How to calculate the profitability of car washes: the cost of equipment, necessary documents and pitfalls. How much does it cost to build a car wash from scratch?
Every day, with every kilometer, any car becomes dirty to one degree or another. We are all accustomed to seeing car washes for SUVs, minibuses and cars, but there is a catastrophic lack of places where you can wash a 20-meter-long truck. Not every production facility, much less a food warehouse, will allow dirty vehicles into its territory; such requirements for heavy-duty vehicles are more common at food warehouses. While car wash is available in almost every city for passenger cars, in the case of heavy-duty trucks the statistics leave much to be desired.
The main consumers are truck drivers, bus drivers, and subsequently fleets. Since the flight can last 5 or more days (sometimes up to 2-3 weeks), drivers have to live in their cars. There they eat, sleep and live. Naturally, the cabin must be orderly and clean. But they don’t forget about the outside of the truck, which is why they use the services of car washes.
The essence of the business idea is to satisfy the need of drivers and owners of freight transport to wash heavy vehicles, tractors, and buses.
Experts say that a car wash as a business is a very profitable business. And in order for it to bring real income, a number of important points should be taken into account
It is assumed that the funds will be provided by a bank or investors, and so that the costs of starting a business are not high, a portal car wash can be leased.
Capital investments- 2740.8 thousand rubles.
Net profit- 409 thousand rubles.
Payback period- 6-7 months.
Return on sales - 68,2%.
2. Description of the business, product or service
It is planned to start a business with one portal installation costing 2.5 million rubles. After the first installation has paid for itself, it is planned to install a second portal sink.
After the two installations begin to generate stable income, it is planned to install a stationary sink with the same portal installation. It will be possible to expand the range of services, for example, by opening a tire shop, because you always need to develop.
Also open a small store of auto parts and consumables, i.e., motor oils, filters, various liquids such as antifreeze, antifreeze, diesel fuel mixtures, etc. Later, open a car wash for passenger cars.
3. Description of the sales market
This business is just beginning to gain momentum in our country. And it develops on this moment not very fast. It is not very developed in our city either.
Truck washing as a business is not only a promising, but also a highly profitable enterprise. Profits from such activities can significantly exceed the income received from car washes for passenger cars.
Just compare the cost of the service:
- For the owner of a car, washing the car costs 250 rubles. (average price of service).
- The minimum cost of washing trucks varies from 1,000 to 2,000 rubles.
Therefore, it is worth actively developing this industry, this will bring considerable profit, will enable truck owners to keep their truck clean, and will provide people with jobs.
In our city, according to the 2gis portal, there are 9 car washes for trucks. There are more than 45 car washes for passenger cars. These are the main competitors. Most of them are located on the outskirts of the city, i.e., in places where there is a fairly large flow of cars.
Car wash place
Competitive advantage is expected to be achieved through the choice of location for the car wash and additional services. The car wash site is located along Dachnoye Highway.
Because Since this area is located on the outskirts of the city, the flow of both trucks and cars is ensured, especially in spring, summer and autumn.
4. Sales and marketing
5. Organizational structure
First you need to decide on the form of business organization. There are two options here: either registration as an individual entrepreneur (individual entrepreneur), or “opening” a legal entity, for example an LLC. Each of these forms has its own pros and cons, so to make it easier to make a choice, you need to familiarize yourself with each of them in more detail.
Both for registration as an individual entrepreneur and for opening a legal entity, state registration is required, the procedure for which is determined Federal law about registration legal entities And individual entrepreneurs. When applying to the registration authority, it is necessary to draw up an application in the prescribed form, prepare and submit constituent documents, and also pay a state fee.
The next step will be to obtain permits that allow you to engage in a car wash business.
In particular, these are:
- permission from local authorities who are in charge of the territory where it is planned to open a car wash. To receive it, you must submit a letter of request to the city or district administration for the allocation land plot for its construction;
- car wash project being developed design organization. IN mandatory this project must comply with current sanitary-epidemiological, architectural, environmental and fire standards and be agreed upon with the authorities responsible for compliance with all these standards;
- permission from the architecture committee, sanitary and epidemiological station, environmental protection department, fire protection and labor protection for the provision of washing services Vehicle. If at least one of the conclusions listed here is missing, the project will not be approved;
- an act of permanent or temporary possession of land, which is drawn up after approval of the project. Only after receiving this document you are allocated land and given a warrant for the construction of your facility.
