Part 4:Tips for planning—avoiding the pitfalls

by Andy Pazz (Pazeotopoulos)

In this, our last installment of  “How To Build” advice and knowledge from Andy, he provides strategies and recommendations on varying subjects from; vacuums to security and equipment. Also provided is a summary of the previous three sections. If you would like further details please visit Andy’s site at www.laguna-ltd.com.

Vacuums

Vacuums should be considered an important integral part of your business, not an afterthought. Creating curb appeal is extremely important, lit canopies, bright lights and a variety of options are critical, also install as many vacuums as physically possible!

The revenue generated from this segment of the car wash will surprise you. The vacuum area needs to be inviting and easy to use. Female customers especially look for a well lit area, safety, attractive colors as well as cleanliness. The estimated monthly gross revenue can average from $200 to $400 per month (per unit) with one of the hottest trends in the industry being combo units such as vacuum/shampoo, vacuum/sensations, vacuum/shampoo/spot/fragrance along with non-combo units.

Security

Don’t skimp on cameras! Have several companies submit proposals. The ideal setup would be cameras at the entrance, exit, prep areas, cash register as well as any other important location you may want to keep vigil. Access should be from your office at the car wash, from your home as well as from a remote laptop.

Additional Revenue Opportunities

One of the latest and hottest trends in the industry is express detailing. I believe that this has come about because of the following. In many parts of the country full-service car washes are becoming scarce or altogether non-existent. A few of the reasons for this are, high labor costs, high employee turnover and the high cost of land needed for this type of operation. If you have the room—you should consider this service. The additional revenue can average from $30 to $70 per vehicle depending on the extent of the services provided. Are you willing to commit 100 percent to offering this type of service? The worse thing for your business AND your image would be to offer this service for a period of time and then discontinue it because you are not satisfied with the results. Many people just do not want to clean their own car, especially the interior and most especially the windows. Either they do not have the time or they are happy having someone else do it for them.

Equipment Insight

Food for thought or things to consider when discussing and choosing the type of equipment.

1. Most important:

The supplier (area distributor) of your car wash equipment is the most important aspect of your decision making process. You can have the best possible equipment in the world but if you do not have service and parts back-up you will be in serious trouble.

1. Choosing the right equipment to do the best job:

Do not try to skimp on the equipment! It takes a certain minimum amount of equipment to wash a vehicle adequately, the following is my personal opinion if I were setting up equipment to wash up to 100/125 cars per hour.

The minimum equipment would be;

• Pre-soak or/and soap foam arch.
• Top mitter or top brush.
• 36” rocker brushes.
• Wrap around brushes.
• Second set of rocker brushes OR high side brushes or both.
• Tri- foam applicator wax arch, (option: can also be used as a Tri-Foam Soaper arch placed near the front of the bay).

• Second top mitter, pre-soak (reclaim water).
• Clear coat arch (fresh water).
• Spot free rinse (necessary for hard water).
• Dryer.

An Overview of the Series

Part 1

Location Selection

This is the most important aspect of your car wash venture! There are several ways to go about finding a site, keep a lookout yourself, contact one or several realtors and also invite the car wash suppliers to seek out promising locations. Be prepared to inspect many potential locations in order to find the best site for your ROI (return on investment). You will find sites that seem to be ideal locations, priced reasonably, but just a few hundred feet off the main street, reject them!

Always remember the old real estate axiom, location, location, location, dollars saved here will cost you many, many times over in the long run if you try to save money by purchasing an average site rather than a premium site. Secondary locations will compromise the success of your operation. Preferred sites will be those near a shopping mall, near a strip center and on a main artery with a traffic speed of 35 mph or less. Signage is very important, don’t forget you are in a retail business and customers need to see you.

Permit Process

The permit process can be either a pleasant, rudimentary thing or a long tedious experience. The very first thing to do is to the see if the location you have found is zoned for commercial and is a car wash permit able.

Site Analysis

When analyzing a potential site the following are some items that must be taken into consideration. Most all equipment manufacturers will provide you with their site analysis and evaluation regarding your proposed site.

• Traffic Count:
• Near Stop Light or Stop Sign:
• Competition:
• Demographic Analysis:
• Complete Market Survey:
• Pro-Forma/Forecast of Expected Sales:
• Developmental costs:

Part 2

Prior to Applying For Permit

Select Your Architect

Be sure that the architect you hire has previous experience designing a car wash! Prices will vary considerably depending on the amount of time the architect spends on your project. Many architects may also ask for a percentage of the project as their fee, all this can be negotiated as to the final price.

