Carwash World announces the retirement of a much loved team member – John O’Neill.
Car Wash Retrofit Case Study
Car Wash Retrofit Case Study
In this car wash retrofit case study we cover how one regional car wash was able to retrofit to a PDQ Vehicle Wash LaserWash 360 Plus for immediate growth.
Originally installed was an aging Water Wizard, in bay automatic, that was not producing a quality clean. It was clear this site was not fulfilling it’s potential with the current equipment. It was retrofitted with a LaserWash 360 Plus with dryers, high side blasters & OverGlow. In addition, the substandard chemical that was previously used was replaced for the far superior Blendco soaps (which we recommend to all of our customers). This vastly improved the clean, the customer experience & the perception within the local community.
As part of this car wash retrofit, adjustments were also made to the wash packages, menu-board signage, self serve bays & pump room which are detailed below.
WORK UNDERTAKEN:
- Retrofitted Water Wizard to a LaserWash 360 Plus (inclusions dryer, high side blasters & OverGlow).
- Entry system changed to a Hamilton – meaning the site can use RFID & wash club packages.
- Increased the price of the wash packages & reduced it down to only 3 choices from 4.
- New signage for the wash packages with the top wash taking up the majority of the space on the board & highlighted in yellow. Consequently the percentage of sales of the top wash is now a huge 84% after these changes.
- In both the automatic & self serve bays introduced Blendco chemicals replacing the cheaper generic brand. Creating a far superior wash result & over time actually reducing cost per wash.
- Added Splatterwax with Carnauba to the self serve bays & a general upgrade of equipment.
- The addition of tap & go payments to self serve bays.
- Major fine tune of faulty pumps & plant equipment which was compromising the integrity of the wash finish & increasing overheads.
- Improved lighting & security for after hours cleaning.
THE RESULTS:
- Increase of 100%+ on numbers of cars through the automatic wash. Increase on ROI with the introduction of dryers, OverGlow & high side blasters adding both an actual dollar & consumer perceived value to the wash package.
- Average dollar in the self serve bays increased from $5 to $7 on average per car. (Amendment – since going to print, self serve is now $8)
- Blendco chemicals providing a much more thorough & consistent wash result & reduced the amount of chemicals required to clean a vehicle leading to lower cost per wash.
- Positive user feedback was received as opposed to complaints. The wash acquired many new regular customers as well as gaining back some previously unhappy customers.
- Maintenance overheads were lowered significantly by replacing an aging machine.
Is not spending money on upgrading costing you customers? This is question you’ll need to ask. Sooner or later there will come a time where you need to assess if your car wash is living up to it’s revenue potential based on offer, catchment, demographics etc. As shown above, making an investment into your car washing equipment can help grow your business & lessen some of the stress that unreliable equipment puts on operators.
If you’d like to talk about how to achieve these sorts of results at your own car wash follow this link: www.carwashworld.com.au/help
Carwash World now distributing Tommy Tunnel Car Wash Systems
Carwash World is proud to announce that we’re now Australia-wide distributors of the premium Tommy Tunnel Car Wash Systems.
This addition of Tommy Tunnel Car Wash Systems to our suite of quality car washing equipment is due to the increased desire of car wash operators to clean a high volume amount of cars in the shortest space of time possible.
Tommy Car Wash Tunnel Systems are free standing, conveyor tunnels designed for high performance using state-of-the-art stainless steel equipment. In addition their innovative designs ensure a quick & efficient installation process. The Tommy Transporter Dual Belt Conveyor moves cars smoothly through the wash with no guide rails. This reduces the risk of vehicle damage and equipment breakdown. With over 45 years in the tunnel washing industry, Tommy Car Wash Systems are a tried & trusted supplier of equipment.
Tunnel car washing is a staple in the US marketplace. Now starting to be recognised by early adopters in Australia as a means to generate a considerably higher ROI compared to an in bay automatic set up. Express Car Wash Tunnels at capacity, have the ability to clean in an hour the same amount of cars an IBA can clean in a day.
Clean more cars. Faster.
Using a combination of soft cloth friction, high pressure water & precise chemical application these tunnels can clean & dry a car in under 3 minutes all while the next vehicle is just centimetres behind, easily loaded onto a wide, easy access drive on conveyer system.
