What's new
By:
Car Wash Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Adding Coffee Truck for Additional Revenue/Traffic

GoBuckeyes said:
That truck is badass! Very nice job. Your pizza looks delicious also. What does one cost and how are the margins?
Click to expand...
Thank you!

Our gross profit margin per pizza is 80% on the Margherita ( cost $3 we sell for $15) and higher on some others.

It's honestly a lot of fun! I've been making pizza for 20+ years and it's become a passion of mine. Perfect semi retirement gig to socialize and have fun!
 
I have a snow cone stand that was built when the car wash was built back in the early 2000's. I know the margins are good on snow cones but I had no interest in running another business as car washing is second business for me so I lease it out. This year the snow cone tenant sold his "business" to a coffee truck business and they wanted to convert it to a coffee stand. I allowed them to do so and her business is flourishing! Every morning there are lines 5-6 cars deep non stop. I have been keeping an eye on my car wash numbers to make sure her traffic isn't hindering my business because the parking lot does get congested now.

I also know of an owner who converted the entire site to a coffee shop and it does pretty good as well.
 
kaje said:
I rent out a spot on my lot to a food truck. Most people just come for one or the other though. There's not a lot that get food and wash their car.
Click to expand...
I can see this as what would happen here with the only benefit being increased traffic. I know when the wash has cars on the lot I'm busier with more drive by customers seeing activity and stopping in for a quick wash. that said...having them at a coffee truck and not in a bay negates that line of thinking. I'm also not very busy in the morning when the coffee truck would be open so the added traffic would be welcome and if nothing else, I could give a token away with every coffee or something similar to remind them of the location.
 
Waxman said:
this may be a bit off-topic, but I'm always surprised at the amount of money I take out of my little air machine that I paid 40 bucks for used. I think that's a good fit for a car wash because it's automotive related and people don't have to think too far outside the box. Once they know you have it they use it pretty regularly. It's funny how customers will spend a dollar every couple days for what seems like months, filling up their tire with air instead of $15 to get the tire leak repaired at a tire shop!
Click to expand...
I have a spot with power already run and I could get one of those setup pretty quickly and easily. Good call
 
Yeah that's an awesome setup and pizzas look tasty. Thanks for all the feedback folks. Some friends, I think I mentioned this earlier in the post, had a truck that they ended up converting into a brick and mortar store on the same location. They're selling their truck and it's already outfitted with everything needed. Helps that I know them and they installed solid equipment. I may buy it or lease it from them and test it out. biggest issue is finding someone to run it if I go that route but the margins on a cup of coffee aren't bad.
 
I had a friend who had a drive though coffee shop on the end of his car wash. In the afternoon's they started to get requests for ice cream. So they put in a soft serve ice cream and it took off like a rocket. They started getting requests for ice cream at as early as 8am. So they started selling ice cream in the morning.
 
Be a good landlord and offer oops for budding entrepreneurs… collect the rents, and let them run their ventures adhering to your corp culture….

4+years ago we added 2 dog washes out front where we used to host the food trucks, now we wash dogs and cars 24/7, well, at least on a good day!
 
Every site is different and sometimes a site requires every chance in the world to generate enuf income just to make it. That said tho, I am in the camp of the site needs to survive on the core business. Have never had coffee or food trucks but an ice machine i once rented to was a disaster. From my experience, a car wash and laundromat dont even mesh good. Crossover is near zero.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top