air conditioners and engage in their maintenance. Despite the steady demand, not every service station provides this type of service.

Organization procedure

After the selection of the premises and receipt of all permits, it is necessary to purchase the main equipment and consumables. For these purposes you will need:

Vacuum pump and electronic leak detector for diagnostics.
Pair of quick release couplings. One of them must be able to withstand high pressure.
Injector used for oil charging and gauge manifold.
Electronic scales and industrial thermometer.
The main consumables are UV indicator, synthetic oil and special refrigerant.

The entire estimate for the purchase of the necessary will be about fifty thousand rubles. All that remains is to find a suitable specialist, or train an existing employee. For these purposes, there are special courses, at the end of which a corresponding certificate is issued. It will cost within ten thousand rubles.

This is how, without large financial costs, you can organize a profitable business that will be in stable demand.

Air conditioner refueling and repair workshop: starting a small business with moderate investment and high profitability.

Global climate changes on the planet are already obvious; they have affected many countries of the previously temperate climatic region, not excluding the South of Russia. Changes in the economic situation in the country are much less obvious, but it is all the more dangerous for the automotive business not to notice them. In the last decade (and this is well known to the owners of used cars), there has been a sharp turn in the interests of the buyer: people are no longer interested in vehicles without air conditioning. Military medicine has long established the fact that a pilot in an uncomfortable temperature environment is a bad fighter, the reaction time of even an ace slows down by half at an air temperature in the cabin of +40, compared to the most comfortable +22 ... + 25 degrees.
Therefore, air conditioning in a car in summer is a question of the survival of the driver, passengers and the safety of the cargo. And the drivers realized this: the era of car air conditioning has come to Russia.

Let me remind you that for the first time the possibility of installing an air conditioner as an option was laid down in the VAZ G8, and imported cars already in the nineties, as a rule, came with it.
And the question arose: where to serve? The Russian car service market turned out to be catastrophically unprepared for this surprise. And if the merchants were able to just bring in cylinders with freon, then a stable network of auto repair shops that provide refueling service for car air conditioners not yet formed.
In this regard, the purchase of equipment for refueling automobile air conditioners with R-134a refrigerant is one of the priority directions of business development in this area, and since the market for this service has not yet settled down, this gives a starting business a unique chance to start working with high profitability and are simply ridiculous. in comparison with other methods of its beginning, starting costs. This new topic is not ignored by the already promoted, but still limited in the range of services provided, private firms: car washes, tire shops, body repair establishments. In contrast, all that is really required to start a business is a garage and a 220V outlet. The power consumption of the installation for refueling air conditioners is minimal and fluctuates in the region of 200 - 300 watts with the compressor running (sometimes, however, it is required to turn on the heating belt of the freon cylinder, where the power can increase to a kilowatt, but firstly, this is required only in the cold season, secondly, in modern installations, such heating is turned on mainly manually.) Thus, apart from the desire and minimum training costs, nothing more is required from a novice businessman. The cost of an automatic installation for refueling air conditioners has now also dropped to affordable, some Chinese manufacturers offer installations even for 80,000 rubles, in a word, for the price of a used "chisel" you can purchase an installation that will make money for you. And this is not a metaphor. With the cost of one machine maintenance in the region of 100-400 rubles, the cost of this service on the market is from 500 to 2000 rubles and more. In fact, when the cost of work is close to zero, the owner of the workshop sells nothing more than his own working time: and, to be more precise, the operating time of the installation in automatic mode. Business model close to the ideal. The machine is working, the person has a rest and receives money... The situation is that high-quality car maintenance on this topic simply must take at least 40 minutes: it is determined by the time of mandatory vacuuming of the system, without which no responsible master will undertake to fill the client's air conditioner, and no self-respecting car owner will.

