The high profitability of car washes has made the business in this direction more and more promising and attractive. Experts say that currently the Russian market for car wash services is experiencing another round of development. Our topic today is a car wash from scratch: a business plan and organizational issues.
general information
Our country is largely oriented to the West. Let us turn to its specialists on this issue. Europeans believe that one portal car wash should be for every 50 thousand people. If these data are used in terms of our country, we will understand that the Russian car wash market is still far from saturation. Despite the fact that the initial boom for the opening of washing stations has passed, the business has not yet been fully mastered. This applies to both the range of services and their quality level.
What to count on
Experts say that the profitability of car washes reaches 30-40%, and often higher rates. On average, a business pays off in a period of one to one and a half years. When installing expensive equipment (portal or tunnel), you should count on up to 3-4 years. But at the same time, much higher financial turnovers will be formed.
When renting a car wash, the threshold for entering this segment of the business is 20-30 thousand dollars.
Car wash: where to start, how to succeed
The described type of business, like any other, requires a thorough analysis of the market. In order to open a car wash from scratch, you need to draw up a detailed business plan. You will rely on it when organizing business. There are several basic steps that you should pay special attention to when planning.
Documents and Registration
Registration with the tax authority is the first thing you need to open a car wash. You can register as an individual entrepreneur or LLC. In the first option, significant tax savings are possible. In the future, you will need permissions from the SES bodies, the fire department, and the district administration. The whole procedure is quite lengthy and may require a considerable amount of time, therefore, deciding to implement the project, be patient.
A place
The payback and profitability of car washes largely depend on the right place. First of all, you need to decide what the stake in your business will be on - high performance or a wide range of services. Let's see why this is so important.
Highways that connect dormitory and business centers, roads at the entrance and exit of the city, are a good place for a car wash with high performance. This is because the client here will be more likely casual than regular.
In such places it is good to install portal or tunnel stations, the service speed of which is many times higher than on manual ones. A potential client, seeing that the line of cars is small, will sooner decide in favor of using the services of your car wash. Having the station on the highways, you need to understand that it will be quite difficult to attract regular customers.
Many simply do not want to go through the whole city, even knowing that your services are an order of magnitude faster than in the washing stations closest to the house.Relying on high traffic, you should equip the car wash with the most powerful equipment, but sacrifice the possibility of placing additional services at the station. Experience shows that often they remain unclaimed.
Otherwise, the situation is if the owner wants to provide his station with the maximum range of services. In this case, the place is best chosen in one of the most prosperous sleeping areas. Here the emphasis is on attracting regular customers living in the nearest streets and areas. In addition to washing the car, the client can order the following services:
- interior cleaning;
- stain removal;
- washing the engine;
- tire blackening;
- polishing panels, etc.
Powerful washing equipment in quiet areas of the city will take too long to pay for itself, so many entrepreneurs install manual car washes at several posts. The client understands that it will take longer to wash the car, but arrives at the station, knowing that there is an opportunity to order additional services.
In addition to the two points listed, a car wash can be located near Gas stations maintenance, a large shopping center. Pay attention to the convenient access and parking for cars.
We must not forget that when choosing a place you need to take into account the requirements of SES. Car washes should not be located closer than 70 meters in relation to residential buildings.
Rent or construction?
It is good when the premises used for business belong to its owner. But this is not always possible. The financial costs of building the building are significant. Not every aspiring entrepreneur will master them. In addition to cash investments, you need to go through more than a dozen instances to get all the permission and approval for the construction of the facility.
Another option is to rent a plot of land and order ready-made car wash designs for the required number of posts in specialized companies. This is also quite a costly method, since the cost of a turnkey two-port station starts at 2 million rubles. You can rent a room suitable for washing, and equip it with the necessary equipment.
Car wash types
Before answering the question how much does it cost to build a car wash from scratch, let's deal with their types. It is from the equipment of the station that the final cost figure will depend.
Hand held
Here the main role is given to man. This type of car wash remains the most popular in our time. This is due to the fact that all the main work is assigned to a person, and a lot depends on his skills. Here is a sample list of equipment for manual car washes:
- high pressure apparatus;
- foam generator;
- pumping station;
- wall and ceiling hoses;
- treatment plants;
- vacuum cleaners;
- foam extractors and steam generators.
A significant disadvantage of this type of car washes is their low productivity. In one post, you can wash 2-3 cars per hour.
Gantry
The design of the portal car wash is made in the P-form and complemented by washing equipment. The essence of the process is that the car enters a special platform and is fixed. The sink moves relative to the machine. For several passes along the vehicle, washing and drying take place.
Depending on the size of the arch, portal stations can serve not only cars, but also buses. The advantage of such equipment is high productivity - up to 20-30 machines can be washed per hour. In addition, the installation of a portal sink reduces the need for additional personnel. Just 1 person who will accept money for the service and visually inspect the car before and after washing. The cost of the portal station starts from 2.5 million rubles.
Tunnel
Tunnel car washes are considered the most popular for equipping modern complexes of high power. Stations of this type are used for washing cars.The performance of the tunnel washers is impressive - they can easily cope with hundreds of cars in an hour.
The principle of operation of the equipment is that the machine is transported on a special conveyor through a set of devices that consistently perform all stages of washing. Stations can be brush and non-contact type.
Depending on the client’s desire, the washing process can end with various services, for example, coating with liquid wax and polishing the surface. Based on the configuration, the length of the tunnel can reach 50 meters. The price of such equipment is several times higher than the rest - from 12-13 million rubles.
Car wash profitability
The profit of car washes directly depends on their performance. Manual equipment can increase profitability up to 30-40%, portal and tunnel stations - up to 100%. A significant disadvantage of the last two options is a high threshold for entering the business and a long payback period. It can often reach 5-6 years.
Financial business plan
Since not all beginner entrepreneurs will have to afford the installation of portal and tunnel washers, let us dwell on financial calculations for a manual station. So, we take as a basis a room for 2 posts with a total area of about 100 square meters. m
Equipment:
- manual type sink - 2 x 50 = 100 thousand rubles;
- washing vacuum cleaner - 1 pc. x 51 thousand rubles
- vacuum cleaner - 2 x 27 = 54 thousand rubles;
- water treatment system - 1 pc. x 34 thousand rubles.
Total initial costs 239 thousand rubles.
Installation and installation of equipment will be about 30-35 thousand rubles.
The number of employees will depend on the number of shifts. Some car washes work in two to three shifts. For a full load, 12 washers are required. In addition to them - the director, accountant (may come) and the cashier.
Total per month for wages will require 220 thousand rubles.
Costs:
- for production needs - 50 thousand rubles;
- for administrative needs - 10-15 thousand rubles;
- for marketing and advertising -15 thousand rubles.
The rent for the premises will be at least 10-20 thousand rubles per month. We also include taxes in costs. So, to open a hand wash you will need about 600 thousand rubles.
Cost of services provided:
- Car wash - 350 rubles.
- Comprehensive cleaning - 3 thousand rubles.
- The station will provide the following number of services per month: washing - 1200 cars per month, cleaning - 30 cars per month.
With a maximum number of cars and a load of 3 shifts, a manual type sink will generate income of 510 thousand rubles. Of these, net profit will be about 200 thousand. Thus, the business will pay off within 3-4 months.
