How to start a car wash business

Question

Accepted Answer

You need to do the proper market research on your local area, create a business plan, and apply for the necessary licenses and permits in order to start a car wash business. Here are more details on these steps and others you can take to start a car washing business:

Conduct market research on car washing in your area. It is critical to do a lot of research on your local car wash market; this means finding out the consumer base in your area, as well as any competing car wash companies.
It's best to do this research before you start to do anything else in preparation for your car wash business. You might also find that this makes you pivot from your initial business idea if there are already a lot of competitors in that niche of car washing.
When looking at other local car washing companies, try to get a sense of the cars they service. Do they specialize in certain vehicles, or are their services more broadly? What services do they offer in addition to car washing?
Like do they provide car detailing services or vacuuming services in addition to car washes? Of course, take note of the pricing of all of their services. If they don't list approximate prices on their website, a call to them for a price quote is a good idea.
If possible, you want to try to fill a hole in the car wash market of your local community. Some niche of the industry that is untouched in your area.
Maybe you want to have additional services, like auto parts and products, or have a cafe for food services while your customers wait for their car to be done. Providing more services will take more startup capital, but it's a good way to bring attention to your car wash business and help it stand apart.
Another great way to learn about competitors is to talk with their customers. Here you can get information on what they are doing right and what they are doing wrong, and at the same time, you'll be doing customer research. This will be of great value later when you plan your business and decide on marketing strategies.
Create a car wash business plan. Your business plan should cover customer research, competitors, a startup budget, and financial projections for your car wash business.
Other things you should add include the problems you will be solving for clients and customers, what sets your business apart from the competition, the resources your business will depend upon, and your business's mission statement and vision for the future of the company.
Your business plan is a critical document for yourself, especially if you are looking to get a small business loan or investors in your company.
You also need to figure out exactly what services you are going to offer. Are you only going to offer car washing, or are there other car-related services you want to offer with your business?
Providing more services can help you stand out from competitors and create multiple revenue streams within the business; however, it is also most likely going to increase your operating costs.
Just be sure to think all of these important issues through when starting to develop your business plan.
At this stage, you should also choose a name for your business. Pick something catchy, car-related, if possible, and memorable.
Determine your business's location. Depending on the services you are going to offer, you can choose from a variety of locations.
If you don't have much startup capital, you can also choose to start a mobile car-washing business that comes to clients' homes or other locations.
You can also choose a fixed location or temporary location for your business. Defunct gas stations and car washes that are up for sale make good locations for a car washing business because the facilities may already have certain things you are going to need.
Most of all, you need to think about how your business location makes sense based on your market research, the consumer base you will serve, and the costs you can afford.
If you are purchasing or renting a permanent location for your car wash, you need to make sure it is in an area of your town or city that has a lot of car traffic. This way, you can build up a steady clientele and get new customers who just happen to be driving by.
Obtain the necessary startup capital. The money needed to start a car washing business can vary widely.
Depending on what type of services you are going to offer and the overall structure of your car washing business, it may cost you as little as $5000 or as much as $200,000 to start your business.
Determine if you can self-fund the starting of your business or if you are going to need a small business loan or get startup capital from investors.
Small business loans are more easily obtained when you have some startup capital already secured. You should aim to have at least $10,000 to $20,000, and sometimes more, depending on the bank and the size of the loan you are requesting.
Find out what permits and licenses you may need to obtain. Most car washing businesses require you to apply for a combination of licenses and permits from your state and federal government.
Requirements will vary from state to state, so it's important to do your own research into your specific state's requirements. Business insurance is necessary to protect your LLC from liabilities and other possible claims.
You also obviously need auto insurance for all of your vehicles if your car washing business is going to be a mobile one. It is strongly encouraged that you seek the advice of an insurance agent to determine all the necessary insurance policies you should get for your business.
Consider applying to become a limited liability company (LLC). If you operate as an LLC, your personal and company information is entirely separate. While this changes your tax status, it does protect you from personal losses based on the company's performance.
Once you have this determined, you'll also want to get a Federal Tax ID number. This helps you get a license to run your business. This is also referred to as an EIN or Employer Identification Number.
