Dog Wash vs. Bay Upgrades

[Jony82]

I'm going to visit my local bank and check into getting financing for 1 of 2 big projects I have planned. I don't think I have the room to do both big projects and will instead try to shoot for 1 and do the other sometime next year. So, I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on which project I should pursue.

Project 1: Adding a self serve dog wash. This would require a new building and buying a new water heater, equipment, and all the necessary things to get going from scratch. I am located a block or two away from Petco and Petsmart on a busy street with no self serve dog wash competition. I would probably initially start with 3 dog wash stations @ $5 for 10 min. I'm thinking I can get this project done for $50,000.

Project 2: Bay Upgrades: Installing new plastic sheeting around all my 8 self serve bays. Upgrading my current quarter only acceptance meters to coin, bill, and credit card meters. Installing doors on all 8 bays, installing new signage and new lighting. I'm thinking this project will also cost around $50K.

As far as needs go, I really need to do a bay upgrade. The visual appeal of my bays needs improved and my quarter only acceptance is lagging behind other washes. But, business remains strong and I think I can get by another year before having to do this.

The dog wash would be a 2nd source of income from the site and I'm thinking the extra 15-20K each year would make it much easier to get financing for the bay upgrade next year. While a bay upgrade this year will likely not bring in 15-20K extra like the dog wash would, making the dog wash something I would have to wait 2 years for if I chose to upgrade the bays first.

Any opinions on this? Would 50K cover a dog wash with 3 stalls and a new building? Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

The Petsmart and Petsco stores around me have self service dog washes.
Are you sure they don't? If so I would count them as competitors.
In my opinion we all are first and foremost in the car wash business. So I believe upgrading your wash should be your first priority.
It's nice when you make a deposit that is more bills than quarters, plus the credit card dollars are in your account every morning without lifting heavy bags. NICE.

 

[soapy]

At the recent SCWA meeting in Dallas they had talk about dog washes. Most were doing about $800 per month or less and the operators did not really look at them as a big profit builder but rather as a loyalty builder for their washes. They felt it created a buzz about the wash but did not create a lot for the bottom line.

 

[Doug P.]

I have been considering pet washes for a couple of years. I have also done a lot of the bay upgrades you mentioned at my washes. I have gotten a decent boost in business from wall coverings and meterboxes with bill acceptors, along with dryers and rainx or trifoam. In my area credit card acceptance in the bays has not been a big hit. I would definitely have the best carwash around before I did the pet wash.

 

[PaulLovesJamie]

run the numbers - which one gives you the better ROI?

I personally am suspicious of the dog washes, I just dont see how they can be that profitable. Maybe its where I live, but it just does not seem like the best use of $/land to me.

Regardless of my opinion though, you are running a business for profit - calculate which one you believe will give you the better profit and then do it. "Show me the numbers."

 

[Jony82]

Paul-

That's the thing, I don't know what kind of numbers to expect from either project. It would be an easy choice if I had an idea what the ROI was going to be for both.

I'm leaning toward the dog wash but I have no idea what kind of numbers dog wash owners are pulling each month. I've heard 1,000-1,500 per month, but Soapy says 800 or less.

As for $/land, I have a decent sized, irregular lot with just enough room to add 1 more self serve bay, a dog wash, or a vend island and 2 more vacs. (no room for IBA as I don't have access to the land directly behind the space, therefore no driving through). I have 8 bays already and don't need a 9th except on very nice days in winter. I have 6 vacs and don't really need 2 more. My use of this land right now is a storage shed. My thoughts are a dog wash will bring in more than a 9th SS bay or 2 more vacs.

Does anyone have any numbers they want to share with their self serve dog wash? Prices, # of washes per day/week/month, cost to build, etc.

 

[soapy]

I think you can get a complete dog wash setup for around $7500 each from Kleenrite or Dultmieir. I was quoted this at the recent show. I am in the process of changing out my coin boxes that only took coins to boxes that will take bills, coins and credit cards. THe boxes will also have talking features for instructions and selection on the rotary switch. Dultmieir sales now sells the Etowah valley CC upgrades like this for about 3,500 per bay. I was lucky and bought my stuff for a little less. I looked into adding CC only to the bays and the costs were anywhere from $800 per bay to $2500 per bay depending on which system I went with. I figured that I would upgrade the whole look of the wash by adding the new coin box with its added features. I have talked to many people who have added CC to their SS bays and all of them tell me they are seeing about 10% of the income from credit cards but that it is climbing. They also tell me that the CC user spends about twice as much. I know many CC sellers are giving higher numbers as for % of use but I have not actually heard that from actual users. I know all of them are having a hard time getting enough card readers to keep up with the current demand of people wanting to add them to their Ss bays.
One good idea I heard, if you do add a dog wash, is to go to the Vets in the area and make them aware of the dog wash. They tend to tell all their customers.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

Soapy I average between 18-25% of customers using credit cards.
Last Nov. was a bad month but I had 52% use c.c. Don't know why.
This Sat. was a busy day, Sun. was alright and c.c. sales for the 2 days were 648.00.
That's 1+ bags of quarters I didn't have to collect from the safes, count, bag and deposit.

