Earning a profit

[calisucks]

So long story short, a carwash landed in my lap and I have no idea how any full service car washes in california stay in business. With payroll, insurance (and oh god the ******* insurance), taxes, maintenance, etc. eating up all my revenue how do I earn a profit with a full service carwash? Obviously I'm looking to sell since I'm in way over my head here and the hassle is not worth the "profit". I am being discrete with it though, since I've heard some horror stories of ****** employees claiming "abuse" and screwing over the owner who tries to sell. Do I need to up my prices by a dollar or three or five? The clientele is awful here too and they have no rhyme or reason on when they come, but boy oh boy they LOVE to come all at once instead of trickling in. Sorry, I'm venting and pretty fed up with this as you can tell (or not, since I had to resubmit and edit this post due to "excessive profanity"). I would love some advice or tips or whatever that can help my situation that I (probably) overlooked. Even obvious stuff is fine since what is obvious to you may not be obvious to the ignorant me. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Hopefully this doesn't violate any other forum rules (rules which I can't seem to locate, seriously where are they).

 

[Randy]

Edit your post and take out (and oh god the ******* insurance) You should really think hard about selling out.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

Seriously??? It needs to be in the rules that excessive profanity isn't allowed? I'm going to edit out the ones in this post, but there won't be a need next time.

 

[MEP001]

Hopefully this doesn't violate any other forum rules (rules which I can't seem to locate, seriously where are they).

You agreed to them when you signed up, whether you read them or not:

Terms and rules

You must agree to these terms and rules before using the site.

www.carwashforum.com

Your best bet IMO, other than selling out, would be to find someone with lots of knowledge to help you, either a former owner as a consultant or a former manager who really knows what they're doing. Start with the basics, like whether you even have a good location with easy access, your pricing is right for the area, that you have good customer satisfaction, whether they feel they're getting a good value for money, that you aren't being robbed by employees or they're disgruntled (Look long and hard at this one since you're already concerned about being screwed over by them). Make sure the place is kept up properly, both visually and functionally. Establish an online presence and deal with any negative feedback in the most positive way possible, as well as promote the business with regular advertising, offers, announcements of anything new, whatever you can get out there.

 

[Greg Pack]

Good luck! There are some models that are more efficient than full serve if you are in it for the long hall. Look at the flex serve or express type model as a possibility, which would have your customers ride through with free self vacs at the end. Then charge a premium for services that require your labor. I'll also point you to the facebook group talkcarwash which is tunnel heavy (mostly express).

 

[jack954]

full service is very high maintenance as far as employee turnover, employees personal problems, customer satisfaction, and customer problems. true dedication to your wash is necessary to succeed at full service. if it’s not in you, you’re going to have to pay someone else well enough to be dedicated. good luck!

 

[Kramerwv]

Does landed in your lap mean inherited? If so just put on market with a realtor or broker. Will eliminate the cursing reflex and you can get back to the normal crazy taxes in California.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Convert to exterior?

 

[water guy]

Just Stay in California we don't need You in Texas

 

[calisucks]

Your best bet IMO, other than selling out, would be to find someone with lots of knowledge to help you, either a former owner as a consultant or a former manager who really knows what they're doing. Start with the basics, like whether you even have a good location with easy access, your pricing is right for the area, that you have good customer satisfaction, whether they feel they're getting a good value for money, that you aren't being robbed by employees or they're disgruntled (Look long and hard at this one since you're already concerned about being screwed over by them). Make sure the place is kept up properly, both visually and functionally. Establish an online presence and deal with any negative feedback in the most positive way possible, as well as promote the business with regular advertising, offers, announcements of anything new, whatever you can get out there.

Good luck! There are some models that are more efficient than full serve if you are in it for the long hall. Look at the flex serve or express type model as a possibility, which would have your customers ride through with free self vacs at the end. Then charge a premium for services that require your labor. I'll also point you to the facebook group talkcarwash which is tunnel heavy (mostly express).

full service is very high maintenance as far as employee turnover, employees personal problems, customer satisfaction, and customer problems. true dedication to your wash is necessary to succeed at full service. if it’s not in you, you’re going to have to pay someone else well enough to be dedicated. good luck!

Does landed in your lap mean inherited? If so just put on market with a realtor or broker. Will eliminate the cursing reflex and you can get back to the normal crazy taxes in California.

Convert to exterior?

Thanks for the replies people. Sorry for the necropost, but felt like I should put in an update in deference to the helpful replies I've got.

So, how to earn a profit as a full service car wash in California? Answer is: you don't.

I would have loved to turn this into an express/automated carwash, but due to nonsensical rules of this city the carwash is in, if the ceiling of the tunnel (or something along those lines) is too high, even a few centimeters... Guess what? CANNOT BE EXPRESS/AUTOMATED. It's a joke. I suspect it's heavily to screw over people trying to actually earn a profit, since there is no practical reason for it. Why is a full service carwash okay with this height but if I want to make it express/automated it's a no? Yes I consulted with an attorney about this and there is no way to get around this silly, silly law unless I put heavy money into the reconstruction of the carwash.

Basically, what happened is I managed to get this lemon of a carwash out of my hands. So I don't need to worry about it. Seems like it's only a matter of time though before it and the other places close due to high costs, lol. Already seen them steadily increasing prices over the months and the times I've driven by this joke of a place, not many customers.

I'm just in awe they're still managing to hang in there. Unless there's some special tricks and/or loopholes I haven't found, there's no way any full service car wash in this cursed city can be in the green without exorbitant costs.

In any case, thanks again to the insight of most of the people here. (Biggest thanks to the sucke-I mean "aspiring entrepreneur" that bought this carwash out of my hands though).

 

[Greg_T]

Just a couple of general thoughts.

(1) Small business is really difficult. It always seems easy from the outside, but if it was easy, everyone would be doing it.

(2) It's easy to think that there is just some particular issue (I'm in the wrong state, it's the wrong format of carwash etc.). The reality is that if other business owners are making it work, then it can be done. But it requires lots of hard work, knowledge of the industry, trial and error, blood, sweat, tears etc. Refer item (1) above.

(3) It seems to me that successful carwash owners have a particular mindset that suits the industry. It's certainly not for everyone. If you don't enjoy it, then selling on to another owner certainly seems like the best idea.

 

[eckert16]

Appreciate the update. Yes, the rules/ laws/ regs in CA are... just.... not conducive to business to put it nicely).