During vacuuming, not only is it removed, possibly, air that has entered the system (this is especially critical after repairing the system), but traces of water are also removed, including from the receiver-dryer, and this process simply physically cannot go faster, the vacuum pump creates practically full vacuum in half a minute, but degassing and dehumidification of those substances that contain the elements to be removed are no faster than the physical laws permit. Thus, there is a sale of working time, and this business process cannot be disrupted even by very wealthy competitors. Even the most expensive installation makes vacuuming no faster than the cheapest one. Vacuum along the way carries out two more important functions: checking the system for leaks, and adding special oil to the car system (the unit measures a given amount of oil by weight or volume, but it does not have any oil pump - the oil is pumped into the car air conditioner by the force of a vacuum previously created If the system does not hold a vacuum, a portion of oil cannot be added.) In case of leaks in the system, it is impossible to fill it with freon without adding a portion of oil, the one who does this runs the risk of running into an expensive compressor replacement at the client, since Despite the fact that there is always a certain amount of oil in the system, the refrigerant dissolves the oil in an amount of about 20-40 grams per volume of refrigerant in an average passenger car. If the freon has been completely removed from the system - released, pumped out, or leaked out by itself - the addition of such an amount of oil with a full charge is strictly necessary.
A car air conditioner refueling workshop can also make good money on associated servicesassociated with minor repairs of climate systems. These works are quite within the capabilities of qualified personnel: a banal break in electrical wiring, visible to the naked eye or determined by a tester, replacing a poly V-belt of an air conditioner compressor or adjusting its tension - do not require either special knowledge or special tools. Moreover, such types of repairs as replacing the coil of the electromagnetic clutch of the air conditioning compressor or the entire clutch assembly, replacing the bearing in the clutch and adjusting the clearances do not require depressurization of the system and can be performed in your conditions. Somewhat more difficult, but also more profitable, is the work associated with replacing the main components of an automobile air conditioner after accidents. First of all, this is the replacement of the condenser, tubes and rubber hoses, receivers-dryers, with the obligatory deep vacuum of the system and a full cycle of filling with oil and freon. Modern air conditioner refueling units perform a full service cycle in automatic mode; for this, a large database of cars of all manufacturers is wired into the electronic control unit: the amount of injected refrigerant, the recommended amount of oil, etc. These databases can be updated manually and via the Internet. Also, any such installation allows all procedures to be carried out in manual mode, as a rule, modern manufacturers leave a sticker under the hood indicating the amount and type of refrigerant and oil to be charged. Freon R-12 is no longer used, all talk about it is in the past, it is banned in the European Union, and even those very few cars produced before 1992 that worked with it are usually already converted for R-134 or are simply inoperable. for compressor wear. For the overwhelming (more than 98%) customers, a single-system installation designed for the 134th refrigerant is sufficient.

Seasonality.
There is an opinion that the refueling service is a seasonal summer line of business. This is not the case, and more and more knowledgeable car owners understand this. As you know, on "tinsmith's day", condensers are the first to suffer. Depressurization of a car air conditioner in an accident requires immediate restoration of tightness and dehumidification of the system, otherwise the owner of the car flies in to replace its most expensive parts - the compressor and the receiver-dryer. The fact is that the precision-made parts of the compressor inside it are made of ordinary (rusting) steel. Which instantly begins to rust when moisture gets inside. The situation is aggravated by the chemical reaction of the refrigerant and water with the release of hydrochloric acid (for R-134a), as well as the oxidation of the compressor oil with the formation of oil-like films, which are deposited on the filter screens and parts inside. It follows from all this that with proper explanatory work, work for installing air conditioning service will also be found in winter. In addition, there are a lot of cars in which engine repair and even a simple timing belt replacement requires dismantling the air conditioner compressor with the inevitable complete procedure for evacuating freon and then refueling it back. To provide additional services, the workshop can purchase a leak detector, a kit for locating refrigerant leaks by injecting a special dye that fluoresces with a strong green light in the rays of a special ultraviolet lamp, repair kits for seals and spools, and much more.

The bottom line.
Car air conditioning systems are rapidly breaking into our lives. Be the first in your car air conditioner refueling business! The Servisproekt company offers a wide range of equipment for refueling air conditioners - from the most inexpensive models to full automatic machines.

For business owners (car services): you will probably have similar questions. So, we answer in advance:

Why is it beneficial?

Consider the profitability of the proposed business, using the example of a small car service:

In the presence of 2 boxes, with an adjacent territory for 3 cars, the car service has the ability to perform the following types of work in 12 working hours:

- clutch replacement 2 times * 2000 \u003d 4000 rubles.
- oil change 5 times * 300 \u003d 1500 rubles.
- replacement of pads 5 times * 400 \u003d 2000 rubles.

Total: the profit of such a service for 12 hours of work will be 7,500 rubles.
When several employees are busy.

Let's move on to the service "Diagnostics and refueling of the air conditioner":

One quick-witted employee (who has some experience in refueling and diagnosing an air conditioner) can, in a 12-hour working day, make about 30 refueling (checked on himself). Moreover, to perform this type of service, a lift is not required, therefore, during the season (summer) this can be done on the street, in the adjacent territory (we are considering 3 parking spaces). The average cost of the service is 1300 rubles. The service "ultraviolet diagnostics" is paid
separately (at the request of the client), the average cost of the service, about 300 rubles.

So, the usual complex of primary services costs the customer of the technical center
an average of 1600 rubles.

Of which the cost of consumables will be:

A standard refrigerant cylinder holds 13.6 kg \u003d 2990 rubles. to refuel one car, on average, 800 g is required, i.e. 0.8 kg \u003d 175.88 rubles.
3.76 liters of oil \u003d 3100 rubles. i.e. 0.03 l \u003d 24.73 rubles.
0.18 l of ultraviolet radiation \u003d 1500 rubles. those. 0.003 l \u003d 25 rubles.

Total: 225.61 rubles.