This is a list of basic documents that are required to open a car wash. There are no special requirements for their composition and form.
6. Financial plan
7. Risk factors
Let's evaluate possible risks project on a 5-point scale.
External:
- Possible changes in legislation. Risk assessment - 1. This risk can tighten the environment for business development and reduce the level of profitability. Compensation is carried out at the organizational moment when introducing a form of government, type of ownership and form of taxation.
- War, natural disasters, cataclysms, accidents and emergencies. Risk assessment - 1. The event can objectively lead to large material losses. Property may be severely damaged or destroyed. However, this risk is regulated by the insurance service.
- Opening of new car washes in a city with a population of 410,000, lowering prices by competitors. Risk assessment - 3. As we have already said, demand exceeds supply, but income may fall slightly. This is regulated by the creation of a personal customer base, active promotions and developments interesting offers. It is necessary to reward the client for his correct choice.
- Seasonal reduction in the number of services. Risk assessment - 5. This risk does not have clear time limits. It all depends on the weather. This risk is managed marketing policy, shares, reduction in the number of employees.
Are you thinking about buying a car wash, but don’t know how profitable this business is? We figure out how to evaluate the profitability of car washes, calculate costs and profits.
Opening a car wash from scratch will require an investment of 3,000,000 - 5,000,000 rubles. In large cities, competition is high and it is difficult to calculate the return on investment. It is influenced by a number of factors: location, rental cost, monthly expenses, investment in advertising and the presence of other car washes nearby.
Purchasing a ready-made business will allow you to speed up your payback. In this material we will look at how much money a car wash that is already operating brings in.
What is the income of an operating car wash?
Let's look at an example. Suppose a car wash with 2 stations is located in the center of a large city. Good location - close to the road, residential buildings and outlets. There are no competitors nearby.
The business brings in about 500,000 rubles per month. The cost of maintaining a car wash is half - 250’000 ₽. At the same time, the approximate profit is 80’000 ₽. The car wash has been operating for 5 years. Eat regular customers. Profitability - 60% per annum.
This is a specific type of business, the main advantage of which is autonomy. A significant disadvantage is the high costs, which will only pay off with a good location and good advertising.
On average, opening such a business from scratch will require 30,000,000 - 40,000,000 rubles. Investments for an operating self-service car wash are significantly lower: a facility for 4 stations costs from 15’000’000 ₽. Average profit - 350’000 ₽. Such car washes are located next to large gas stations.
This business is relevant for major cities. In small ones, the profitability of a self-service car wash will be low.
What offers of existing car washes are on the market?
We calculated how much income a car wash can generate as ready business. Consider the offers in our catalogs.
Approximate data:
- Monthly income – from 210,000 or 165,000 rubles.
- Net profit - from 39,100 or 28,475 rubles.
- Initial costs – from 728,800 rubles.
- Payback – from 1 year 9 months.
In this article we will compile detailed business plan small stationary car wash with calculations.
The car wash provides services for car washing, polishing, chemical cleaning of the interior, and engine washing. Please note that the work will be performed by people, this is not an automated car wash. But professional equipment will be used for the work, allowing the work to be completed faster than usual. This will be a relatively small car wash.
In general, a car wash as a business is considered only by those who have their own premises for this activity or have the opportunity to build one on their land. Then this business is profitable. If you rent a room, it turns out to be less profitable, and such a room is not easy to find. Nevertheless, to draw up this business plan, we considered the option of rented premises.
Market analysis
The market analysis of this industry was covered in. I would like to dwell on the consideration of competitors and methods of combating them.
The main competition will be from large, well-known enterprises throughout the city. Fortunately, there are few of them. The main methods of dealing with them are better offers, promotions, discounts, quality services, and their availability. Advertising will also be an important factor. A properly planned business always begins with the development of an advertising campaign.
