IBA $3 Wash
- Thread starter kabak
- Start date
washtubman
Member
Unless all your utilities and chemicals are "FREE", that would be the quickest way to the poorhouse IMO.
The last time I charged $3 for and IBA wash was in 1987. It was the basic wash on a Southern Pride Turbo Wash that consisted of two passes of presoak, and two passes of high pressure. No spot free, no dry, no wax or undercarriage.
At that time, with that package, with chemicals and utilities what they were then, and what I had invested in the machine, $3 was appropriate.
I can't really see where there would be a place for that price in these times in an IBA situation. Like Washtubman said, you'd better be getting chemicals and utilities for free to charge $3!
At that time, with that package, with chemicals and utilities what they were then, and what I had invested in the machine, $3 was appropriate.
I can't really see where there would be a place for that price in these times in an IBA situation. Like Washtubman said, you'd better be getting chemicals and utilities for free to charge $3!
robert roman
Bob Roman
This excerpt from a short article by Kelly Sims, What Every Entrepreneur Should Know about Comparative Advantage, may help answer your question.
“Comparative advantage is a term used to explain the gains from international trade. It suggests that even if a country has an absolute advantage in the fabrication of all goods, it will maximize its wealth by specializing in those products in which it has the greatest advantage and trading for the others.”
Does this concept apply to small business like a carwash? In a sense, it does.
What an express wash does is trade off wand-bays to specialize on its greatest advantages; the offer of a hand-finish quality, stay-in-the-car, exterior wash, done in less than 4-minutes, at preferred pricing points and free-use services (vacuums). There is virtually no waiting line and the average total guest visit is eight minutes on property.
The truth of the matter is if you have a self-service facility with prototypical in-bay automatic you cannot compete against this effectively.
Instead, you stand the greatest chance to increase revenue by concentrating on the things at which you have the greatest advantage and outsource the rest.
Since most express washes are absent wands and vending machines, you need to maximize the utility of your self-service business. This means mudders, boats, fleet vehicles, etc. are your best friends as well as having bill acceptors in bays and offering high quality products, well-known brands are preferable.
If you believe $3.00 for the base wash is needed to compete in the automatic wash segment, you would need an in-bay automatic capable of a producing a legitimate 25 to 35 washes an hour as well as hand-finished quality 24/7, especially for vehicles that won’t fit on a conveyor.
You would need a POS capable of provide a smiling face and greeting, bilingual capable, having up-sell capability, connecting to the internet to provide marketing information for loyalty programs and dispensing tokens if you want to offer free-use vacuums.
You would also want to use top package marketing to drive high average sales. Wheel brightener, underbody, rust inhibitor, triple foam polish, paint sealant, rain repellant, spot-free and tire shine not only solves motorist’s car-care problems they also put on a good show for the customer.
Hope this helps.
“Comparative advantage is a term used to explain the gains from international trade. It suggests that even if a country has an absolute advantage in the fabrication of all goods, it will maximize its wealth by specializing in those products in which it has the greatest advantage and trading for the others.”
Does this concept apply to small business like a carwash? In a sense, it does.
What an express wash does is trade off wand-bays to specialize on its greatest advantages; the offer of a hand-finish quality, stay-in-the-car, exterior wash, done in less than 4-minutes, at preferred pricing points and free-use services (vacuums). There is virtually no waiting line and the average total guest visit is eight minutes on property.
The truth of the matter is if you have a self-service facility with prototypical in-bay automatic you cannot compete against this effectively.
Instead, you stand the greatest chance to increase revenue by concentrating on the things at which you have the greatest advantage and outsource the rest.
Since most express washes are absent wands and vending machines, you need to maximize the utility of your self-service business. This means mudders, boats, fleet vehicles, etc. are your best friends as well as having bill acceptors in bays and offering high quality products, well-known brands are preferable.
If you believe $3.00 for the base wash is needed to compete in the automatic wash segment, you would need an in-bay automatic capable of a producing a legitimate 25 to 35 washes an hour as well as hand-finished quality 24/7, especially for vehicles that won’t fit on a conveyor.
You would need a POS capable of provide a smiling face and greeting, bilingual capable, having up-sell capability, connecting to the internet to provide marketing information for loyalty programs and dispensing tokens if you want to offer free-use vacuums.
You would also want to use top package marketing to drive high average sales. Wheel brightener, underbody, rust inhibitor, triple foam polish, paint sealant, rain repellant, spot-free and tire shine not only solves motorist’s car-care problems they also put on a good show for the customer.
Hope this helps.
