New Project - 1 or 2 IBAs?

[jjtimmer]

Hello, I'm a prospective car wash owner and am evaluating a site that I think has potential. Traffic count 14,000, new development on both sides of property with fast food, close proximity to highway, good visibility and limited competition. The property size is 0.7 acres, so not a ton of land.

My partner and I want to maximize the property, while also not overbuilding. We originally considered doing on 1 IBA with 2-3 oversized SS bays. However after observing some other car washes in our region with similar attributes, they were utilizing 2 IBAs and still getting some cars backing up on decent days.

We are wondering if it makes sense to go with 2 IBAs to avoid having cars back up and potential missed revenue because we do not have enough throughput. Are there any guidelines, rules of thumb or other good measures out there to help determine the number of IBAs that are appropriate for a given site? We are willing to dig and analyze as much as possible to get it right, but this is new territory for us.

Any thoughts are appreciated!

 

[DiamondWash]

Petit i-360 IBA's are really taking the show for throughput these days.

 

[Monte]

We run a site with 1 PDQ L360+.....and a site with 2. Apples to apples, we compare the numbers constantly. The answer is simple...will your customers stack in line or go somewhere else. At our 1 machine town, pop.11k, they stick like glue ALL day long..at the 2 machine town (high traffic tourist town) they hit hard and fast 11am-330pm. We definitely need those 2 machines. Neither site has much competition, 1 machine does 125-145, other does 125-200. I setup my programs to wash 10-13 cph. Simple right.

 

[jjtimmer]

We run a site with 1 PDQ L360+.....and a site with 2. Apples to apples, we compare the numbers constantly. The answer is simple...will your customers stack in line or go somewhere else. At our 1 machine town, pop.11k, they stick like glue ALL day long..at the 2 machine town (high traffic tourist town) they hit hard and fast 11am-330pm. We definitely need those 2 machines. Neither site has much competition, 1 machine does 125-145, other does 125-200. I setup my programs to wash 10-13 cph. Simple right.

Very interesting. Makes sense that the willingness of customers to wait is a key factor. Just curious- for your 2 IBA site, did you start with 1 and add another after seeing the trends or did you realize you needed 2 machines from the get go?

 

[Monte]

The site had 2 Lasers when we got it. The previous owner saw the conditions and took a gamble on the cost. He was right, on a sunny day at the beach, heavy tourism that place can do over 300. However, as you all know, it can also do 11 cars while you write the check for your payment.