Ideal for unusual or difficult long blocks that don’t suit a traditional set up. The future of high volume car washing is here.
If you’re interested in washing 400+ cars per day – contact us here to learn more.
10 Car Wash Business Commandments
Is your car wash business delivering on our Top 10 Car Wash Business Commandments?
Owning a car wash can be a lot of work. Staying on top of employees, marketing, social media and ensuring your equipment is delivering the best possible wash to name just a few responsibilities.
In the interest of not complicating things, we’ve put together a list of 10 Car Wash Business Commandments that you should be trying to focus on to ensure that your customers are satisfied and you’re profitable.
It really doesn’t matter whether you’re running a single in bay automatic or a 40 foot tunnel – these non-negotiables stay the same.
- Focus on offering both value and speed – customers who use automatic car washes are looking to have their car sufficiently cleaned in the shortest amount of time possible.
- Keeping your site super clean and well maintained – just because it’s a facility to clean your car doesn’t mean it should look dirty. In fact, it should look as clean as possible to show how much pride you take in your car wash. This means no chipped paint, no broken equipment and certainly no build up of dirt, sludge or mould.
- Clear signage, great lighting & quality cameras – communicate your offer, value & promotions with clear, concise signage. Great lighting is a wonderful marketing tool & also makes your customers feel safe. Quality cameras are also a must.
- Ensure equipment is simple to use for customers – yes, YOU use the equipment every day but your visitors do not. If something is confusing or intimidating (ie hard to access wash bays, triggers on hoses that get stuck) chances are people won’t come back.
- Don’t have too many wash options to chose from – customers want choice but not too many. Research shows that too many options leads people to feel overwhelm. We suggest no more than 3 options for your automatic car wash – ditch the cheap, budget wash & watch your profits grow.
- Maintaining & servicing your equipment – you have spent a considerable amount of money on equipment so you must service regularly to avoid unnecessary breakdowns or repairs. Downtime = Loss.
- Making sure your chemical delivery is on point – especially important for a touchless car wash but also relevant to any car wash. Running test washes & making tweaks to chemicals regularly is a must.
- Creating relationships with customers – building & maintaining a relationship with customers is imperative for repeat business. Utilise your attendants & their customer service skills as well as social media to communicate how much you value their business.
- Invested staff – your employees need to have synergy with your brand & offer. They need to hold the businesses values front of mind. It’s important that they have been trained to have a broad knowledge of the equipment & the product delivery.
- Strong offers & promotions – keep things fresh & inviting by creating deals your customers will get excited about & to entice new customers. Discount codes, giveaways on Facebook & Unlimited Wash Clubs are all excellent ways to add more value.
No matter how busy you are in business, if you simply ensure you focus on the 10 Car Wash Business Commandments above you’ll have yourself a popular car wash that the locals love to visit.
Car Wash Technician in South Australia
Car Wash Technician South Australia
Exciting news! Due to growth & demand Carwash World now has a full time car wash technician in South Australia.
Ryan is joining the Carwash World team from October 1 & will be the full-time car wash technician in South Australia. He will be available for car wash maintenance & repair work from this date.
Carwash World Director, John Sewerle said it was time that Carwash World had a permanent technician on the ground to ensure the needs of South Australian customers were met quickly & efficiently. ‘Carwash World has seen a considerable amount of growth over the past 18 months. Our focus is to ensure that our customers, who are our number 1 priority, have access to great technicians at all times.’
To find out the benefits of using a trained car wash technician you can read our blog post here.
For any servicing or repair enquiries – feel free to call John O’Neill 0405 133 929 or email service@carwashworld.com.au
Car Wash Water Recycling Systems for Australia
We’ve all seen the news & are aware of how dry it’s been this Winter. Now is good time to discuss the benefits of using Car Wash Water Recycling Systems.
Given that Australia is experiencing one of it’s worst droughts in years, it’s a poignant reminder that this lack of water could in fact affect car wash businesses like it did in the early 2000’s.
