How much does it cost to build a car wash? How to calculate the payback and profit of a car wash? How much does it cost and how to open a car wash? What you need to open a car wash Opening a car wash where to start

Opening a car wash is a highly profitable and profitable business that is in great demand in any city, because the rate of car sales is constantly growing. Accordingly, the demand for car wash services will only grow. To open a car wash, an entrepreneur does not need any special knowledge. Another plus is that car wash services are not subject to certification.

Among the types of car washes, there are manual, portal, and recently mobile or mobile car washes have appeared.

MANUAL CAR WASHES.
In them, washing is carried out by workers using systems that supply water under pressure. Hand washes are relatively cheap, and, oddly enough, the population has more confidence in this type of wash. About 70% of all Moscow washing services are manual car washes with 2-3 stations.

Due to the fact that the work is manual, the throughput at such car washes is not high. However, high quality service and a wider range of services provided can make a manual car wash a fairly profitable enterprise.

The list of services may be as follows:

Engine washing,
interior dry cleaning,
body polishing,
rubbing and polishing the interior,
blackening of tires (in particular, as pre-sale preparation), etc.

Such car washes can be located away from busy highways. They are designed for customers who specifically plan to spend a certain amount of time in exchange for quality, comfort and prestige. These washes use manual equipment: first, the abrasive is washed off the surface with a hand-held device, then it is wiped with a soft sponge, then wiped dry, and the master controls the quality of the work. Accordingly, at car washes for this purpose there should be separate areas for customers to relax: cafes, slot machines, etc.

At car washes with low throughput, it is quite logical to provide drivers with additional services that sometimes generate income no less than the wash itself. A car service center, an auto parts store, or a tire shop can operate in parallel here.

PORTAL CAR WASHES They are a box in which a washing machine is installed - brushes, cleaning agent supply systems, etc. Portal washes are much more expensive, but they allow you to service many more cars in the same period of time. Accordingly, in order to provide yourself with customers, you need to locate such a car wash in the appropriate place: on highways connecting residential areas of the city with industrial ones, and at the entrances to the city. Or you need to look for a “wholesale” customer among large motor transport enterprises and enter into a washing agreement with him.

Practice also shows that car washes do well at service stations, gas stations and car parks. Another option is to build car washes near hypermarkets, where many cars gather on weekends.

High-performance washers are designed for customers who value their time and benefit from high throughput. The list of services at such a car wash will be minimal. The average service time for one car should not exceed 10-15 minutes. The only equipment needed here is automatic - portal or tunnel washing - with a capacity of 12-100 cars per hour. And the use of manual labor is reduced to a minimum. Of course, wage costs are also reduced.

How much does it cost to open a car wash?

Calculate rental costs (here you need to find out the data for a specific location) and add the cost of equipment:

High pressure apparatus for supplying water to one post – $500-1300,
high-pressure apparatus with heated water – $1800-3000,
used water purification system – $4800-6600,
washing vacuum cleaner or vacuum cleaner – $400-550,
compressor – $200-250.

Owners of Moscow car washes prefer to work with imported equipment. Up to 80% of the equipment in use is from the German company Karcher. Italian and Danish equipment is also quoted. And among domestic equipment, only units for technical purification of used water are usually actively used.

To equip a post with an automatic portal car wash from Karcher, you will have to spend at least 100 thousand dollars.

The main consumables are shampoo, dry cleaning, polishing, engine cleaning, wheel rims and bumpers. You have to spend about $300 a month on them if the car wash services 30-40 cars a day.

Room

In this type of business, the best option would be to rent a ready-made premises, since the construction of such premises requires complex approvals and permits from various authorities (approximately 160 approvals with signatures from officials alone must be obtained). And the cost of building a car wash, including design work and connection to utility networks, is unlikely to be less than 3 million rubles, and this will significantly increase the payback period.

When choosing a location, you must also take into account the requirements of the authorities and the SES. Since a car wash works with large volumes of water and can affect the environment, there are increased requirements for such enterprises. For example, car washes cannot be located closer than 70 m to residential buildings. In addition, direct discharge of used water into sewers is generally prohibited. There is, of course, equipment with a closed water cycle, but it is much more expensive, so it’s up to you to decide whether to use it or not.

Staff

Not the least factor influencing the profitability of a car wash is the strict selection of personnel. Experienced entrepreneurs prefer employees who understand cars.

If a car wash services a lot of foreign cars, an irresponsible or careless employee can easily bring losses to the company: even at a manual car wash, you can accidentally damage the car body, and if it is a car worth over $100 thousand, such a scratch can be costly for your company.