Small car washes will not cause special harm. If they are far from our location, they will not have any effect at all. But you will have to compete with those car washes that are located nearby. Here the main tool of struggle will be advertising. You will have to spend a lot of money on outdoor advertising. Moreover, these will not only be signs, but also various signs and posters. It is very important to think through promotions and change the price in accordance with seasonal demand. This flexibility will allow you to stay in the black even in times of calm, attracting more and more new clients.
If speak about potential buyers , then these will be people with cars, naturally. Mostly men aged 20 to 55 years. This contingent gives preference to the quality of service and interior decoration special attention consumers in this segment are not paying attention. The income of potential buyers is average and above average. Low-income citizens tend to wash their cars on their own.
Women also use car washes. They pay attention to appearance workers, their grooming, the presence of signs. Today, women driving have become significantly younger. It is worth focusing on ladies aged 20-45 with average and high incomes.
SWOT analysis
When opening your own hand car wash, you need to do thorough research. It is worth resorting to SWOT analysis. This technique allows you to study a business comprehensively, point out shortcomings and opportunities.
It is customary to divide factors into external and internal. The former cannot be influenced or changed. These include:
- Possibilities:
- An increase in the number of cars and, as a consequence, an increase in the number potential clients, demand for the service.
- Growing income of the population.
- Reduced level of competition.
- Free entry to the market, no barriers.
- Possibility of opening a related business (car service, for example).
- Providing related services.
- Sale of spare parts, car care products, etc.
- Threats:
- Increased competition.
- Increase in tax burden.
- Legislative changes (eg reintroduction of licensing).
- Decreased demand due to economic downturn and less purchasing power.
- Forced move to a new place.
- The need to comply with SES requirements (especially those related to water and premises maintenance).
- Seasonality of business, a sharp decline in income as a result.
Internal factors can be changed, shortcomings can be worked on, and eliminated. A strengths use them to your advantage, strengthen their influence. TO internal factors include:
- Strengths:
- Relatively low level competition in the chosen territory.
- Favorable location.
- Opportunity to hire experienced workers.
- Search for favorable conditions for renting premises.
- Low costs for providing services (especially raw materials).
- Acceptability and availability of prices for customers.
- The cost of the service may change.
- Low follow-up costs.
- Almost all costs are directly related to the volume of work, which reduces possible losses to a minimum.
- Weak sides:
- Lack of experience in this field.
- Lack of regular customers.
- Zero business reputation of the organization.
- The limited demand is due to the area of the rented premises.
- Working with water requires constant cleaning and maintaining cleanliness, which is very difficult in these conditions.
- Unprofessionalism of workers.
- Lack of training courses and specialist training.
- Lack of motivation among employees.
- Quite a long and serious stage of preparing the premises.
All this must be taken into account when opening your own car wash.
Opportunity Assessment
In this type of business, the greatest demand occurs in the spring-autumn period. There is a lull in the cold season. But this does not mean that people do not use car wash services at all. They just do it a little less often. During such a period, it makes sense to reduce the cost of services provided, increase advertising costs, and make it more aimed at the “casual” consumer.
Our manual car wash will operate according to the following schedule:
Total: 79 hours per week and 338 hours per month.
Specialists will be needed for the work. There will be 2 teams working, each consisting of 2 people. The senior is responsible for working with clients, that is, he makes calculations and accepts payments. At the end of the working day, the premises are cleaned using hand washes by both workers. They will work 2 through 2 to achieve greater efficiency and good rest between working days.
You will not need a secretary or administrator to work. In fact, the administrator will be the senior person in the team, and there is no need to receive phone calls - specialists will work on site. If it is necessary to receive calls for recording, then it is advisable to appoint an administrator, who can also be the entrepreneur himself.
As such, there is no need to develop your own website either. Unless you can limit yourself to a business card site or a group in in social networks, which can be maintained by the entrepreneur himself, adding information about ongoing promotions, discounts, offers, and prices.
An accountant is also not necessary for an entrepreneur. You can either use the services of specialized companies, or. Moreover, today there are many auxiliary services for working and submitting reports directly via the Internet.
Organizational and legal aspects
- Registration of your own company. This could be an individual entrepreneur or an LLC. The cost of registration on your own will be 800 rubles (payment of state duty). The OKVED code will be 20.3 — Provision of other types of vehicle maintenance services. This code is also valid for 2016.