Between 2001-2003, the water crisis was so severe that local bodies were looking at introducing restrictions on car wash businesses. Even going so far as to propose locking meters & preventing trade. It wasn’t until the Australian Car Wash Association stepped in to negotiate & introduce sustainable car wash practices. Car washes had to show these governing bodies that they were using Car Wash Water Recycling systems & were not completely reliant on a fresh water supply. In fact, for car washes that were using recycling units, their impact on water usage was less than households who were at that time restricted to using water on odd days.
Given todays climate, we encourage you to answer the question, are you prepared?
Aside from the ability to continue trade, the benefits also consist of immediate savings when you invest in a water recycling system. Without a water recovery unit not only are you going to be paying more for water usage but also for wastewater removal & disposal.
As a guide, our users can recycle at least 80% of the water consumed in their automatic car wash using a water-recovery system. Using recycled water, you save approximately 200 litres per car at a minimum. Immediately lower your overheads by reducing your use of fresh water supply.
Carwash World has been proudly distributing Con-Serv car wash water recycling units Australia-wide for many years. We have over 100 units out in the field.
The unit has the smallest footprint at only 1.5 x 1.5m in size. Cleaning the filter basket is a simple 10 minute per week job. The main filter automatically back-washes after every car.
A water recycling unit is definitely something to at least consider for the benefit of your business.
Got questions? We’re here to help – you can contact us here.
Using a trained technician to service your car wash equipment
Benefits of using a trained technician to service your car wash equipment
Your equipment is the lifeblood and income generator of your business so there should be major importance on using a trained technician to service your car wash equipment. If I asked you, do you service your own car? Most of you would reply with ‘of course not’. Yet a lot of car wash sites are servicing their own equipment without the proper equipment knowledge. Worse still is that some car washes are not servicing their equipment at all!
I read a fabulous quote online the other day. It’s a great reminder to any business owner who fails to see the value in maintaining their machinery.
You may have staff at your wash sites who’re mechanically minded. Perhaps you’d consider them pretty well versed with your equipment. You’re possibly still on the fence as to why you should be using a trained technician to service your car wash equipment.
Here’s some things to consider as to why your car wash business will benefit from using a trained car wash technician for both service work and troubleshooting.
Let’s go into a little more detail:
- If a technician services your equipment regularly they will be very familiar with your business. That means equipment, site set up, plant room etc, should you be having issues.
- Service work can be booked in advance. This gives you time to ensure you have the funds allocated when the time comes rather than forking out for a surprise breakdown!
- Technicians are factory trained to identify, diagnose and solve issues. This means making adjustments during routine services to ensure your equipment is running to its full capacity and avoiding unnecessary breakdowns.
- Owners & staff are generally time poor. Their emphasis is on customers and the needs of the business. Owners and managers should assess whether that time could be better allocated to dollar producing, customer attaining and retaining tasks.
- Technicians can solve issues faster. Their intimate knowledge of the equipment means you’ll be up and running much faster than you trying to do it yourself.
- Sometimes technicians have the ability to dial in remotely to assess and troubleshoot any issues you’re having. Often techs can fix an error without the need of an on-site visit.
- Carwash World techs offer phone support for errors and breakdowns. Perhaps you’re encountering an issue and you’re unsure of its severity. Just give us a call. The first 2 phone calls regarding a single incident is free of charge & any calls thereafter are charged.
The expert service you receive when a qualified Carwash World car wash technician maintains your equipment will give you piece of mind that your equipment is fully maintained and operational. In the event of mechanical issues our team will have you up and running as quickly as possible with a goal for a first-time fixed resolution.
Carwash World has technicians on the ground in New South Wales & ACT as well as South Australia. If you’ve got questions about servicing your equipment Contact Us today, we’re here to help.
What are the set up costs for a new car wash business?
Need to know info – the set up costs for a new car wash business
Love the idea of a car wash but have no idea of the set up costs for a new car wash business? To be honest there is certainly no fixed, one-size-fits-all, dollar figure for this type of thing. There are so many variable factors depending on what sort of car wash you want to set up. We will cover some very broad numbers to get your head around the finances.