Car wash operation

As a rule, car washes operate around the clock or in one or two day shifts. In a manual two- or three-post wash, two washers usually work in one bay, plus a senior person working over all posts in a shift. Washers are paid piecework. Usually this is 20-40% of daily revenue, which is distributed to the entire shift team. Mostly men are hired as washers, because this work in itself is physically quite difficult. At car washes with high-quality service, managers also work on a permanent basis, who monitor the quality of the car wash and hand over the finished car to the client.

The most popular service is body washing. To this you can add washing the underbody, wheels, engine, carpets, interior cleaning, dry cleaning, etc. The final price depends on what services the car owner who comes to the car wash wants to receive.

One hand wash station can service 4-5 cars per hour.

Cost of services:
car body wash – 100-300 rubles,
vacuum the interior - 50-150 rubles,
dry cleaning of the interior - 3000-6000 rubles.

Moreover, the price level does not depend on the location of the sink, but on its prestige, which includes modern design, advanced washing technologies and quality of service.

How much can you earn at a car wash?

A manual car wash can earn at least $8,000 a month.

A two-station manual car wash can achieve approximately this result, provided that 35-40 passenger cars are serviced daily. It is assumed that the premises and equipment are the property of the owner.

If you are planning to rent premises for a car wash, then instead of renting a plot of land, consider renting premises. According to various sources, the rent for a two-post car wash near a gas station can be up to 150 thousand rubles. per month, but, according to experts, the revenue of such a car wash reaches 400 thousand rubles. monthly, fully covering costs and also providing 100 thousand rubles. arrived.

The profitability of a washing business is usually not lower than 30%, and can reach 100% or more. The level of profitability is influenced by the location of the car wash, personnel, the vagaries of equipment, and seasonality.

How to open a car wash in your city and prosper

Every year the number of cars on Russian roads is only growing. For potential entrepreneurs, this is an excellent chance to open their own business, which will bring stable and very high profits.

In particular, one of the most interesting areas is opening your own car wash. And there are two ways here. The first is to make a car wash business plan with calculations yourself or buy a ready-made car wash business.

What do you need to open a car wash?

Financial side of the issue

To open a car wash, it is advisable to take out a loan of 3.5-5 million rubles. The payback period for such a business is two years.

The average monthly income is from 500 thousand rubles. Interest is repaid from the moment the point is opened. The average interest rate on a loan is about 14-16% per annum.

Purpose

Car wash is one of the most popular service areas. The main activity is cleaning and washing cars using special chemicals.

The main client base of the establishment is owners of personal and company cars. In addition, bus and service vehicle drivers can act as visitors.

Types of car washes

Today there are several main types:

1. Manual. This is the simplest and most budget option. Here, the car is treated using special washcloths, water and car shampoo.

In essence, we are talking about contact washing. The advantage of this method is minimal costs (you can save on expensive equipment) and maximum efficiency of body cleaning (a good worker is unlikely to miss dirty places, unlike automatic devices).

The disadvantage is a high risk of damaging the car’s paint and a long service time. But there will always be visitors to such a car wash. It’s easy to explain – one of the main attractive factors is the price.

2. Brush. Here we are talking about contact washing, but without the participation of personnel. The main work is performed by special washing installations.

In this case, the processing process occurs in several stages. First, the machine is doused with water under high pressure. Next, special rotating brushes get to work (they effectively clean the car of dirt). Well, at the last stage the body is covered with protective wax and dried.

The advantages of such a business are savings on personnel and high quality cleaning. Disadvantages - the need to spend on specialized equipment. The average cost of a brush car wash is from a million rubles.

3. Contactless. In recent years it has become most popular. Its peculiarity is the absence of contact with the car body - all the work is done by special active foam.

First, the surface is treated with ordinary water. After this, special foam is applied, and then the dirt is separated from the car body. At the final stage, the foam is washed off under pressure.

The big advantage of such a sink is the most gentle care of the paintwork. Consequently, owners of new and expensive cars will be frequent visitors.

How to open a self-service car wash in your area and succeed

4. Dry. In this type of car wash, the main active ingredient is shampoo-polish. In this case, the body processing is done entirely manually.

The most interesting thing is that water is not needed here, because the components of the shampoo do their job perfectly - they are able to soften and eliminate any dirt.

The advantage of dry washing is ideal surface treatment and minimal equipment costs. The disadvantage is that it becomes more difficult to find qualified specialists who are ready to perform such work efficiently.

5. Automatic washing can be of two types - portal and conveyor. In the first case, the car stands still, and special washing equipment moves along the body.

In the second, a special conveyor transports the car through the washing arches. This involves a complete wash, cleaning of the wheels, the underbody of the car, drying it, and so on.