Remaining: 1600 - 225.61 \u003d 1374.39 rubles. - 25% (Salary to an employee) \u003d 1030.80 rubles.

And this is 12/40 \u003d 0.3 hours \u003d 20 minutes.

Total: to earn 20,000 rubles. it is necessary to perform 20 "diagnostics and refueling of the autoconditioner".

The cost of consumables (when performing one refueling), on average, is 300 rubles.

Accordingly, the profit from one gas station will average 1300 rubles.

Total: the profit of the service in question (if this service is available), for
12 hours of work - 39,000 rubles. When one employee is employed.

Everything else depends on how many customers there will be today in such a service ...

And on what services the service performs in addition to "electronic diagnostics and refueling of a car air conditioner", namely, repair of a car air conditioner !!!

And now, let's look at how profitable and
profitable business ...

As an example, let's take a standard situation - replacing an air conditioner radiator (condenser).

Why standard? Everything is very simple! The condenser is located in the front of the car (in front of the cooling radiator), therefore, various contaminants settle on it, including an anti-icing agent that is used to water the streets in winter. All these contaminants cause corrosion, which gradually erodes the thin radiator walls. If not rinsed at least once a month
(most motorists do not do this), the condenser begins to leak, and it is quite difficult to eliminate the leak that has arisen as a result of corrosion, so the best way to solve the problem is to replace the air conditioner radiator.

So, let's get started: in the process of preliminary diagnostics, it turned out that a leak in the condenser, as a result of corrosion, the repair of the part is not possible, the results of the diagnostics were agreed with the client and offered a solution to the problem, cost and terms.

Required procedures when replacing the condenser:

Reinforcement work (dismantle the old one, install a new part)
air conditioner system leakage diagnostics
air conditioning system refueling

Such procedures require one employee and about 3 hours
working time.

The average cost of the above works is 3400 rubles.

Car air conditioner repair - for many, "a mystery covered in darkness." But this is only at first glance. In fact, with correct diagnostics (which determines 90% of the success of the repair), any qualified car mechanic can perform the elimination of the identified malfunction.

Now, having in hand the approximate calculations for the cost of services and profits, let's calculate what investments are required to start this type of business and what is the payback period.

Why are we ready to train your people?

Because the car service business is not our core business. We are not planning to create our own network in the cities of the Republic. Therefore, we make money by teaching you. Plus, we can make money by shipping consumables to you. It's simple.

Business investments will be:

Service "Refueling and diagnostics".

1). Equipment set "Standard Diagnost".

Gauge manifold
Ultraviolet lamp
Oil injector
Thermometer
Vacuum pump
Electronic balance
Leak detector
Adapter set
Adapter Audi
Spools replacement kit

The approximate cost of such a kit is: 36880 rubles. The most optimal set of equipment is taken as an example.

2). Expendable materials.

Freon R134a (13.6 kg, on average enough for 17 fillings)
UV indicator (240 ml, on average enough for 32 refills)
PAG 100 oil (0.946 liters, on average enough for 30 fillings)

The cost of such a set, with us, is: 5160 rubles. As an example, the most optimal packaging options are taken.

Total! The opening of the service "diagnostics and refueling of an automobile air conditioner" will cost 42040 rubles.

If we return to the figures from the section "Algebra (business profitability)", then it is easy to calculate how long the equipment will pay off and start making a profit, i.e. after about 50 fillings.

Tell me, in what other field of activity is such a short payback period for equipment possible?

Now it becomes clear why professionals are not eager to share their secrets, why do they do their best to maintain a monopoly on this business in order not to let potential competitors enter the market ?! Because it is a highly profitable and promising business that requires minimal costs and brings good, stable income!

Myths and Reality.

To begin with, let's dispel some of the myths that have become entrenched in the minds of people.

One of the myths - Repairing and refueling air conditioners is difficult!

Yes, it is difficult, but no more difficult than changing the engine oil. The fact is that in Russia there are no special educational institutions that train specialists in servicing car air conditioners. Therefore, there are very few real professionals in their field, as a rule, they gained experience by trial and error, and are not ready, and simply do not want to share their knowledge with others.

For several years, we have managed to bring together, process and systematize the accumulated experience and knowledge. We are happy to transfer this entire fusion of knowledge and experience to our partners, who are trained in the courses on "Diagnostics, refueling and repair of automobile air conditioners".

The courses are held directly at the service center of our company, so the trainee immediately starts working. The theoretical and practical part of the lessons is planned in such a way as to prepare the student as much as possible for independent work. Without false modesty, we can say that all our students have become real professionals in their field. The duration of the course is up to five working days (depending on the recruitment of the group and the level of training of the trainees).
Is it a lot or a little? We have been providing training for more than five years. And, as practice shows, a car service employee, at the end of the course, is able to detect and eliminate a malfunction in 80% of cases.

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