New income streams

[GP85]

Greetings all,

I wanted to see what everyone has been adding to their washes other than vending car care products?

We have spoken about a Dog wash or water/ice machine.

What has everyone found to be the most profitable?

Thanks

 

[MEP001]

I know one operator who has done both a dog wash bay and ice/water machines. He says he makes more from each of those than he does from each bay, but his SS is seriously underperforming.

 

[Waxman]

I have a mat brusher and an air machine that are ok but not huge revenue generators. It's not for everyone, but I also offer detailing services and sell used cars.

 

[vguard296]

We removed an old IBA last month at one of our sites and the economics and demand are tough for us to justify replacing it or converting it back to a SS. We've done pet washes before and its a constant clean up, worse than mud. Learned our lesson renting out a bay to a detailer before.

I figured out we could run a snow cone stand out of this now empty bay and be all in for less than $10k. Part of the madness is that I've watched people spend close to double when they have their kids, and the snowcone stand in our town where we live clears several hundred dollars an hour. Basically leverage the power of children to make the wash a destination. Non traditional idea, but worth a shot.

 

[ShinePro]

They can’t make enough bourbon in Kentucky for me to open another dog wash!

 

[I.B. Washincars]

They can’t make enough bourbon in Kentucky for me to open another dog wash!

We can still try, can’t we?

 

[Rfreeman]

We removed an old IBA last month at one of our sites and the economics and demand are tough for us to justify replacing it or converting it back to a SS. We've done pet washes before and its a constant clean up, worse than mud. Learned our lesson renting out a bay to a detailer before.

I figured out we could run a snow cone stand out of this now empty bay and be all in for less than $10k. Part of the madness is that I've watched people spend close to double when they have their kids, and the snowcone stand in our town where we live clears several hundred dollars an hour. Basically leverage the power of children to make the wash a destination. Non traditional idea, but worth a shot.

We have a snow cone stand on one of our properties. It was built when the wash was built so it has a walk up window and drive thru. I lease it out to a guy who has two other snow cone stands in the area and he is very pleased with it. I know they can make money I just don't have time to hire teenagers or someone else to run it for me....I don't want that headache. I will say this about having one on a car wash property the snow cones make an extra mess. In the trash cans or around the property we have to power wash the vac area more to clean up the syrup spilled. Also the syrup does attract bees to the cans a lot more than your typical soda can does.

 

[Greg_T]

We have a K9000 dog wash, and it is a really good part of our business. Revenue is about 50% of our average SS bay, and is much, much less maintenance and clean up.

 

[MudMoney]

I'm into 2nd season selling firewood by the bundle, not the results I expected at least I can use it. Lol

 

[Overachiever]

I added a drive up ATM last year, it's averaging around 600 cars per month now where they were actually charged a fee and withdrew money, a lot of other people who get declined based on all the receipts I sweep up.

 

[soapy]

I built a tire shine machine that worked well but ended up with a mess around the area it was installed and eventually drew in the ricer car crowd. They would meet at the wash to shine their tires but stay for hours not spending any other money. I think it intimidated the regular customers so I took it out.

 

[vguard296]

We have a snow cone stand on one of our properties. It was built when the wash was built so it has a walk up window and drive thru. I lease it out to a guy who has two other snow cone stands in the area and he is very pleased with it. I know they can make money I just don't have time to hire teenagers or someone else to run it for me....I don't want that headache. I will say this about having one on a car wash property the snow cones make an extra mess. In the trash cans or around the property we have to power wash the vac area more to clean up the syrup spilled. Also the syrup does attract bees to the cans a lot more than your typical soda can does.

Any chance you can DM or post some pictures of what it looks like? I've got some ideas in my head but would love to see a real life example

 

[Rfreeman]

Any chance you can DM or post some pictures of what it looks like? I've got some ideas in my head but would love to see a real life example

Sure let me dig some out

 

[Rfreeman]

Any chance you can DM or post some pictures of what it looks like? I've got some ideas in my head but would love to see a real life example

Here are a few I had on my cell

 

[Mattwash]

Greetings all,

I wanted to see what everyone has been adding to their washes other than vending car care products?

We have spoken about a Dog wash or water/ice machine.

What has everyone found to be the most profitable?

Thanks

If you do ice machine, be careful purchasing from the vendor who is big on youtube.

 

[sjb]

A year ago we added 2 dog washes to our 8 Bay SS… now in our 26th year!

The wash is located in a Intown pet friendly neighborhood, where most of the SS washes have been converted to condo’s and coffee shops… so not a lot of competition…

We have done 260+ dog washes in the last 30 days and growing daily….

Yes, they do need to be touched and cleaned daily, but as you know, it’s all part of car washing game!

Here is a shameless self promotion @DogWashAtlanta

 

[SudsnShine115]

We have added an Ice Vending machine, and an air compressor stand for filling tires. The compressor is brand new so its still gaining traction. Mainly put it in so now offer everything the closest gas station offers on the car washing side. The ice machine does great in the summer, but super slow in the winter months in NC. We didn't get it live until April last year, and to avoid needing permits, its not a viewable from the street as we would want.