If we consider these two types of washing, then a conveyor-type car wash looks more preferable. Its advantage is the ability to service a large volume of vehicles.

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6. Mobile car wash- the most economical option. It is enough to purchase special equipment and that’s it. If a customer needs to wash a car, he dials a phone number and places an order.

In this case, the cleaning process takes place where the vehicle is parked.
The most popular sinks are those with high performance. The average time to service one car is about 15-20 minutes.

The best option is to purchase a tunnel or portal car wash that can wash several dozen cars per hour. The main advantage is unit costs for equipment and savings on employee wages.

Another good option is stationary car washes with a large list of services (more on that below). Here the main emphasis is on quality of service and comfort.

In such establishments, primary processing can be carried out using manual equipment. Polishing is often done by hand. At the same time, the entire work process is controlled by a specialist.

Table No. 1. Potential of consumers of car wash services in Russia

Cost of opening a car wash and preparatory work

Services

When drawing up a business plan for a car wash, you must take into account the range of services provided. These include cleaning the engine compartment, washing and polishing the body, dry and wet cleaning, interior dry cleaning, carpet washing, and so on.

Directly next to the sink, you can open a small cafe with a capacity for 15-20 people or create a relaxation room for clients with soft sofas and a large TV.

Premises and location

For the fastest return on investment in business, the best solution would be a device prefabricated car wash building– fully factory-ready designer

If you don’t have the funds to build your own premises, then you will have to rent a suitable premises. The advantages of this method are that you do not need to distract or find funds for its construction, but there are a lot of negative aspects to renting a car wash.

It is not possible to install a car wash everywhere - there are strict sanitary standards that will have to be met. The average cost of constructing a car wash (plus all approvals) is more than 2 million rubles. In this case, it is much easier to buy a ready-made car wash business.

The optimal place for business is on major highways, at the entrance to the city, at the transition between an industrial and residential area. A good option is to open a car wash near stationary traffic police posts.

But be careful. If you organize a business at the entrance to the city (provided that the highway is normal), then you can’t count on a large flow of customers.

Documents and requirements

Once the location issue is resolved, you can collect documents for the car wash. Here you will need approval from environmentalists, state expertise, SES and traffic police. The processing time for all documents is about 2-3 weeks. Average expenses are from 60-80 thousand rubles.

It is better to entrust the design to one company, which must take into account all issues, including the provision of communications - water, electricity, sewerage, and so on.

On average, a stationary car wash occupies an area of about 100-150 square meters with the expectation that it will have several posts, a rest room, a bathroom and other premises.

If you want to save money, a car wash can be built on the basis of an existing service center, taxi depot or service station.

If you don’t have a large amount of money on hand, then the best option is to rent ready-made premises. In this case, the costs will be from 60 thousand rubles per month (here a lot depends on the arrangement, location, availability of communications, and so on).

We draw up a business plan for a car wash with calculations

On the Internet you can find many different opinions about the need to create your own business plan for any new business. Including the business of opening a car wash.

A business plan is necessary in any case. This is a prerequisite if you are new to business and do not want to immediately burn out and, as they say, go down the drain.

Without a business plan it will be very difficult, especially at the start. In order not to spend a lot of money on creating your business plan, you can buy an inexpensive template and rework it to suit the conditions of your business:

Staff

One of the main problems is finding qualified personnel. The work of a car wash can hardly be called simple, so the payment must be appropriate.

The average salary of an employee is from 15-20 thousand rubles. To attract a real professional, wages can be increased to 30-35 thousand rubles.

The number of staff depends on the number of posts and the availability of additional services (for example, a cafeteria). With an average workload and two or three posts, 9-12 people are enough, who need to be distributed over three shifts. You will need washers, a bartender (if there is a cafeteria), 1-2 cleaners and a cashier.

Average labor costs are from 150 thousand rubles per month.

How to open a successful car wash

Equipment

This cost item largely depends on the type of sink you choose. For example, a mobile car wash (excluding other expenses) will cost from 1-1.5 million rubles.

For arranging a stationary sink (subject to contact washing), the costs will be less - from 500 thousand rubles.

Equipment for stationary washing may require a piston compressor, a steam generator, a treatment plant, detergents, vacuum cleaners, special clothing, soft suede, polishes, and so on.

Advertising

No one will know about a new business without appropriate advertising. Therefore, when drawing up a business plan for a car wash, you must take into account this expense item.

This may require advertising on radio and in public places. In addition, it is worth spending money on organizing beautiful booklets and installing banners near the road. To attract clientele, you can give discounts to first visitors and regular customers.

Table No. 2. Regional structure of competition by districts of the Russian Federation

Profit

The car wash must operate around the clock. If there are two posts, you can service from 70 cars per day and from 2100 per month.