Setting up a brand new car wash business from the ground up is probably more expensive than most people anticipate & it can be a fairly lengthy process. A typical site of one Automatic In Bay Car Wash & 3 Self Serve bays will cost anywhere around the $700,000 mark to build & approximately $350,000-400,000 in equipment costs.
These numbers include everything from building & construction, plumbing, wiring, installation, soaps, softeners & more. Basically everything you would need to trade from opening day.*
The costs above might sound a little confronting to those who have little knowledge of the industry. So where do all these costs come from?
Construction, Council Regulations & DA’s
Construction costs are your biggest overhead in the set up costs for a new car wash business. It’s just not as simple as hooking up to the water supply & washing cars. Check what’s in your DA & engage a designer who specialises in designing car wash sites, as their knowledge will be invaluable during the process. We recommend Tracey from TMC Design Group. Tracey has been designing car washes since 2004. She has a clear understanding of what makes a successful wash site & how to avoid lengthy delays & building variations.
You need to manage your design & construction right from the start. Building costs & council requirements can blow your figures out if you’re not dealing with people with actual industry experience. Car washes require underground pits to deal with the water requirements from local authorities. All of the contaminated run off & sludge has to be collected & disposed off so as not to pollute the stormwater drains. Whatever you do, seek advice from industry professionals. We’re happy to give you some guidance & advice – you can contact us here.
We also have some tips below on how to reduce costs when setting up your new car wash business.
How long does the process take?
As a rule this process should take around 12 months IF you have a motivated architect. Your design must have accounted for all council stipulations & your builder needs to be reliable. Over the years we’ve seen set ups completed as quick as 6 months. Others have spanned out to the 2 year mark. If you use someone who is well versed in car wash design the process will be much shorter than going in blind.
So is a car wash business profitable?
Yes of course (we even own our own car wash sites so we know this for a fact). A well-designed site with high quality equipment, in a good location is, in our opinion, going to be successful. Since Carwash World started in 2005 & we are witnessing steady growth for all of our customers.
IBISWorld reported that the Australian carwash industry is now forecast to be worth approximately $585 million by 2020. Between 2010-2015 the industry saw 2.5% growth. In the IBISWorld, report, the article stated within the carwash market, automatics account for 46.5 percent, & self serves for 37.6 percent with the remainder hand washing. Environmental concerns & higher density living is making services such as car washing much more popular. Car owners love the convenience of a drive in, drive out option.
How can I save money in the set up for a new car wash business?
- Take over an existing car wash. This is an excellent way to avoid all of the build & set up costs. You’re simply buying the business at market value with an aim to grow it. You can then retrofit with new & updated equipment without the need to spend on construction.
- Don’t over engineer the build – we see a lot of wasted money spent needlessly on elaborate designs when a simple construction would suffice.
- Get quotes for a fixed price build.
- Know your council & DA requirements or have someone on your team that does. We cannot stress enough the importance of an educated team assisting you in this process. A great example is a designer who misses the fact that some councils require doors on automatic car washes – this alone would add between $15,000-30,000 to your budget.
- Shop around on things like LED lights & alarm systems etc. But BEWARE, cheaper is not always better. As we know when it comes to car washing equipment, opting for the cheapest option can cost you more down the track. We encourage you to speak to other car wash owners about what works for them.
- Something that is not an immediate saving but certainly a long term one is adding Recycled Water to your car wash site. The initial expense will save you from purchasing 200 litres of fresh water every time a car goes through the automatic. It will also enable you to continue to trade if we encounter water restrictions again.
- There’s also loads of other cost saving options we know of, like putting your automatic on a frame instead of being load bearing, opting for prefabricated items such as sewer pits & using lucabond panels instead of tiles on self serves bays.
For further advice on a car wash business your planning or for more tips on how not to over-capitalise we welcome you to contact us here.
*this can vary depending on your individual site requirements
Managing Social Media for your Car Wash
Managing Social Media for your Car Wash
Where are you supposed to fit in time for managing social media for your car wash? You’re a busy car wash owner . You don’t have lots of time and small business is stressful enough, I get it. However, you simply can’t ignore that the digital age is forever changing the way we communicate with our customers and how they give us feedback regarding our products and services.
