newbie

[sudsational]

i know what your saying, what a couragous soul he must have to jump into this business at this time, right? wish i had the time to explain the 2 year process it took me to finish this project.

anyways, i have become familiar with this forum since then and i am grateful to find such a place where people are willing to offer their inmense knowledge and experience with others. i will take advantage.

in about 2 months i will start a 3-ss, 2-auto (only 1 equiped) using the other for detailing or ? my immediate concerns are learning how to repair/maintain the auto equipment (ryko), choosing quality chemicals and paying a reasonable price and finding a credit card processing company with a fair % or fees being charged. what is the % rate going for?

i don't see alot of enthusiasm anymore from supplier to send me to there corporate office (as it was mentioned at begining) to train on equipment use/maintenance. is there somewhere else i can go for this training?

also, anyone have experience with the ICE/WATER business. i was thinking of adding this service to site since i have the space. i was thinking Mr. Zippy, any other products out there?

thanks in advance

 

[frside1]

mr. zippy ic machine, if supported the same as the company's ss and iba equip. stay away.

 

[sudsational]

good to know. i will keep looking and evaluating. anything positive about the type of sales numbers in this area of business?

 

[captain cw]

Not sure where you are located, but I'm looking at a Kooler Ice system for a new wash I'm building. They are around $42,000, which is a lot better than most of the other options. You also don't need a building permit. The website is...
www.koolerice.com

 

[raisetheprice]

900-1000lbs of ice in the bin won't last till noon on a half decent busy day. I ran out of ice around 3pm on the 4th of July with a 6500lb storage bin and an icemaker that can manufacturer that much in a day. There's a reason why Twice the Ice is more expensive. Why would you invest any amount of money in one if it's going to run out of ice all the time?

Now, if you have a convenience store and have seperate freezers you can load up to build up your inventory, then by all means this could work. But stand alone in a busy spot, KoolerIce will not work.

 

[captain cw]

Wow! The units in Arkansas are not doing that kind of business. I'd take two if I had a sight like yours.

 

[raisetheprice]

That was the only time I ever ran out. We had record heat here and no rain last summer, so a perfect season for the ice biz. Certainly an anomaly. But that's the reason we added it bc the carwash is slow in the summer with less weather.

 

[sudsational]

i'm in the calif central valley. gets pretty darn hot from june-august. i'm glad to hear form raisetheprice he actually ran out one day (where abouts are u? state?). tells me ice can bring in some nice extra income. what about water? does your unit make purified water also?

 

[raisetheprice]

I ran out only once in the 5 months it's been open (all hot months mind you), but with these smaller units, they can't recover fast enough at peak times. They may say 200 bags a day, but that's spread out over 24 hours, not when you need it when someone pulls up there and tees off 10 bags at once and the next customer behind them does the same.

Yes, the water vendor is a must especially for the cost to add it. I didn't go with the RO unit as the cost wasnt justified, I vend micron filtered, dechlorinated, UV light disinfected water. You have to pass a 75 question test in Texas to sell water. It looks and tastes great...and it's cheap. $.25 a gallon or $1 for 5 gallons. People eat it up. Construction guys are my best customers and show up everyday. The biggest suggestion I can give is make sure the access is easy in and out without having to back up to get out. People will have boats, constrution trailers etc. Also, if you're on a side street with limited traffic...don't put one in thinking you'll pull people off the main road. It's just like any other business...location is key. I've visited some locations that I think are a 4 on a scale of 1-10...and I just wonder what actually goes through the mind of someone that put it there?

 

[sudsational]

raisetheprice can u give me an idea on your site (below avg, avg., good, excellent), what kind of traffic counts?

what would u say daily avg ice/water sales are? what kind of weather do u have?

if this is too confidential, i understand.

thanks

 

[raisetheprice]

It's really too soon to tell real numbers as we haven't gone through winter yet. The numbers are slipping already.

 

[sudsational]

guess thats expected in cooler months. how do sales look to this point? did u say your unit has both ice and water? is this an " Ice House" unit?

 

[sudsational]

raisetheprice, it appear u are one of the few involved in the ice/car wash business. appreciate u letting me pick your brain. i want to get an educated guesstimate on ice/water sales for my particular location. i realize there might be other factors to consider, but here is a brief description on site.
*18,000 traffic count
*corner lot w/ traffic light and 2 schools (25 mph) one directly in front
*avenue is a main artery on commercial zoning, competely surrounded by single family residentials and some apartments
*central california city of 100k + population with long warn season. although not centrally located (with middle to lower income), near several new neighborhoods and growing area

thanks much for your input

 

[raisetheprice]

It sounds like your location is a good one. If you can put it on your property where it can be seen from both ways of traffic and your customers have plenty of room to pull up and simply drive through.