The average profit is from 700 thousand rubles. When organizing a mobile car wash with a higher throughput capacity, the income can be higher - from a million rubles.

Results

Total costs for organizing a business – from 3.5 million rubles;
Registration costs – from 60 thousand rubles;
Equipment costs – from 500 thousand rubles;
Other expenses (installation, landscaping, finishing of rooms, water supply, etc.) - from 300 thousand rubles;
Salary – from 150 thousand rubles per month;
Rent of premises – from 60 thousand rubles per month;
Other expenses – from 20 thousand rubles per month;
Net profit – from 300 thousand rubles per month.

Conclusion

Opening a car wash is a very profitable type of business that can pay for itself within 1-2 years. But before starting a project, be sure to draw up a business plan and try to take into account all potential expenses. Good luck.

How to open a car wash? This question may arise for many entrepreneurs who decide to start a new business. A car wash is a profitable business if you approach its organization with knowledge of all the subtleties and features.

What does it take to open a car wash?

As the number of cars increases, the demand for such a service as car washing also increases. In the off-season, you can see huge queues of vehicles near car washes, so budding entrepreneurs believe that this business can generate large incomes. And this is true if you take into account all the subtleties and know exactly how to open a car wash.

In order to open a car wash, you must go through the following steps:

Decide which car wash modification is right for you.
Find a place to build (place) the facility.
Prepare and submit the necessary packages of documents to the necessary authorities.
Conclude contracts for electricity and water supply to the facility.
Purchase equipment and wastewater treatment systems.
Recruit staff.
Tell car enthusiasts about the opening of a new car wash.

But before you start doing this business, you need to realistically assess all the financial costs. A car wash is not a cheap pleasure, although with proper organization of work it will pay for itself in less than 2 years and after that will bring a good profit.

How to open a standard, automatic, dry and outdoor car wash

About 10 years ago, washing a car required:

water;
detergents;
person.

Nowadays, this particular set is not always necessary to wash a vehicle, since modern technologies make it possible to open different types of car washes. And before deciding which modification to choose, you should study all the advantages and disadvantages of each type.

Automatic washing requires huge financial investments, since all the equipment is very expensive. At such a car wash, all the work is not performed by a person, but by special installations: first, the vehicle is doused with water under high pressure, then hot foam is applied to the body and brushes remove all dirt with rotating movements. After this, the foam is washed off with water, protective wax is applied and the car is dried.

A wash of this type can serve a large number of cars; its operation does not require hiring a lot of personnel and the quality of washing does not depend on the human factor. The main thing is to monitor the condition of the brushes so that they do not damage the car body.

Dry car washing is done using special polishes. They soften dirt and do not harm the body paint. This work can be done by the car owner himself or by a service employee. The disadvantage of this type of washing is that it is not possible to reach hard-to-reach places. Therefore, you should not expect that there will be many people interested in this type of washing under Russian weather conditions, but it can be offered as an additional service.

At an open car wash, the car owner washes his vehicle himself. And payment is made not for the service, but for the time of use of the equipment. This type does not require large expenses, and you do not need to pay money to the staff. In Russia, open car washes have become increasingly common lately.

Don't know your rights?

Conventional hand washes are still quite popular. In such services, the work is performed by a person using shampoo, water and a sponge. This is the most inexpensive option for organizing a business, since you do not need to spend money on purchasing expensive equipment. But a person washes a car more slowly than automatic installations; he needs to pay wages and monitor working conditions. Therefore, the income from such a car wash is relatively low.

Where is it more profitable to open a car wash, how to open a point in the right place

The location where the car wash is located will directly affect the number of customers. If, for example, you open a service in the city center, the number of clients will be quite large. But renting or buying a plot there will be expensive, and to cover the costs you will need to raise the cost of washing a car. Therefore, problems may arise either with customers or with the profitability of the business.

Car washes are often located at the entrances to cities. Renting land in such places is much cheaper, and all cars heading towards the city can easily stop by to wash their car. But if the highway near which the car wash is located is too busy, then the service will not have other clients. Few people want to go to the outskirts of the city to wash their car.

The best places to locate car washes are areas near gas stations and service stations. Firstly, the locations of these services have already been thought out (no one will put gas stations where there is no traffic flow). Secondly, many motorists are already accustomed to using the services of a specific car service and refueling their cars at a certain station. Therefore, there should be no problems with clients in this case.

Another option for car wash locations is new residential areas. Residents of new buildings have a lot of cars; it makes no sense for them to wash their iron horse on the way from work or on the highway if it can be done close to home. Such a business does not guarantee many customers, but they will be regular, and this will allow the owner to more accurately calculate the washing load.

