Remember the good old days, when your dad would pay you a couple of bucks to help him wash the car?
Well, it’s sad to say, but the “good ol' days” are gone now…
But not so sad for you actually, because you’re here to find out how to start a car wash business in 2021!
If you want to know all there is about how to start a car wash business, then look no further than this eight step quick-start guide.
I'm Ippei, and I'm a master of all things online business, passive income, and local lead generation...
And I’ve done all the digging so that you don’t have to.
Plus, I've compiled all the information together: including a financial breakdown of your startup costs, revenue potential, and the pros and cons of the car wash business model.
So let’s dive right in so that you can get started!
How to Start a Carwash Business in 2021
Want to Open a Carwash this Year? (Here's what to expect)
Opening a carwash business can be extremely profitable. To get started you will need to put in the hard work up front by scouting for the perfect location, writing a formal business plan, obtaining startup funding, and working with your local planning and zoning departments.
Start Up Costs
While this list is not a comprehensive compilation of every you need to start a carwash business, it provides a snapshot of what you need to add into your business plan.
Estimated Total Startup Cost: $200,300
Annual Revenue of Established Carwash Business
According to The Pit Crew, the follow stats are assuming daily traffic count is 30,000, the carwash is open 320 days per year, and the capture rate is 0.75%:
Profit Margins of Established Carwash Business
Quick Start Checklist:
1. Write a Business Plan
Unless you are swimming in cash like Scrooge McDuck, (in which case I have a sneaky suspicion that you wouldn’t be reading this article)...
You’ll probably be writing your business plan with the intent to obtain funding.
Getting startup funding for a carwash business will usually require one of three things:
Regardless of which one of these options is the best fit for you, you will need to create a solidly constructed business plan.
Your carwash business plan should be built around realistic numbers and projections for the future…
But don’t be afraid to make a compelling case for your carwash business either.
As much as a potential investor or a bank will want to know the probability of success, they will also want to know that they are investing in someone who is passionate and driven to succeed.
So long as your business plan isn’t driven by emotion, there’s nothing wrong with putting a little heart into it, ya know?
When creating a business plan with the purpose to obtain funding, it is crucial that you spend significant time in the research phase.
Before you present your business plan to a bank or a potential business partner…
You had better have thorough research on market analysis, five and ten year financial projections, and an honest evaluation of your personal finances.
If you can’t prove that you are a quality investment, a bank isn’t going to give you the time of day…
So be prepared to sit down and write a business plan that stretches anywhere from 30-50 pages in length.
It might be daunting…
But it’s absolutely necessary.
Basic Things to Include in a Business Plan:
On top of obtaining funding, your business plan will also serve as the plumb line of your business.
It will keep you focused as you hit bumps in the road, and remind you of the goals and organizational structure that is inherent to your business’s success.
2. Scout Your Location
So, is a carwash business lucrative?
If this is the only question you’re asking…
You might be asking the wrong question.
Ultimately, the determining factor in starting a profitable car wash business isn’t in the business model itself.
Trust me, people have been washing their cars for years, and I have a strong feeling they will continue to do so for many years to come.
Plus, the world is trending further and further towards instant gratification…
So no one wants to spend 30 minutes with a soapy sponge and a bucket of water washing their cars in the driveway anymore.
I think it’s safe to say that the carwash business is here to stay, and that it’s potential for profit is endless.
The real question is not whether or not you should start a carwash, but where you should start a carwash.
The success of your carwash business will be entirely based on your location.
Which is why location scouting is one of the most important stages in starting a carwash business.
Location Factors for a Carwash:
Traffic and neighborhood are probably the two most important factors on this list.
Choosing a high traffic area is key.
Preferably, you’ll want to find a location for your car wash that is nestled amongst other businesses right off of a main road.
Even more ideally, you’ll want people to be able to see your future business signage from the road, which means that a road that has speed limits of 45 miles per hour or lower will be best.
This will allow people adequate time to notice your business and read your sign.
Pro Tip:
Carwashes are predominately impulse purchases, so the proximity to shopping AND visibility is extremely important!
The neighborhood is important, because your ideal customers will usually be in middle to upper class incomes.
Additionally, be mindful of the lot size.
You won’t just need room for your car wash bays, but also for your customers to comfortably line up in their vehicles around your building.
And if your potential lot has an existing building on it…
Don’t forget to factor in the demolition costs into your business plan.
Lastly, evaluate the competition.
Don’t assume that you will be able to steal another carwash’s business simply by being the new kid on the block.
Building a loyal customer base takes time, and will be harder if you set up camp right across the street from someone who has been putting in the work for many years before you.
Look for new territory that you can claim as your own that is a reasonable distance from other thriving car wash businesses.
3. Planning and Zone Approval
One of the most frustrating aspects of opening a car wash is dealing with your local planning and zoning.
Sure, they mean well, but somehow dealing with your city’s local planning and zoning departments always ends up being a pain in the ass.
Every local governing body will be different, but hazards your carwash project could potentially face include:
To minimize the difficulty, go in prepared.
The more information you can provide about the business you will be starting and the structure you plan to build, the better.
