Veteran trying to start a mobile car wash business

[William001]

Hello,

I'm a veteran trying to start a mobile car cleaning business not detailer. (just mobile washer, cleaner, and
drying) with residential and commercial market in mind. I have already obtain my business license, business number, and my insurance and bond, now I'm
looking for suggestions or advise as to how do I get cleaning products at wholesale price where I would be
able to make a descent profit? Or any suggestions or opinions are welcome even any criticism? In order to make my business succeed! Anything that anyone can throw at me please I'm more than welcome to not
only take into consideration but use as a suggestion

[vangogh]

I don't see any reason why it can't work, though I'm not sure how easy it will be. People do wash their cars and don't always have time so having someone come out to wash them makes sense. I'm not sure about where you'd get supplies, though I would think it wouldn't be too hard to find online with some searching. A couple of things to think about. It's not exactly expensive to take your car out to get it washed so your prices probably need to be comparable. What you're selling is less the car wash and more the convenience so keep that in mind when marketing. If you do want to sell based on the wash itself, I'd think of finding a way to offer more than a typical car wash.

Keep in mind this is likely to be a low margin business. You'll have to consider how many cars you can realistically wash in a day, especially considering travel time. One idea to keep traveling time down is to wash cars in a location where many cars are already present. That probably means more commercial than residential. One option might be to see if you can do businesses for employees in the office lot. My guess is you'll need permission from the businesses, but it might be a way to get multiple customers at one location and also schedule repeat business. Assuming you supply everything including the water this might go over with whoever owns the property, but I couldn't say with certainty.

[billbenson]

Actually, at least in Silicon Valley, its very popular. A lot of people have expensive cars and don't want to waste their time having them washed. I was at a company there a few years ago and their had to be three or more cars being washed in the parking lot.

Silicon Valley isn't like the rest of the world though. There wouldn't be much profit in it in the town I live in.

As far as buying wholesale, you should be able to easily do that if you buy in quantity. If you have a business license, go to a commercial supplier in your area and ask for volume discounts. Either that or buy from them at the going rate for a month and come back and say, "I'm buying a lot from you for my business and I want a better price" and show the manager the receipts. Might take some time, but you can get bulk pricing.

[Steve B]

I wouldn't worry about buying wholesale until you have multiple franchises. I can't imagine you'll get much of a price break at the quantities you'll be using as a single operation.

Why have you ruled out detailing? I would think that's your best bet to make some money. As VanGogh pointed out a car wash is only $5. Even if you charged quadruple that amount - I can't see you making any money at this if you go to people's home. But, if you did a complete detail for $75 - then you can maximize the value of your travel time.

[vangogh]

I was wondering about that myself. I think the more you can offer per visit the better chance you'll have of making the business successful.

[bertl]

As far as finding wholesale products you might be best figuring out which ones you need and contacting the manufacturers directly via phone. It might seem intimidating but it's a start and if it succeeds you'll have the cheapest possible.