What documents are needed to open a car wash?

Before you start collecting a package of documents for opening a car wash, you need to decide whether the company will be registered as an individual entrepreneur or a legal entity. But in any case, you need to register with government agencies (see: How to open an individual entrepreneur (step-by-step instructions)? Registration of an individual entrepreneur in 2018 - 2019). If you have decided to conduct business in the form of an LLC, we recommend that you read the article “Rights and obligations of LLC participants” - this information will be useful to you both at the stage of registering the company and in the future when working.

After this you will have to go through the following steps:

Obtain permission to open a car wash from local authorities.
Order a car wash project. According to the prepared documents, it must comply with architectural, fire, sanitary and environmental standards. This document is prepared by a special design organization. In this case, specialists can simply make a project, and then the owner of the car wash will deal with all the approval procedures himself. Large companies offer to carry out this entire procedure for an additional fee. Which option to choose is up to the car wash owner to decide.
Obtain permission from the architecture committee, fire service and sanitary and epidemiological station.
Obtain documents confirming the right to use or own land. Despite the fact that usually the issue of land is resolved before all documents are prepared, this act can only be received in person after the project has been approved.

After all of the above stages have been completed, you can begin construction and plan the opening of the car wash.

What are the requirements for car washes and how to open a service for a long time

After opening a car wash, it almost immediately begins to make a profit. At first, the inspection authorities do not show her any attention, and the business owner seems to have every reason to relax. Being confident that everything is going well and it cannot be otherwise, he can forget about the rules for draining dirty water and other regulations. But at one point, inspection authorities may appear without warning, and all the work done will be in vain.

The sanitary and epidemiological station will not allow such a car wash to operate for even a minute and may issue a considerable fine. While the problems are being fixed, the business owner will also have to pay land rent, pay salaries to employees and incur other expenses, and all the equipment will stand idle. In addition, after returning to work, the service will have to spend a long time restoring its reputation. If the business owner does not have the money to make the necessary payments and fix problems, the car wash may not work again.

To prevent this from happening, you just need to follow all regulations, monitor the quality of your equipment and the work of your personnel. And the main thing is to control the water treatment equipment; it is precisely because of problems with water treatment that car washes most often close.

What is needed to open a car wash and how to open a service with minimal costs

It is quite difficult to say exactly how much it costs to open a car wash - it all depends on its size and type. An automatic car wash will require a large initial investment (especially if it is located in a city), a manual or open car wash will require much less.

It is important to realize what you can save on when starting this business, and what costs it is better not to avoid. In particular, you should not skimp on equipment. For example, if you use poor quality automatic car wash brushes, they can damage your vehicle. After this, the service will have to be closed until a replacement is made, and after that it will take a long time to restore its reputation. And this is a huge financial loss. In addition, you will need to repair the damaged car or pay compensation to the car owner.

Smart savings means finding good suppliers of materials. It's no secret that the same equipment at different points can vary in price by 10-20%, and if we are talking about millions, then this difference is significant.

If the car wash is a manual type, then it won’t hurt to spend additional money on installing cameras or hiring separate staff who will deal with financial issues. This will eliminate the possibility of theft and help increase profits.

Many people think about opening a personal, profitable business. The main factor leading to the birth of an idea is the desire not to be subordinate to other people. The development prospect seems simple, but there are many factors that can stop the process. Choosing a direction is the first thing a future entrepreneur faces. Finding out how to open a car wash and make a fortune will require effort, nerves and time.

The relevance of opening a car wash

The relevance of opening a car wash lies in increasing the number of cars on the country's roads. According to recent studies, the average family has about 2 cars. Every car owner loves his car and wants it to look presentable. Cars are washed regularly, and, as practice shows, most people prefer to carry out the procedure at specialized car washes. Many consider car washing to be a seasonal job. However, dust settles on cars in the summer, road salt in the winter, and dirt in the spring and fall. Therefore, the season is all year round. The answer to the question of whether it is profitable to open a car wash is obvious.

With a manual wash, 4 to 6 cars can be serviced per hour. The average payment for washing the body is 300 rubles, vacuuming the interior is 100 rubles and dry cleaning the interior is 4500 rubles. Revenue for the month will be about $8,000. If you take away the costs of rent, staff salaries, technical needs, and utilities, you get a net profit of about $2,000.

Features and stages of opening a car wash

Once you are convinced of future successes and acceptable results, you should think about what you need to open a car wash:

1. Creation of a car wash project, in the event that construction will take place. The project is required to obtain documents permitting the construction of a building or work premises. It should indicate the layout of the building and territory, the location of the equipment, its characteristics, and the required energy capacity. It is necessary to clarify services from additional municipal services.