As well as being prepared…
First, if you got a local civil engineer to complete a Site Investigation Report (SIR), you could save yourself a lot of headache down the road.
This report should provide you with any restrictions, regulations, or requirements that you might need.
Generally speaking, you should expect to pull the following permits:
In order to make it as smooth as possible to obtain these, have the following professionally stamped by an architect, surveyor, or engineer:
Don't forget, always come in with a smile on your face!
Even if you’ve just found out that your lot isn’t zoned properly for your car wash building and you’re going to have to file an application for a zoning change…
Don’t underestimate the power of presenting yourself with kindness and a good attitude.
Your local planning and zoning departments will be much more likely to want to help you if you treat them with kindness and work alongside them.
After all, they are just doing their jobs.
Basic Stages of Getting Approval:
Then you finally start on your construction phase!
4. Obtain Financing
If you have done your due diligence during your business plan creation….
Then you should be well equipped for this step of the process.
But nonetheless, obtaining startup funding and financing for your carwash business can be daunting.
The Small Business Association (SBA) provides the best avenue for obtaining financing.
There are four things you will need to come prepared with to get financing for your business:
Keys to Getting Financing:
In addition to these things, you should also do your research in advance.
Before applying for a small business loan or other financing, be sure that you know your lender’s qualifications and minimum requirements.
The SBA offers 3 options for loans that are issued through lending partners:
7(a) Loans - This is the best option when a real estate purchase is also involved.
This type of loan can be used for:
To be eligible for the 7(a) loan assistance, businesses must:
504 Loans - This is for major fixed assets that promote business growth & job creation.
This type of loan can be used for the purchase of or construction of:
Or the improvement or modernization of:
A 504 loan CANNOT be used for:
To be eligible for the 504 loan, businesses must:
Microloans
This type of loan can be used for a variety of purposes that help small businesses expand, as long as that is under the $50,000 limit.
Some examples include:
A microloan CANNOT be used for:
To be eligible for a microloan, businesses must contact the intermediary lender as they each have their own specific requirements.
5. Website and Marketing
If you have the money and are looking for one of the BEST carwash marketing companies in the game...
You'll want to check out SLAM Carwash Marketing, the exclusive marketing company for Sonny's Carwash (the world's leading conveyorized car wash equipment manufacturer).
If you're looking at taking a crack at your own marketing to stay under budget, it's pretty simple to get started.
The first step to marketing your new car wash business is to create a website.
Since a car wash is an in person service based business, your website doesn’t have to be elaborate.
But you will need to have one!
Building a website for your car wash business will help you to rank well in Google, which will help people to find your business.
How many times have you gone to Google and asked for “restaurants near me” or “gas stations near me”?
Well, your potential customers will be asking Google for a “car wash near me”!
If you want to appear at the top of their search results… you’re going to need a website.
Although you don’t need to know everything about SEO to start a car wash business…
Optimizing your website and including photos and plenty of text explaining what your business is and what services it offers will be important.
If you’re building your website yourself, then there are plenty of very user friendly template based website builders.
Here are a few of my personal favorites:
In addition to creating your website, you can also look into running paid ad campaigns to get the word out about your new car wash.
Another great way to market for your business is to build your social media presence.
It might seem silly, but in the world we’re living in…
It almost doesn’t matter what kind of business you’re running:
Having social media for your business is a must.
Keep it simple and pick 2-3 platforms to focus on at first.
If you want to go old school, creating flyers and business cards are still a great and relevant way to spread the word around town.
Just make sure to get permission before you place them in another business!
A strong marketing strategy requires more than just a website, GMB page, and social media accounts, though...
You need to be prepared with a lead generation strategy that will attract new customers to your business on a consistent basis.
Fortunately we can teach how to do exactly that through our local lead generation coaching program and online course.
6. Set Up Google My Business
If I could encourage you to do one thing for the success of your car wash business…
It would be this:
Get a Google My Business account TODAY!
Google My Business is a free tool for businesses to help manage their online presence within Google and Google Maps localization services.
It helps people to find your business quickly and easily…
Plus it helps to legitimize your place of business and rank higher within Google’s search engine.
All of this equals more business for you!
Your GMB page will also have a section for reviews and photos, and the more thoroughly you fill out your account page, the better.
Building your reviews will take time, but once you have a substantial amount of good reviews it can help you to stand out from your competition.
Think about it:
If you’re searching for a place of business in Google and you see a place with 3.5 stars and then another place with over 4.5 stars…
Which business are you going to use?
Positive or negative reviews are how people make a snap judgement about a new place of business…
Make sure that snap judgement is working in your favor.
Applying for your GMB account is simple.
Just create your account, and then wait for your verification postcard in the mail.
Your postcard will have your verification code on it to finalize the setup of your account.
7. Hire Your Staff
Staffing a car wash business is one of the final steps on the way to your grand opening, my friend!
Although it might be tempting to staff your car wash business with a host of high school students at minimum wage…
Consider carefully the level of quality service you are wanting to offer to your customers, and to your employees.
