What next?????

[pgrzes]

Ok so the last 4 years or so its been a difficult time for carwash owners. In the N.E. its been even worse with the brutal weather we have been seeing. What are we going to see with the further rising gas prices, and what is everyone "PLANNING" on doing to combat that? They are saying the economy is getting better????? I don't see it!! And if gas goes to $4.50-$5 per. gal. I feel we will be killed!! Just my opinion, but in 07 when gas prices went over $4 we watched business tank, and I have yet to see it come back! We are near the end of a winter with only 1 real salt down, that really didn't produce much business. Thoughts much appreciated.

 

[Waxman]

It sounds like you are living in fear, which is not going to get you anywhere.

So first of all, make a list of all the reasons why you like your business and the positive effects it has had on you and the customers. Dig deep and be honest with yourself.

Next; do what all businesses must do to survive; look to cut costs while increasing revenues.

If gas prices do rise, all businesses will compete on this level playing field.

Additional revenue streams have helped me survive tough times; detailing, used car sales, headlight restoration and oddball things like cleaning the inside of campers.

Being proactive is good; just do it from a love of your business and not from fear.

 

[packerscw]

One way that we have been doing is making our site as energy efficient as possible..lights, boiler, in our self serve eliminating weep, and watching our chemical prices very closely. We have been using more economy brand chemicals instead of name brand, cleans the car just as good and lowers your cost per car.

 

[robert roman]

What happened to the carwash industry is a chain of events that began in 2005 when real estate started to nose dive then it got much worse when real estate and financial markets imploded and then came price spikes and sustain higher prices for gas and then recession followed by anemic recovery.

So, it has been a difficult time for most everyone, not just carwash owners.

“…. what is everyone “PLANNING” on doing to combat that?”

Since opportunity is determined by where you live, most everyone’s plan to cope may be greatly or slightly different.

Strategic planning is a tool you can use to identify course of action (strategy and tactics) that may be useful in turning things around.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_planning

You will see strategic planning addresses three basic questions.

Where are we?
Where do we want to go?
How are we going to get there?

 

[Earl Weiss]

I started being frugal on cloth replacement. I replace a passenger side lower detail and move that cloth to the driver side which wears faster. If the passenger side wears from 19" to 16" it will still work well on the driver side which has less variation in distance.

If mitter cloth gets ugly I may replace the first few rows and re use passable stuff from those rows to fill in rows further back.

For wraps my lower section is 3 rows 7 inches high. One row wears more than others. I will buy cloth to totaly replace the most worn row and rearrange the other rows.

 

[robert roman]

“What are we going to see with the further rising gas prices,” “They are saying the economy is getting better????? I don't see it!! And if gas goes to $4.50-$5 per. gal. I feel we will be killed!! Just my opinion, but in 07 when gas prices went over $4 we watched business tank, and I have yet to see it come back!”

Because of less demand for gasoline in the U.S., prices are back on the way up to $4.00 a gallon or more. Most likely, they will come back down just as they did after increases in 2006 and 2007.

In 2007, gasoline price spikes and sustained higher prices for gasoline caused significant reductions in driving and fuel consumption that many experts believe is permanent.

However, even if gas prices hit $5.00, people will continue to buy gas because they need it daily to survive and there are no practical alternatives.

People have had three years or so to get frugal in the carwash industry.

The next step, like Waxman, is to consider practical ways to add self-service or assisted-services that generate extra revenue and have a good profit margin.