2. Find a place and room. Main stage. The number of clients, their income and the businessman’s profit will depend on the location. The optimal solution for where to open a car wash would be a building near the road in a densely populated prestigious area, or at a gas station. The number of competitors is preliminarily determined. The fewer there are, the better.

3. Obtaining permission to open a car wash. How to open a car wash without approval from the relevant authorities? No way. Required if a building is being constructed according to a pre-certified design.

4. Purchase equipment. To wash a car, special high and low pressure equipment is used. Services include pre-washing the car with a spray of detergent softened with cold water under high pressure. Afterwards, using brushes, wash with hot softened water and detergents. To wash off all the reagents, ordinary water under high pressure is used. Glass cleaning is done with demineralized water under low pressure.

5. Purchase cleaning equipment. According to sanitary and epidemiological standards, the car wash system must be connected to treatment equipment, which will save on water resources used and comply with environmental legislation.

6. Select personnel. You won't be able to turn your plans into reality alone. No special skills are required from hired workers. Basic knowledge of automotive mechanics is desirable.

7. Services must be provided around the clock in order to obtain maximum profits. This will require about 6 people and one foreman. Students can be hired. Payment is set within 20-40% of the work performed per standard working day and is divided among workers. I washed more cars - I earned more.

9. Open a car wash. The most pleasant moment. Is it worth opening a car wash without the presence of representatives of local authorities, acquaintances, and friends at the opening? It is possible, but it will not bring initial popularity. For promotional purposes, several officials' cars should be washed free of charge.

How much does it cost to open a car wash?

Having considered the stages of creating and opening a car wash, the desire to open this organization increases. But, no matter how beautiful everything was in theory, the need to invest money has not been canceled. There is a logical answer to the question of how much it costs to open a car wash.

Rental costs are regular and depend on each specific case. The following one-time costs should be added to the rental:

High pressure water supply equipment, designed for one post - $550 - $1250.
High pressure heated water supply equipment - $1600 - $3100.
Used water purification equipment - $4500 - $6500.
Vacuum cleaner and washing vacuum cleaner - $350 - $600.
Compressor - $200-$450.

Owners of car washes in our country give preference to imported equipment. The main supplier of high-quality equipment that will serve for a long time is the German company Karcher.

In addition, equipment from Italian and Danish manufacturers is used. Domestic equipment is in demand only as a treatment equipment.

Consumables include shampoos, polishes, chemical cleaning products, engine cleaners, bumpers and rims. Monthly expenses for servicing 25 - 35 cars per day will be about $300 - $400.

Important for starting your own business

For beginners, when opening a car wash, the main difficulty will be the question of choosing a place to build a building, since many bureaucratic procedures are required related to the coordination of complex issues and obtaining various permits from the relevant authorities. The process may take a long time and will require an investment of about 3 million rubles. For this business, the best option would be to rent a ready-made premises.

An important point when deciding where to open a car wash will be taking into account the requirements of the SES and the authorities. Placing car washes within 70 meters of residential buildings is prohibited.

If you do not have the required amount of funds, you should draw up a business plan that will display all the profitability indicators of the enterprise.

If drawing up a document is not possible, you should contact the appropriate company. Based on a ready-made business plan, apply to the bank for a loan and, with the funds received, get down to business.

With good performance results, a manual car wash can be supplemented with a tunnel or portal wash. Expansion can be carried out by attracting investments and loans, which will increase the vehicle throughput from 20 to 100 per hour.

It became clear how to create a profitable business and how to open a car wash. The costs that will need to be incurred if all requirements and standards are met will pay off after 4 - 7 months. When constructing a building and using the most expensive equipment, the payback period may take one and a half to two years.

New car wash business ideas

A person starting a business must be not only smart, but also creative. You can use different techniques to attract customers. This business has its tricks. For male drivers, an excellent option would be to have the washing procedure carried out by beautiful girls in bikinis, and for female drivers - by muscular men in swimming trunks.

Business in Russia. Guides to starting a business in the regions.
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Wet business: opening a car wash

* The calculations use average data for Russia

Car washes are not a new business, but they are still in demand. Moreover, many experts say that this sector is currently experiencing another round of development. This statement especially applies to regional markets. So how do you open a car wash?

According to calculations by foreign experts, there should be one portal sink for every 50 thousand population.
The initial boom in opening car washes has passed, but the market for these services has not yet been fully developed.

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Car washers offer almost the same “menu” and work using the same equipment. Most people prefer the Karcher brand and don’t want to know about others. Indeed, the equipment is of high quality and reliable, although not the cheapest. But it is widespread: the Russian dealer network of this German concern is well developed. As for other manufacturers, products from brands such as Istobal (Spain), WAP, Weidner, Wesumat, California Kleindiest (Germany), Ceccato, Comet (Italy), Carebridge (UK) are represented in Russia.