While some high school students can be incredible employees with great customer service skills…
They tend to be unreliable and mediocre employees if you don’t take the time to thoroughly vet them during the interview process and train them before sending them out on the job.
But honestly…
That is going to be true of anyone you hire.
Creating a positive experience for your customers requires creating a positive experience for your employees.
Fair wages, through training, and a healthy work environment all contribute to the happiness of your employees.
Which will in turn result in better satisfaction from your customers.
Starting a business is one thing…
But learning to be a good boss is another.
Pour energy at becoming successful at both, and your business will be sure to thrive.
8. Customer Loyalty
A huge part of your customer experience that goes beyond a positive experience with your staff is creating customer loyalty.
The quality of your service, prices, consistency, and customer bonuses all work together to build a strong sense of customer loyalty that will have them coming back to you for years to come.
A great way to get started is to offer your customers incentives for their loyalty.
One of the best ways to do this is through a rewards program of some kind.
Pro Tip:
Carwash operators today are more concerned with hitting overall revenue goals, typically through various initiatives. One of those becoming increasingly popular is a membership model!
Whether you do this through an app, a punch card, or simply a text receipt program, offer various discounts and rewards to your return customers.
Maybe their tenth car wash is free, or once they accumulate 100 points they get a free interior detailing.
Whatever it is, make sure that your rewards program is showing your customers that you value their business.
Another way to build your customer base is through your online reviews.
Most people will leave a negative review if they have a bad experience, but unfortunately most people forget to leave positive reviews!
This is something that you can incentivize for people as well.
Offer a discount on their next car wash when they leave you a review, and those reviews will start racking up.
All in all, customer loyalty is about serving people well.
If you are focused on serving your people with excellence, your customer base will continue to grow.
Pros and Cons
of starting a carwash business
Pros
Yes, you read that correctly. In theory, you can start a t-shirt business for practically nothing! If you already have creative abilities, you can craft your designs in Canva for free, and start selling them via a print on demand website such as TeeSpring, and market your apparel line via social media without any intensive startup costs. While this route doesn’t exactly guarantee a lucrative result, it is possible to get started this way!
Whether you go the route of manufacturing your t-shirts yourself from start to finish, or you decide to use the print on demand method… you will be able to run this business from your home! So if you’re looking for a side hustle or business model that will enable you to ditch your commute… Starting a t-shirt business can be a great option for you! If you do decide to print your t-shirts at home, you will simply need to designate a room, or a corner of a room, as your manufacturing area!
I really cannot express how easy print on demand makes starting your own clothing line. It truly is an ingenious way to start making some extra money, without fully investing in an entire screen printing operation out of your home! Plus, once your designs are uploaded, you can start bringing in passive income as your t-shirts sell and are shipped out to your customers without you lifting another finger. Magic!
Cons
While there are some amazing benefits to selling t-shirts...There are some downsides as well. The high demand for t-shirts makes this industry appealing to many many people, which has resulted in a heavily saturated online market for t-shirt sales. This can make breaking into the apparel market difficult at first. Especially if you haven’t done sufficient market research to determine what will sell, and where there is a sweet spot between what’s trending, and your own unique designs.
For many people, the benefits of the print on demand model far outweigh the cons. After all, it does streamline the entire process of selling a physical product! But it has one major downside… Your profit margins. When selling your t-shirts via a print on demand website, you might be lucky to walk away with 30% of your total sale. Granted, you aren’t doing the tail end of the work to manufacture and ship your item, but you do need to recognize that you will have a minimized potential for profit if you go this route.
On the flip side of things, doing it yourself can increase your profits… But that comes with an added level of risk. If you are going to be manufacturing your t-shirts yourself, you will need to invest in much more equipment, which increases your initial investment, and prolongs your ROI. Plus, you will need to order your blank t-shirts in bulk before you’ve accepted your first sale! And if you haven’t properly marketed your business, this can be a risky move.
Starting A Car Wash Can Be Lucrative, But Only If You Know This:
The best thing about starting a car wash business is the sustainability of the business model.
Chances are, if you own a car, then you’ve been to a car wash...
And the chances of you having a car are extremely high considering the fact that 88% of Americans own a vehicle.
Which makes the car wash industry a profitable business model for the foreseeable future.
Especially in light of the advances in the automatic car wash business.
Trust me, they aren’t going anywhere.
So if you have the startup capital to open a car wash, then I highly encourage you to do so...
But only if you do this first:
Learn the skill of online lead generation.
I’ve spent years in the online business world, and I’ve dabbled in everything from drop shipping to affiliate marketing…
But the one game changing thing that I discovered was local lead generation.
This business model literally catapulted me from making 2K a month to making over 50K per month in five years.
It’s my go-to, swear-by, number one recommended business model.
But even if you aren’t interested in pursuing lead generation as your primary business model…
You need it to start your car wash business.
Why?
Because local lead gen is designed to passively generate leads for small businesses through strategic SEO and Google’s localization capabilities.
Which means that you can sit back and enjoy and endless stream of business roll through your car wash line.
Seriously...
If you're ready to see how local lead generation can transform your business, click here to learn more about how we can help you get started.