 

[MEP001]

They also tell me that the CC user spends about twice as much.

You have to be wary of that claim. It's been claimed here by someone who only looked at the start-up cycles and didn't take into account the people who let the cash timer run out and deposited more coins. More realistic numbers I've been quoted have that number around 5%.

We're accepting credit cards in most of the bays now, and the interesting thing I've noticed is that while CC is about 20% of those bays' income, the cash level is down only about 5% in them.

 

[soapy]

I think I will be happy if I get 15% or more on CC. I know it will build over time. I tried at one location to use a token CC machine and had very poor results for usage.

 

[MEP001]

I've heard the same thing about a token CC machine. Unless you're there all day to promote them AND you offer an incentive such as more value in tokens than they're charged, it's usually very low.

 

[davidblumenfeld]

JMM,

TokensDirect modified our credit practices to make transactoins easier for our customers by moving more and more business credit card. The accounting at the end of the year was a shocker. Tens of thousands of dollars in credit card fees. That ate up a lot of our profits last year. What do figure it costs a car wash to process credit card transactions? You have a percentage plus a fee per transaction don't you?

 

[Red Baron]

Instead of the usual white FRP "sheeting," consider spending a little more for the nice look of porcelain tile. I did my SS bays about 9 months ago in the color that was the closest to the grungy brown that my white FRP would turn to in just a few months. My grunge colored tile hasn't been cleaned yet and still looks very good.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

JMM,

TokensDirect modified our credit practices to make transactoins easier for our customers by moving more and more business credit card. The accounting at the end of the year was a shocker. Tens of thousands of dollars in credit card fees. That ate up a lot of our profits last year. What do figure it costs a car wash to process credit card transactions? You have a percentage plus a fee per transaction don't you?

David total credit card fees for Feb. was 5.78% of total credit card sales.

 

[vorman1@charter.net]

Option

Can you convert a current ss bay to a Dog Wash? Glass front, wall in the middle, added storage in back of bay. Estimate would be about 16 K, and use the difference to upgrade the rest of the facility.

Dog wash concerns: 1)Added labor to keep clean: much more that your regular business 2) Competition-Petco, etc.

Price should be at least $8 for 10-12 minutes, compared to a groomer, a real bargain.

Paul

 

[Jony82]

Can you convert a current ss bay to a Dog Wash? Glass front, wall in the middle, added storage in back of bay. Estimate would be about 16 K, and use the difference to upgrade the rest of the facility.

Dog wash concerns: 1)Added labor to keep clean: much more that your regular business 2) Competition-Petco, etc.

Price should be at least $8 for 10-12 minutes, compared to a groomer, a real bargain.

Paul

Paul-

I've thought about doing this, but I want to keep my options open to adding an IBA in the future. Adding the IBA would result in the sacrifice of two of my self serve bays as I don't have the room to add an addition elsewhere on my lot. Sacrificing another SS bay for the dog wash would further deplete my SS business. Not a bad thing on some days, but not a good thing on my weekends and winter days. I'll have to wait for my contractors to give me their quotes on the new addition and then crunch some numbers.

If I didn't want the IBA, the sacrifice of 1 SS bay would only hurt me on the very busy days, and the cost savings from having to add a new building would be worth it.

Also, does anyone know how well the bay meter bill acceptors and credit card acceptors hold up in winter weather? I'm thinking if I add the bill acceptors and the credit card acceptors in the bays that I will need to add doors to each of my 8 bays and potentially heat them as well. I have a lot of ice buildup in the winter here without the bay doors.

Jason

 

[Red Baron]

Jony,

My Wash Gear and SS CC acceptors have been nearly bulletproof all year long. Rarely a problem that can't be solved by resetting the breaker.

 

[vorman1@charter.net]

IBA V Dog wash

I have both a Dog wash & IBA: I would spend any $$$ on a IBA. Costs more, but returns are much better. People are getting older, lazier & an IBA is less weather sensitive.

Paul

 

[Jony82]

I have both a Dog wash & IBA: I would spend any $$$ on a IBA. Costs more, but returns are much better. People are getting older, lazier & an IBA is less weather sensitive.

How weather sensitive is the dog wash? Any seasonal changes you've noticed? I've had people tell me they'd use it all the time in the winter cause they can't wash pooch outside. On the other hand, I'd use it more in the spring and summer as my dog gets filthy playing in the mud.

RedBaron- Do you have any pictures of your tiled bays? As for the staining of the pvc or plastic walls: wouldn't a NuWall type product take care of this?

 

[vorman1@charter.net]

weather - Dog wash

My dog wash biz is pretty steady year round, except when it get extremely cold: drops significantly. The week before any holiday is usually the peak business. Weekends are the also the peak days. There is added labor to keep the dog wash clean.