Plan Review

When the preliminary drawings have been completed by the architect you will meet with the architect and the car wash equipment supplier to go over the plans. This meeting is to eliminate any mistakes that may have been made in the conversations between you, the supplier and the architect. Here are a few typical questions to ask, mistakes that can be avoided during this phase: “Do you have water line stub-ups on either side of the conveyor for prep tanks or pressure guns?” “Is there a water stub-up somewhere in the bay to hook-up the water hose used when hosing out the bay each night?” These are the small things that make a big difference if alterations need to be made after the building is up. When the final plans are completed and presented to you, be sure that they are ok’d and signed by the distributor!

Contractor Selection

Remember this! Hire only a contractor that has previous experience of building a car wash! Do not hire your friend “THE Contractor”, or a friend of a friend that is a contractor, even if they tell you that they can save you a bundle of money. Before you select the contractor, be sure to talk to and inspect several car washes he/she has built, talk to the owner and the manager as well, would they change anything, would they lengthen the building or would they install more vacuums. Most car wash owners are more than happy to help a new operator, as long as they are not in direct competition.

On Site Inspection Of Conveyor Concrete Forms “Prior To Pour”

The conveyor is the heart of your car wash. If the conveyor is the slightest bit off it will throw the car wash into complete disarray! If the conveyor is not poured to the car wash equipment manufacturer specifications the following can happen! You must inspect the forms with your car wash equipment supplier prior to pouring concrete. He/she should be happy to do this simply because it will make the installation of equipment much smoother.

Part 3

Marketing Your Car Wash

First of all, give your equipment a chance to work the bugs out and there will be bugs! For the first three or four car wash days (sunny and clear) test your car wash by running without any advertising.

Target Your Immediate Close Customers

Who are your closest potential customers? Print up FREE CAR WASH COUPONS! Mail these coupons to the immediate zip code where you are located.

Marketing The Wash Never Stops!

Example: Your zip code is 97294, estimate how many households there are in that zip code, 2,000, 3,000, 4,000? Your initial mailing should be at least 2,000 coupons, this will kick start your car wash. After you have been in operation for three months, mail out at least 2,000 more, free car wash coupons to the next outlying zip code area. You will be happily surprised at the results! I will guarantee you that this is the most rewarding advertising I have ever seen. What this does for you is this, your volume will increase substantially from day one. A brand new location using this promotion washing 5,000 the first month that the coupons were redeemed! From the first month through the third month this car wash averaged between 4,500 to 5,000 cars per month. At that point they mailed 3,000 more free coupons to the next outlying area and by the sixth month they were washing 7,500 cars! Other ways of promoting your car wash are available, $1/$2 off coupons can be used after the sixth or seventh month. The car wash mentioned herein hit 10,000 cars washed after two years and is averaging 9,000 to 10,000 cars washed per month.

Fleet Accounts:

Building a second customer base of satisfied fleet customers is a no brainer! Within your immediate area you will find fleet accounts that have a real problem keeping their vehicles clean. These fleets can range from delivery companies, car rental companies, post office vehicles and even car dealers selling both new and used vehicles.

Chemical Product Selection

Many things need to be considered when choosing what type of chemical products you will use. If you will be spraying a wheel and tire detergent at the entrance to the wash, it is a wasted lost cause if there is not enough dwell time for the product to work. Why would you put product onto a surface only to have it be washed off as the vehicle enters the wash? But, there may be technology out there that has overcome the need for dwell time!

Why Use A Wash Water Reclaim System?

Recycling wash water is the most effective means for reducing water consumption, sewer discharge and also reducing high sewer impact fees. What do we mean when we say reclaim? This is the term generally used to describe the water that has been used to wash the vehicle and is emptied into concrete holding tanks from the conveyor pit, this would be the reclaim pit/vault area.

A. One would be “impact fees” these are fees that the permitting people will charge a new car wash, these fees can and do range into the thousands of dollars! The reasoning behind impact fees is just what the words imply, “what impact will your car wash have on the utilities in that geographical area.”

B. Wash water reclaim saves money!

Reclaim Odor & Sludge Control

Odor control and reclaim pit sludge removal has always been a constant headache for the car wash operator—chlorine bleach. In the past, chlorine and chlorine based chemicals were all we had to use against odor, unfortunately chlorine or bleach has a short life span and over a period of time can also play havoc with pump seals.

Andy Pazz (Pazeotopoulos) began his career in the car wash industry in 1969 and is currently the owner of Laguna Ltd., a manufacturer of reclaim and odor control equipment. He has written an e-book: Building a Successful Exterior Tunnel Carwash. The book can be reviewed at www.carwash-business-pro.com. For more information visit the Laguna Ltd. Web site at www.laguna-ltd.com