In the country as a whole, 80% of the market is occupied by equipment from German manufacturers; the remaining 20% is shared by Italian, Czech and Polish companies, whose products are inferior to German ones in quality and price.

Of the three main types of car washes, “moydodyrs” confidently opt for manual type washers with high-pressure machines - they occupy 80-90% of the regional market. An extremely small segment (10-20%) is accounted for by automatic portal car washes, which in itself is strange: this service is very attractive to customers and highly profitable. The washers themselves say that drivers don’t like “portals”: they allegedly damage and scratch the car.

Meanwhile, car washes of this particular type are widespread in Europe, along with self-service points. The latter, by the way, are also completely absent from the regional market. Not to mention tunnel-type sinks.
Taking into account the above-mentioned features of the regional market, it is not difficult to figure out a way to “squeeze” into it. A trivial, but guaranteed winning option is to purchase a portal car wash, or even better, a tunnel-type car wash. That is, to make a name for yourself in a sector with little or no competition. The method is good for entrepreneurs who are not strapped for money.

Another fairly standard solution is to increase the area of the “laundromat”, that is, its productivity. But, having relied on the amount of turnover, you need to locate such a car wash in the appropriate place: close to large highways, in order to provide yourself with customers. Or look for a “wholesale” customer among large motor transport enterprises and enter into an agreement with him for the exclusive right to “wash”. Departmental cars are washed regardless of the weather - this is their rule.

Actually, only two types of sinks are the most profitable. The first type includes washes with high productivity and a minimal range of services. These car washes bring maximum income on busy road sections and are designed for customers who value their time. On the other hand, the faster one car is processed, the more cars will go through the car wash per day. The average time for servicing one car at such car washes should not exceed 10-15 minutes. They are most effective, in particular, at the entrances to the city and on highways connecting residential areas of the city with industrial ones. The only equipment needed here is automatic - portal or tunnel washing - with a capacity of 12-100 cars per hour. And the use of manual labor is reduced to a minimum. Of course, wage costs are also reduced.

The second, alternative option is sinks with high quality and a wide range of services provided at low productivity. Their set may include engine washing, interior dry cleaning, body polishing, interior rubbing and polishing, tire blackening (in particular, as pre-sale preparation), etc. Such washes are designed for customers who specifically plan to spend a certain amount of time in exchange for quality , comfort and prestige. They may be located away from busy highways, but they must provide the client with maximum benefit. These washes use manual equipment: first, the abrasive is washed off the surface with a hand-held device, then it is wiped with a soft sponge, then wiped dry, and the master controls the quality of the work. Accordingly, at car washes for this purpose, separate rooms should be provided for relaxation and entertaining pastime of customers. It could be a cafe, slot machines, whatever! Everything is limited only by the owner's imagination.

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In Novgorod, car washes often operate in conjunction with a car service center or, at least, offer drivers all sorts of “side” services. In business there is such a thing as “synergy”. It means the additional effect of combining two or more similar types of business. If a potential client needs to buy oil and a couple of parts, has a broken spare tire lying in the trunk, the car is a bit dirty, and besides, he doesn’t mind having a snack, most likely he will choose the car wash where he can combine all the operations, and not four different places. Even when just stopping by to change a tire, the driver often looks at the car wash out of curiosity and evaluates whether it would be convenient to wash the car here. Separately standing sinks sometimes take six months to complete. In most cases, the reasons for the failure of a car wash business lie not in its unprofitability itself, but in the wrong approach to its organization. An original solution to a business problem, turning a routine problem of the washing process into a small holiday for the client, will certainly bring additional profit to the entrepreneur, which may be even greater than the income from “core” services.
Do you need advertising for car washes? There are different points of view on this issue. Of course, it is appropriate to place advertisements in the automotive media and distribute colorful booklets in crowded places and through mailboxes.

It's always a good idea to come up with a creative promotion to stand out. You must be remembered.
As an example, we can cite the car washes that have recently become popular in Moscow and other cities, where customers are strictly prohibited from opening windows, doors, getting out of the car and... touching the washers. This is explained simply - the ritual of cleaning cars is performed by half-naked girls to the delight (and sometimes amazement) of clients. It is not difficult to guess that this sink has no shortage of patrons, mostly male. There is also an opposite example, when ladies from different parts of the city come to watch the master of the ballet genre, turning a car wash into a beautiful show. Of course, an overly conservative visitor may not appreciate your efforts. But there are many other “highlights” for it. Invite, for example, a client to play “darts” while washing (which is easier - a target and darts) with the condition that if he scores a certain number of points, he will receive a small discount. In any case, you can be sure that rumors about the existence of an unusual sink will spread quickly and far. And clients will come to you not only from surrounding areas, but also from more distant ones.