- An entrepreneur can choose the simplified tax system or UTII. In the second case, two options are possible - simplified tax system “Income” 6% or simplified tax system “income minus expenses” 6-15% (the rate is determined depending on the region).
- If you need to accept payment from a client by bank cards, That .
- Order of Rospotrebnadzor No. 776 dated November 21, 2005 (clause 19) specifies the documents required to obtain a SEZ.
- Car wash services do not have to be certified. This is a purely voluntary matter.
- By purchasing necessary equipment, you need to take care of the availability of documents that will greatly simplify opening the sink. This includes an environmental agreement “Environmental Protection”, a license, certificates, and a standard expert opinion.
- It is important to comply with all sanitary and fire regulations. This will simplify the procedure for obtaining the appropriate permits.
- When using a cash register, its registration is required before the organization’s work begins.
- It is worth obtaining an agreement with the appropriate company for the removal of solid household waste. In this case, cleaning the surrounding area will not be necessary. Get dirty environment will not be, all work will be carried out indoors (a large garage, fenced on all sides and preventing water and dirt from entering the external environment).
- There must be an agreement for the provision of utilities (electricity, water).
- The rental agreement must be official!
The success of a car wash is half (if not more) dependent on the right location. Most often, owners locate their car washes near city entrances, highways, near major city roads, and border posts.. Such places are very successful. After all, we must not forget that almost all clients will be “random”; in this type of business it is quite difficult to form your own client base. But we need to work on this.
It is also worth thinking about the size of the room. In our case, 2 cars can be serviced at the same time. Therefore, you will have to equip 2 workplaces. You can rent a slightly larger space, which will provide the possibility of future expansion.
Marketing plan
Price policy:
There is no point in lowering the cost during the “season”. People use car wash services here and now. Almost none of them compare prices, but stop at the one that is located along the route. But in the cold season, you can reduce the cost, but at the same time advertise throughout the city, offer promotions, discounts, and favorable conditions.
The high level of competition in this type of business necessitates the use of advertising, and a lot of money will have to be spent on this.
The main types of advertising that really “work” include ( don't forget about its quality!):
- Usage billboards. They should be as informative, vivid and memorable as possible.
- Posting information at nearby gas stations. The method is relatively cheap, but very effective.
- It is worth thinking about holding promotions. For example, “Only today you get interior cleaning with a 50 percent discount if you wash your car with us!”.
- Handing out business cards. You don’t need to dwell on this, but it’s better to give it to customers who have already arrived to you, so that they visit the car wash again.
- Placement of sign board. This is especially true when located near a highway or near a large supermarket. Such a shield should be colorful, catchy, and quite large.
- You might think about providing your clients with a corner for leisure, free tea, coffee (this will be especially important in winter time, when any visitor would not mind warming up).
Calculation of projected income
We will make calculations for winter time and the rest of the period separately.
Production plan
We have already mentioned the location of the premises. It is worth choosing a garage in suitable place. The ideal option would be if it has already been prepared for car wash operation.
It is very important to establish a system for water supply, its subsequent filtration, purification, and removal. All this costs a lot. We must not forget that filters can operate at temperatures not lower than +5 degrees. This means that you need to take care of heating the room. All this will be included in the refurbishment. But if you have a central water supply, then filters are not needed.
The necessary equipment includes tools such as vacuum cleaners, hand washers (usually from Karcher), compressor units, etc. Don't forget that we are equipping 2 workplaces.
The work of specialists was mentioned above. Their income will be formed as follows:
- Foreman - 33% of shift revenue.
- Assistant foreman - 27% of shift revenue.
Interest includes tax deductions and insurance premiums.
Organizational plan
Financial plan
| Period | December January February | Other months |
| Monthly income | 210,000 rubles | 227,500 rubles |
| Expenses | ||
| Rent | 15,000 rubles | 15,000 rubles |
| Advertising | 4,500 rubles | 5,000 rubles |
| Wage | 90,000 rubles | 95,000 rubles |
| Purchasing detergents and necessary supplies | 2,500 rubles | 3,000 rubles |
| Communal payments | 5,000 rubles | 5,000 rubles |
| Taxes, insurance premiums (approximately) | 45,000 rubles | 48,000 rubles |
| Total: | 162,000 rubles | 171,000 rubles |
| Net profit | 48,000 rubles | 56,500 rubles |
| Profitability | 17,2% | 18,6% |
Payback: 21 months, that is, 1 year and 9 months. We remind you that if you have your own premises, the payback will come faster.
