Re-opening a closed wash adding express detail

[DiamondAuto]

Waxman

Hi Waxman, You have some good points. Thats not a bad price for the SS equipment on eBay. Yes you are correct, I am very much a rookie, and thats why I'm here asking you experts these questions. You have all been very helpfull and I say thanks to you all. I have read that a SS wash bay should generate $1,500 per month so would 3 gross $4,500? What part of that would be expenses for supplies etc? As far as $30,000 detailing I read a 3 bay detail shop should gross $15,000. I assume I could do another $15,000 doing express detailing. Nobody in town offers an express detail and the detail shops are located in areas most people with money will not stop in. The detail shops are all in low rent/high crime areas. With my 29,000 traffic count what might the gross and net be for 3 SS bays. I would like to plug in those numbers. Thanks

 

[Waxman]

In my own proformas I created a hopeful average for sales as well as a best case and worst case scenario.

Carwashing and detailing are tricky, so really fiddle with the numbers to try and see if they work.

If nobody competing is doing express that means the customers don't know what it is. That means you have to educate them before you can expect them to buy.

I think if your detail shop did even $15k per month to me that is alot.

 

[DiamondAuto]

Waxman

Hi Waxman, Yes what you say makes sense. I can do 3 cash flow statements and see where I'm at each month in all 3 senerios. Correct about the express detailing. I had never heard about it till 6 months ago when I toured a store out of town. I knew right then that express detailing would be a good fit with a wash in my town. I also know that I will have to educate the public but thats in my marketing plan. I have been painting cars since 71 and have had my own shop and managed the body shop for a Chrysler dealership. I know just what needs done to get a paint shop up and running and get it marketed but adding additional services like washing and detailing has seemed like a good fit for the past 9 months of my researching. Body shops are all looking for additional services to augment the income that insurance companies are willing to pay these days. I looked into a national paint franchise, dont know if I can mention names in this forum, but... They wanted big bucks for their fees and in my research many of their stores in towns the size of mine and even 50% larger do not gross a million. Their cash flow is about 20%. Although I decided not to franchise I realized my market could be too small and started looking for additional services. The big undercoating franchise is detailing cars also and I decided to offer those services in addition to painting cars. Then I looked into a car wash and express detailing. The numbers look good for 3 SS bays so I will likely do that. I went on eBay and didnt find that auction in the completed listings so it must be over 90 days. I have purchased all of my equipment, 2 paint booths etc, on eBay for about 5 cents on the dollar so finding more of what I need on eBay is a good idea. If I can find a deal like you mentioned for $5,000 I would take it. GTG but thanks again for your input

 

[soapy]

One other thing that should be mentioned is that the numbers for carwash and detailing will take 1 to 2 years to build. You will have to be ready to loose some money for a while before they start paying off. I have seen several body shops like you said start detailing in the last year around my area. I also saw several start up detail shops start due the economy. Most of the detail only shops are already gone and most of the body shops have given up on detailing.

 

[DiamondAuto]

Soapy

Hi Soapy, Thats very usefull information. I had the wash equipment checked out today and it looks like it should all be replaced in part because its 25 years old. With the age and missing parts they recommended starting with all new equipment. With that added expense I have to crunch the numbers again. Thanks again