3 Bay Wash

[jcampbell88]

Got my eyes on a 3 bay wash that’s cash only. Owner is asking 110,000 and has pulled 10,000 net profit in 2023. My question is….we are looking to add card machines to each bay, an ice machine (it’s close to the lake), and some vending machines. Roughly how much increase in profit are we looking at after these additions? Also, drop card terminal suggestions with some rough numbers of costs if you don’t mind! Any insight is welcome! Thanks in advance!

 

[Greg Pack]

Got any idea of gross revenue? Any pictures?

 

[jcampbell88]

13900 gross.

 

[Dan kamsickas]

$10K net on $13.9 gross? His total loaded cost of running the business was $1300 per bay FOR THE YEAR?!?!? I'm not sure how this is even remotely possible.

 

[Dan kamsickas]

13900 gross.

Got your PM but I'll post my response here also.

What you sent me was nothing more than an Excel spreadsheet. You need verifiable numbers. 3 years tax returns, at the minimum. He can claim whatever he wants on that spreadsheet.

If those numbers are legit and he's spending only $1k a year for chemicals I would strongly suggest he's either using the absolutely cheapest chemical he can find regardless if it works or not -or- he's running them so lean they don't work anyway -or- (most likely)both.

What is his startup and time? How much is he charging on vacs? Don't get me wrong, if he's cutting every corner he can there is a chance you could drastically increase the wash quality, raise your prices, and make a little money. Any site that is claiming their total expenses are only 10 cents on the dollar sounds extremely fishy to me.

 

[jcampbell88]

Thank you for this! Thats the benefit of this board. I’ll dig further.

 

[HeyVern]

$3900 a year for power, water, gas, chemicals, taxes, trash removal, and repairs? I want to know this guy's secret.

 

[Roz]

Seems like a lot of work to earn $10K for the year. You really want this job? Guessing the low income is due to the location or competition.

 

[Waxman]

Tax returns should tell a more accurate story of the finances of the business.

If a business is structured as a Corporation, all wages paid ( including owner's) are deducted from income as an expense of the business, thereby reducing net profit. If the business is a sole proprietorship or a partnership, any monies paid to the owner(s) is considered profit.

These are just a couple key points to consider, but a more thorough look at the tax returns is necessary for sure.

 

[Dan kamsickas]

As I also said in the last PM: Get as much information on the equipment as possible and attempt to contact the manufacturers. Several manufacturers have closed their doors over the last couple of decades and the ones that remain have a lot of old equipment in the field that is no longer supported. If he's running it as tight as I suspect, there is a lot of stuff that is "field engineered" to keep running and I hate seeing people buying a problem.

 

[Earl Weiss]

As others mentioned. $10K net on $13,900 gross is Hogwash. $3900 for Rent, Taxes, Water, Sewer, Insurance, Utilities, Wages, Trash, Maintenanc, soap etc.
.