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The threshold for entering a “wet” business is about 10-15 thousand dollars. AVD washes pay for themselves in 6-12 months, and it takes about 3 months just for people to know about the company. In his opinion, a portal sink is much more profitable. But it requires significantly larger investments, since it costs from 40,000 euros and pays off in three years.

Much depends on the size of the production area and the number of cars that the car wash can service per day. In Nizhny Novgorod, if a “laundromat” occupies 100 sq. m, then, according to experts, on average 15-20 cars pass through it per day. But, of course, each wash has its own indicators.

Since cleaning a car costs the owner 100-200 rubles (the final price depends on what services the client wants to receive and greatly depends on the proximity of the “point” to the city center), the monthly profit of an average car wash can range from 4 to 8 thousand dollars.

Considering all of the above, the profitability of car washes, according to specialists who practice car washing, is at least 20%. In the best case, the profitability level can reach 40%. But the level of profitability very much depends on several factors, the main of which are the location of the car wash, personnel, the vagaries of equipment, and seasonality.

One cannot, of course, put an exclamation point on the statement that the washing business is too dependent on the fickleness of nature. Yes, the autumn-spring crowds of cars at the car wash are replaced by the relative calm of summer. People go on vacation, and they don’t mind washing their cars themselves. But in the summer, as car wash owners testify, clients come to vacuum the interior and do dry cleaning; in the spring and fall, they usually do not want to spend money on this. To attract customers and maintain an acceptable flow of cars at the car wash, it wouldn’t hurt to make some summer discounts and expand the range of services to the maximum.

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The most productive periods are spring and autumn. At this time, there are often even queues. And the intensity of visits decreases on holidays and the summer vacation period. Of course, one of the most important conditions for the success of a washing business is the correct choice of location for the sink (although even the most successful location in itself does not guarantee 100% success of the enterprise). It is believed that the most advantageous location for a car wash is the highways at the entrances to the city, especially in front of the traffic police posts.

In Nizhny Novgorod this did not pay off. It turned out that it is much more convenient for customers if the car wash is located close to the road connecting residential areas with industrial areas, along which powerful streams move in the morning and evening. If the car wash is located in a “sleeping” area, then the client, in addition to washing the car outside, often uses additional services: cleaning the interior, removing stains from the upholstery, polishing panels, washing the engine, etc., even blackening the tires.

If the car wash is placed on a very busy highway or at the entrance to the city, then the client here will be more likely to be random, wanting only to wash the car and leave quickly. Then it makes sense to arrange the room and select equipment that provides maximum throughput. This will increase productivity and avoid queues. But too good is sometimes bad. There are times when a car wash located near major transport hubs suffers from excessive traffic fuss. It’s often a bummer for potential clients to wade through traffic.

When choosing a room, it is important to pay attention to good access to the car wash so that the road is tolerable and you don’t have to search for it for half an hour. Practice also shows that “auto laundries” do well at service stations, gas stations and car parks. Another option is the construction of car washes near hypermarkets, where many cars gather on weekends.

Not the least factor influencing the profitability of a car wash is the strict selection of personnel. At first glance, finding workers for a car wash is not difficult. Invite the first person you meet and let him scrub your car for a reasonable fee. But no. Although you don’t need any special education to clean cars, experienced entrepreneurs prefer employees who understand cars. Energetic guys with a “primary automotive education” come in handy here.

Some entrepreneurs were very pleased to invite girls to work. The natural “purity” of the latter is fully manifested at the car wash. But men are still preferable - the work is quite hard.

The issue of protecting equipment from attacks by home-grown “Kulibins” is also relevant. In particular, at automatic car washes, operators manage to underestimate the number of cars washed, causing considerable damage to the owners. Russian self-taught people quickly find the weak points of equipment, so it is better to purchase equipment that is as secure as possible from hacking.

Car washes, especially portal ones, suffer not only from the hands of staff, but also from breakdowns of imported equipment that is poorly adapted to our water. Failure of any block or unit leads to paralysis of the entire washing station. And if the service company does not have the necessary large spare parts (which often happens), then they have to be ordered abroad.
The harsh Russian climate brings a number of additional problems to car wash owners. In cold weather, cars must be warmed up and washed only with hot water. Costs for car washers are also rising due to the need to purchase branded car care products. On the other hand, not every imported powder or shampoo is suitable.

Nadezhda Veselova, Sergei Pichugin
"Nizhny Novgorod Business Magazine"

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