Creating a business plan for a company you have yet to start isn’t as easy as it looks, but it’s quite possible to get fairly close to your future earnings or losses based on the information you learn in the planning process. The other day, I was talking with a startup small business mobile car washing entrepreneur and he was trying to figure out his spread sheets for his business plan. Although he wasn’t from the USA, the methods of operation, types of cars to be cleaned, and the amount of time to wash the vehicles based on size (his country has smaller vehicles than these huge SUVs in the US).
So, we started kibitzing on various assumption to put forth a decent proforma. Here are my thoughts, which are potentially worthy for you, if you too are building a business plan for a future mobile car washing business. First, if you are washing cars in a row, just rinsing, you can do about 80-100 cars an hour. If you are hand washing, you can clean about one every 5-8 minutes (exterior only) but realize that with a triggered nozzle, you’d not be spraying constantly.
You will need a trailer and a truck which can tow about 1200 lbs. The reason I mentioned a 1200 lb. useful load trailer was – 100 gallon loaf tank, water weighs 8 lbs. per gallon = 800 lbs. If you simply wash high volume low-cost all day you’ll need a 250 gallon water tank, but if you mix it up and are careful (you will get better with practice) then you will do 45-60 washes per day, 1-2 details, 2-3 mini-details (express wax), with about 10-15 interior cleanings – with a crew of two, kicking butt.
Now then, I am not sure what the costs of purchasing a trailer in your immediate area, as there are differences everywhere in the prices of such equipment, but you need one which can hold about 1200 lbs. The cost to run a pressure washer is about 1.5 gallons per hour, and for a generator to run buffers, lights, vacuum cleaner, I’d say about the same fuel.
The time to accomplish the various services are as follows; again you might slightly varying in time, but not a whole lot once you become proficient at it. Okay so, figure for;
1.) Detailing 1 hour – 2 people.
2.) Complete was 2 people – 12 minutes.
3.) Exterior only wash – Car = 5-8 minutes, SUV = 10 minutes.
*note: I would stick with only one or two people per unit.
You should be able to do well at a $10-15 price point (USD) so you’ll have to convert all my figures from USD to whatever your currency is. Perhaps you will also need to convert the measurements into metric. You should set people up on weekly or every other week service. Smaller vehicles mean faster washes, maybe go for low-cost high volume $5 exteriors and you can really fly.
Water is the biggest issue in many places. A pressure washer 1800 PSI putting out 2-gallons per minute makes sense. Some folks use a Dry Wash method, I am against it personally, but it would save cost of equipment and trailer.
For equipment, I don’t really have any top equipment picks, but I do like a general pump or CAT pump. I also like Honda small engines for equipment, and Goodyear hoses, and Cox reels. If you are in Europe, you may have a Karcher dealer near you, for a pressure washer. I guess I base my recommendations on the reality of reliability and performance mostly.
Indeed, I hope this information assists you in developing a top notched business plan for your future mobile car washing endeavors.