At this point, your eyes might be glazing over as you think ‘Sarah I don’t want to learn anything new’ to which I say ‘a comfort zone is a beautiful place but nothing ever grows there’. I know you want your business to grow. I’ve put together a cheat sheet for car wash owners to start you on your way to managing social media at your wash site in as little as 20 mins per week. Now in this post I am only going to talk about Facebook as I feel it’s the most relevant platform to start with for a Car Wash business.
Regularly take photos & videos
This really should take minimal effort. You (or your attendants) should have a pretty major emphasis on customer service. That means actively greeting and helping customers at your wash so make sure your phone is in your pocket. A quick before and after wash photos, videos of the equipment in action or how-to-use tutorial, pics of full wash bays, gleaming paintwork and wet dogs are all great content for your page whilst being an opportunity to interact with your customers.
Run competitions & promotions
Stay front of mind with your regular customers by running season promos and giveaways for seasonal events. Think Easter egg giveways, vouchers for Christmas or give back to the community by donating a portion of each wash back to a local charity.
Apps to make the whole process easier
Today’s phones take amazing pictures and the beauty is, even if the photo is a little sub par you can edit it easily using software already on your phone. So snap away and edit later. An average photo can become an impressive shot by adjusting the light and colour or simply throw a filter over the top of it.
Then you can take your image to the next level and add text over top to advertise your offer. There is a lot of mobile phone apps to add a text overlay, I personally prefer to Canva or Picmonkey on my desktop. I just find it easier to manage social media on a bigger screen but you do you.
Canva is great because it has predesigned themes so if you struggle to make your marketing material look pretty, it’s all done for you. Simply select the template, upload the image you want in the background, change the text and save. Canva has loads of different pre-designed themes; everything from A4 flyers, gift certificates, Facebook ads and more.
Here’s a great little tutorial on how to create a graphic in Canva to explain it better than I can.
Picmonkey is also a big favourite for me. Similar concept to Canva with templates or design your own options. I find Picmonkey better for making photo collages and designs that I want to create from scratch.
For both of these websites you can upload and store logos/images into their library and adjust the colours of the text to match the colour of your logo and business branding. You really can create something unique and professional for your business.
Here’s a Picmonkey tutorial for you to learn a little more on the amazing things it does.
Other ideas for managing social media for your car wash
Don’t think it needs to be all about clean cars. Just know your community and be relevant to them. Don’t ever underestimate the power of a cute animal video or funny quote – people love them. Share information on local events to keep your followers up to day with what is going on in their neighbourhood.
Did you know?
Flicking through your phone and see a post you think would be good to share at a later date? Save it to share later. Here’s what the SAVE button looks like – you find it in the drop down menu when you click in these 3 dots below:
Plan in out
Put aside 20 minutes per week and aim for just 2 posts per week. Don’t overwhelm yourself with any more than that when you’re starting out. You can schedule posts in advance by selecting the SCHEDULE from the right drop down menu on the PUBLISH button. This allows you to select a time and date that suits you to display the post to your followers.
I hope this gives you some clarity on managing social media for your car wash business. If you have any questions, you’re welcome to contact me to discuss!
Car Wash Chemicals and Weather Conditions
Car Wash Chemicals and Weather Conditions
With the change of seasons comes a change to washing conditions.
Now is a great time for you to be testing and adjusting your car wash chemicals as the seasons change. With this subtropical ridge across a lot of the country, it doesn’t quite feel like Autumn in Australia even though it is April. However the cooler temps and rainfall is just around the corner. Small tweaks will vastly improve your wash results in the future.
Are you noticing the lower panels on vehicles are still dirty after washing in your automatic car wash?
If so, it’s time to check titrations – you may need to adjust the low pH to remove this surface grime, especially after frequent bouts of rain. You’ll then need to reevaluate and readjust again once Autumn comes to a close & Winter begins.
We recommend at the change of each season that you also titrate your soaps. This ensures that you’re offering the best chemical delivery and eliminates any customer complaints about poor wash results.
Also now that Daylight Savings is finished, are all your lights working? Don’t leave your customers in the dark!
If you need some help with getting your chemical offer right, the team at Carwash World are happy to divulge with you our knowledge from years of testing and tweaking.