small car wash business

simoniz

I#m thinking of starting a small business like car wash and doing it myself and my brother in law which is jobless, any idea and suggestion, and also the legalities that I need to know for this type of business.
As title said small car wash which only do jet wash, drying, vacuuming and cleaning dash board.

Axwell

Whereabouts would you plan to run this business is you are going to do a jet wash?

Smcgie

Drainage! Drainage! & Drainage!

You need a method of catching the dirt and removing the water safely. If the EPA found you running a commercial car wash say on a strip of tarmac with no adequate drainage they'd have a field day.

Also the price of the foam chemical is outrageous! I know a lad from the north that sells it really cheap. PM me if you need his details. (I am in no way affilated to the man)

Good luck, good to see some work ethic

Bandara

Smcgie wrote: »

Drainage! Drainage! & Drainage!

You need a method of catching the dirt and removing the water safely. If the EPA found you running a commercial car wash say on a strip of tarmac with no adequate drainage they'd have a field day.

Also the price of the foam chemical is outrageous! I know a lad from the north that sells it really cheap. PM me if you need his details. (I am in no way affilated to the man)

Good luck, good to see some work ethic

Foam price is about €90 for 25 liters and a single wash uses about 5ml, it's about 5000 washes for €90, hardly expensive.

OP, for a relatively busy wash a VERY rough guide is a cost of €1.50 per jet wash, this covers all your chemical cost, repayment on a good quality jetwash machine installation complete with sumps, insurance etc.

Setup beside a supermarket and charge €6 a handwash. People will leave their cars with you while they go shopping. It's a tough business though.

Good luck.

Crazy Taxi

simoniz wrote: »

I#m thinking of starting a small business like car wash and doing it myself and my brother in law which is jobless, any idea and suggestion, and also the legalities that I need to know for this type of business.
As title said small car wash which only do jet wash, drying, vacuuming and cleaning dash board.

Go the "dry wash" route, approach your nearest shopping centre management with a good business model and you might be able to get the exclusive rights for the carpark. Go over to IKea and see how the guys there do it (if they're still at it??)
And if you can do your car wash with a starting price of €5 its a much better "price point" rather than €6.

Bandara

Crazy Taxi wrote: »

Go the "dry wash" route, approach your nearest shopping centre management with a good business model and you might be able to get the exclusive rights for the carpark. Go over to IKea and see how the guys there do it (if they're still at it??)
And if you can do your car wash with a starting price of €5 its a much better "price point" rather than €6.

Have to completely disagree, the dry wash method has gone down like a lead balloon in Ireland a lot of people have lost their shirt on it, the public does not like it and are just not using it.

Crazy Taxi

Hammertime wrote: »

Have to completely disagree, the dry wash method has gone down like a lead balloon in Ireland a lot of people have lost their shirt on it, the public does not like it and are just not using it.

Thats your constitutional right to disagree but the reason most of them have failed is because they are pricing their product wrong, look at the amount of wet washes out there now! way too much competition out there for wet washes. Another option is to go the mobile direction but I reckon the vast majority of people assume that its going to cost a fortune for someone to come to you and clean your car?

Axwell

There was a chap on here before looking at the dry wash route and was on about importing in the product to do it etc. Even the reaction to it on here suggested people werent going to like it or trust in it. Would be interested to know how he got on with it in the end. I would still say most of them failed down to the simple matter of people not believing in it, they arent familiar with it here and it sounds like a scam or hard to believe when you first hear of it. Price point wouldnt have even come into it.

As hammertime said setup beside a supermarket if possible where you have a decent amount of potential customers who will be away from there car for a short period of time.

TheWaterboy

I think when Irish hear the word Dry wash they are a bit skeptical. We need to see water!

There is plenty of competition in the wet wash industry, but i think its all about location.

If your setup in a decent location then people will come to you. Also you need to provide that personal touch. Wiping down the car after the wash or taking pride in your work.

The amount of car washes I have got when the guy has no more interest in making sure my car is 100% clean. I dont mind paying 6, 8 or 10 euros but as long as it is done right.

Word of mouth will play a huge role in your business too.

DoMyBooks

There is a carwash across from the airport in Galway that is always incredibly busy for two reasons.

1. He does a very very good job reasonably priced
2. He washes a lot of hire cars for the companies based in the airport.

When its raining and no one in Galway is washing cars he's working on hire cars if you could find a business client like that it would help you out a lot.

paulie1981

Smcgie wrote: »

Drainage! Drainage! & Drainage!

You need a method of catching the dirt and removing the water safely. If the EPA found you running a commercial car wash say on a strip of tarmac with no adequate drainage they'd have a field day.

Also the price of the foam chemical is outrageous! I know a lad from the north that sells it really cheap. PM me if you need his details. (I am in no way affilated to the man)

Good luck, good to see some work ethic

I'll second this! My dad has a car dealership and it's like the enviro people can hear the jetwash starting up and pay a visit!! Get this right.

Smcgie

Hammertime wrote: »

25 liters and a single wash uses about 5ml

5ml! :eek: Hammer as much as i respect you views that's just unheard of. Your saying a syringe full of foam is enough to wash the entire car??