Risks
The main risks will be:
- High SES requirements, fines. Eliminate possible losses possible by following all the necessary standards.
- High level of competition. Offering quality services, pursuing a serious advertising policy. Developing a clientele (even though it’s difficult).
- Wrong location choice. Before starting work, it is necessary to conduct geomarketing research that will help you choose the most profitable location for a car wash.
- Unqualified personnel. It is important to carefully select candidates, conduct some kind of training, and hire them for a probationary period. You can motivate workers by piecework wages(actually, as in our example).
- Force majeure. This may include equipment failure and possible natural disasters. In the first case, it is necessary to timely check the equipment, repair it and re-equip the car wash, which will reduce the risk of breakdowns to a minimum. The second factor is related to weather conditions, here it is important to strengthen your own car wash, isolate it from the influence external manifestations. This can also include pipe breaks and temporary water outages. Here, unfortunately, it is almost impossible to protect yourself. It will not be possible to store water in such large quantities. Yes, and it will take up a huge amount of space.
Important: Remember that you can independently create a business plan specifically for your business. To do this, read the articles:
One last request: We are all human and can make mistakes, leave something out, etc. Don't judge harshly if this business plan or others in the section seemed incomplete to you. If you have experience in this or that activity or you see a flaw and can add to the article, please let me know in the comments! This is the only way we can jointly make business plans more complete, detailed and up-to-date. Thank you for your attention!
Obtaining permits for a car wash
Getting the site at your disposal and all the approvals and permits for construction cost a total of 350 thousand dollars. And it is considered even cheap.
And then you just get a building spot for a specific purpose. And no one in the authorities cares how you will establish communications for it: electricity, water, sewerage. Here again a whole pack of “runners” is needed to break through all this. And then the money begins to be buried in the ground: laying pipes, cables, building treatment facilities. So everything that is built on top takes up less than 15% of the cost of the entire project - everything else is in communications and in permitting papers.
With approvals, we had to invest a total of about 850 thousand dollars and spend a year on it, although it can be built in a month and a half maximum. This is also considered cheap - for some, such complexes cost several million.
Well, you can start with your own garage car wash. The income ceiling is five thousand dollars a month.
Car wash employees
During the day, two washers work at each post. They receive 20% of the proceeds. At night - when there is little work - they work one at a time, so they receive 40% of what they earn. It turns out 27-28 thousand per person per month.
Shift managers also earn a percentage - 8% of total revenue. Each of them has 4 people subordinate to them - a total of 60 thousand.
Car wash revenue
The average bill at a car wash is approximately 310 rubles. 300 cars pass per day. The rest of the income comes from the tire shop and cafe. Monthly turnover - 3.135 million rubles.
Car wash costs
Business is such that the main expenses are salaries and taxes. “Simplified” with such a phrase, unfortunately, does not fit. So we are using the normal taxation system. Taxes, salaries, etc. - this is about 2.3 million rubles per month.
Payback of a car wash
The net income per month is $34,500! The project will pay for itself in two years!
But this is pure mathematics - in fact, if you finish in two and a half to three years, it will be good. Much depends on the season.
24-hour non-garage car wash in numbers:
Duration of existence on the market: 8 months.
Earning units and their monthly revenue:
4 car wash stations, 2.79 million rubles
tire service box, 120 thousand rubles
cafe, 225 thousand rubles.
Total area of the complex: 300 sq. m.
Initial investment: $850 thousand (including unofficial expenses in the process of obtaining approvals and permits).
Average bill for a car wash: 310 rubles.
Number of cars serviced (wash): 290–310 per day.
Number of personnel in all shifts: 30 people.
Monthly turnover: 3.135 million rubles.
Annual turnover: 37.6–40 million rubles (extrapolation).
Owner's net income: $34.5 thousand per month.
Projected payback of the project: 24–36 months.