Car wash businesses typically operate from a physical location, meaning you need to gain a Certificate of Occupancy. This confirms that your business meets all building codes, zoning laws, and government regulations at its location.
Depending on your state, you might also have to meet specific environmental requirements to legally operate your car washing businesses.
Call your local city hall to find out about any environmental regulations that may apply to your business and also for any insurance policies you must obtain to operate legally.
Hire qualified and motivated employees. Depending on the scale of your business plan, you may not need many employees initially, or perhaps you do need large teams.
To service many cars at a time, you are going to need a considerable staff, and if you are doing a mobile car washing business, you can likely have fewer employees on your payroll.
You also need to consider any other services you might plan on providing. Do you need mechanics or technicians in addition to car wash employees? There are also going to be administrative duties that you are likely going to need assistance with.
If you are planning on keeping your car washing business on the small side, you can get away with wearing many hats in the business and hiring only a few employees, but if you want your business to grow in scale, you are going to need a workforce.
It's helpful to gauge how many employees you think you will need if your car wash business really takes off, just to be prepared.
Invest in equipment and supplies. There are many instruments and products that go into car stealing; you should make a list of everything you think your business will need.
Some items for exterior car washing and interior car washing include:
- Detergents
- Acid-free degreasers
- Vacuums
- Detail clay
- Waxes
- Shines
- Polishes
- Applicators
- Drying towels
- If also providing car detailing services, cleaning products meant for a variety of interior materials should be purchased, these include items like synthetic carpet upholstery, vinyl, leather, natural fibers, carbon fiber composites, plastics, other cleaning materials
- Steam cleaner
- Liquid and foam chemicals
- Brushes
- You might also want to invest in computer software for bookkeeping and other car washing business applications
The kinds of services you provide will dictate your equipment and product needs, so be sure you are committed to any additional services before making any purchases for them.
Market your car wash business. Utilize the internet to market your car washing business.
In the modern world, social media is a critical marketing tool. You should create social media accounts for your business and try to gain friends and followers. You can post about your services and pricing, as well as show actual pictures of your car washing services.
Similarly, you should also develop a website for your car washing business. This is relatively inexpensive, and if you have some extra cash, you can hire a professional to do a stellar website for your business.
Your website should include your pricing and contact information, as well as things like customer testimonies about your services. Make sure your social media business accounts link to your website and vice versa.
You can also market the old fashion way by handing out fliers, discount coupons, and other promotional items by hand. You or an employee can hand out fliers in heavily populated community areas or blanket potential customers' cars with fliers in communal parking lots. You should make sure you comply with any local solicitation laws when doing this strategy, though.
One of the best forms of marketing for a car washing business is word of mouth. Here you don't actually have to do much of the marketing at all; just simply provide very good services to your customers and ask your clients to recommend you to other possible clients and customers.
You can also incentivize your clients to make recommendations by offering them perks, like a free car wash or multiple free washes per a certain number of referrals.
Overall costs of starting a car wash business. This cost can vary extremely widely depending on certain factors.
If you have $10,000 to $20,000 of capital on hand, you might be able to secure a small business loan to fund the rest of the startup costs of your car wash business.
A car wash business can cost anywhere from $50,000 to $3 million to start. This all depends on if you are building a completely new structure for your car wash business, you are purchasing a pre-existing car wash, or you are renovating an existing structure that meets the demands of a car wash location.
Hiring employees is another cost you should have a look at and research. A car wash attendant in the United States earns an average salary of $30,843 per year or an average wage of $14.83 per hour.
Depending on the size of your operation, you may have to hire a significant amount of car wash attendants, which could result in high annual costs you need to be prepared for.
The annual costs of all of your supplies and products for running a car wash are also likely to be high. To save money, you should order in bulk when it makes sense to do so.
Mobile car washing businesses are by far the cheapest to start, having little overhead and no need to pay rent for a commercial space, or at least initially.

Skills	Percentages
Vehicle Inventory	16.44%
Car Wash	16.42%
Cleanliness	11.05%
Customer Satisfaction	7.65%
Team Training	4.19%

What is a car wash manager and how to become one

Car wash manager career paths

Key steps to become a car wash manager

Explore car wash manager education requirements

Most common car wash manager degrees

Start to develop specific car wash manager skills

Complete relevant car wash manager training and internships

Research car wash manager duties and responsibilities

Prepare your car wash manager resume

Choose from 10+ customizable car wash manager resume templates

Apply for car wash manager jobs

How did you land your first car wash manager job

Average car wash manager salary

How do car wash managers rate their job?

Car wash manager reviews

Car wash manager FAQs

How to start a car wash business

Search for car wash manager jobs