increasing income at my wash

[carwash10]

Hi I just purchased a 4 bay self serve and I was wondering if anyone could tell me what I could do to help the income??

A couple things that I know need done is a sign at the road and I only have 2 vending machines. But what about credit card acceptors would this be a good investment for a self serve? and how would I install then ( in each bay or on the changer??

thanks

don

 

[MEP001]

The basics to improving a self serve's income start with keeping it clean and keeping everything working right and consistently. Be generous with the soaps, use stuff with some show and that cleans well, and give it some time. You might also consider community projects which is nearly free advertising.

If your customers are from the lower income areas, credit card acceptance may not help you much; same with more vending.

 

[carwash10]

thanks for your help. another thing i forgot to mention is this wash doen't have spot free rinse. I can buy a system from duiltmeier for around $5000 would this help income very much?

thanks

don

 

[wagsnwheels]

I recently bought a carwash myself with 7SS and 2 IBAs and a dogwash. The one thing I am finding out quickly is that there is no shortage of things to spend your money on. I have seperated my wish list into several categories.
One is operations. This one is hard to see returns directly or quickly. Will having a spotfree system bring $5000 worth of business through your door quickly? How about a water softener or Blue Coral soap?
Another category is advertising. Will a brand new sign bring in a bunch of customers quickly?
I am finding out that advertising is the best money that I have spent thus far. Second is operational concerns that increase reliability and overall appearance of the site. Third is operational things that save me on consumable costs like fixing leaks or repairing the reclaim system. Last on my list ends up being items that improve the quality of the wash like better soap or spotfree water.
As for the credit card machine, I am looking seriously at doing this but only on one bay at a time. Etowah Valley Equipment has some affordable equipment for this purpose. Doing it this way should allow me to gauge demand without going into a huge amount of debt right away.

 

[Jeff_L]

RE: Spot Free

Take a look at your options, there are many. One suggestion is to check with a water softener company such as Culligan. You can rent some tanks from them as another option.

 

[Waxman]

Do some creative, low cost things to bring more activity to the wash. Organize charity car washes. Get a creative yet low-cost sign designed and built or build it yourself. Create your own brand and image. Advertise locally in the paper and with flyers. Go to the dealerships and offer bulk discounts. Other spots to do this are police, town offices, and funeral homes.

Keeping the place working and neat go a long way toward building business. Be on site as often as possible. Talk to customers (but not too much), offer a 'hello' and a smile and be genuine.

A spot free rinse system is nice. I have one. But at first I'd dial up the soaps and waxes, keep the water warm, the time in line with the startup price, and the trash picked up.

 

[carwash10]

what kind of advertising do you do for a car wash? Is a sigh by the road all I can do? I was thinking of putting up some banners or some of the little colorful flags that blow in the wind.

don

 

[carwash10]

I was wondering what kind of flyer I could use for a self-serve wash? could someone email me a sample of one? donhays10@yahoo.com

 

[Jim Caudill]

I hope you did proper due diligence as well as read most every post in this forum regarding the "downturn" in the car wash business before purchasing. As you can clearly see in my signature line, I am in Enon (near Dayton-Springfield). My business has dropped by about 80% since my peak year of 2001. If you made assumptions about revenue from car wash magazines, you're probably screwed. I don't see how new investors can make a wash "pencil out". The only folks I know that are doing any good, have been in business for quite a while, and have much lower debt service than a typical "newbie". On the other hand, if you paid cash, and looking for a better investment than the local savings & loan, you might make a few percent more. Of course it will require more work than a passive investment also.

What part of Ohio are you located?

 

[seattleguy]

i would also be interested in examples of fliers.

 

[Tom Thumb]

Keeping the car wash clean and the eq. working properly,is #1 on my list.

It really does not matter how many bells and whistles you have if the place does not look clean and safe customers will not come.

JMO

 

[Waxman]

Here's an idea:

A 'door hanger' that says:

A clean car:

~last longer

~ gives peace of mind

~can impress others

~ makes you feel wealthy

~runs better

~is more valuable.

Joe's carwash offers superb value for your money. We use hot water, thick rich soaps and waxes and spot free rinse. Armorall, towels and air freshners sold on-site. Super sucker vacs. Open 24 hours. Satisfaction guaranteed.

Located at 33 Main St,, Anywhere USA. call 555-carwash for information or to schedule a carwash benefit for your organization.

 

[sparkey]

I put credit card readers in my self serve bays about 6 months ago. Biggest waste of money I ever did. I would be doing good to 20 scans per month per bay. I charge $1 for 3 minutes in a self serve bay. If my prices were higher maybe I would see more credit card usage.

My automatic on the other hand does pretty good on credit card sales. I would say about 25% of my automatic business is credit cards.

 

[MEP001]

I put credit card readers in my self serve bays about 6 months ago. Biggest waste of money I ever did. I would be doing good to 20 scans per month per bay. I charge $1 for 3 minutes in a self serve bay. If my prices were higher maybe I would see more credit card usage.

What kind of signage/decals did you use in your bays? When we first added CC acceptance I cut two of the existing doors and added the timer below the Dixmor. The only instructions were on a sticker I added. CC sales were slow to take off, but it was enough to justify adding more. I had some nicer full-door decals and new doors made that replaced the Dixmor with the CC timer in easy view. Those two bays quickly passed the first two in CC use, enough so that the quarters pulled were much fewer. The new decals were also clearer indicating the bill acceptor was there, and bill use also increased.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

Maybe you would have better luck if you used the more customer friendly count-up method. I know I would be very annoyed if I had to reswipe my card at the gas pump after every 10 dollars.

 

[packerscw]

I would look to make sure that your wash is energy efficient. Meaning lights, eliminating weep water, floor heat set correct. In this day of car washing sometimes you need to figure out ways to save money.

 

[packerscw]

That is what ive been working on at my wash. Little by little

 

[packerscw]

I also would suggest adding a couple more vending machines and sell items such as: air freshener, armor all, towels, windshield cleaner, tire shine

 

[MEP001]

I know I would be very annoyed if I had to reswipe my card at the gas pump after every 10 dollars.

I know I was - when gas was at its peak price I would have to restart the pump to fill my truck because they were set at a $75 peak.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I know I was - when gas was at its peak price I would have to restart the pump to fill my truck because they were set at a $75 peak.

Yeah, me too. I bought a new F-250 just as gas shot to 4 bucks here. I maxed out the pumps at $100 several times and quite a few set at $75. I even stopped at a station once that had the max set at $50.