What have I been up to??In the last three weeks,I'm been learning the car wash business..This is what has been offered...A good friend of mine dad and partner own 3 fairly new car washs in Calgary.In 2011,there may be a plan for each owner to take ownship of one car wash each..The third they may sell.My friends dad whats myself and his two sons to purchase the third car wash.Another plan is the owners may keep the car washs and my friends dad will build a new car wash and the three of us will invest in that one.They have opened a second shift,part time at the Heritage and Fairmount car wash in which I work...To learn the in and out of how to run one of these.

Seems to be a good business....Was thinking that this would be good as extra income when I retire or become retarded,which ever comes first...

 

A friend of mine back in Kamloops BC owned and operated a 3 bay car wash for years. He recently just sold it for an offer he couldn't refuse.

It was just a pressure wand and brush type operation and he made a killing! Nothing fancy, open bays, 2 of which could be closed via overhead doors, the 3rd was a 24 hr open bay. If and when it was asked for he closed one bay and we used to do car detailing on request. Once the word got out about our detailing and the quality of it, the bay became a permanent cleaning bay.

In the 20 yrs he owned it, it bought and paid for the building, 2 houses and a whole lot of toys as well as a comfortable monthly wage for 3 employees. Lot's of hands on maintenance and upkeep but worth it. Get a good clientèle and work to keep them and you will do very well.

Sounds like a great plan to go in this direction.

Jeff

 

Thanks Jeff....I'm going to be the only non-family investor,which is nice to know, they have that much trust in me...My friend also has taken on the complete accounting of these three car washs...The one I work at is a 8 car end to end car wash...the second one is a 6 car end to end...Haven't been at the third one.......Just found that I have alot to learn...

 

Good luck Dave - hope it works out for ya bud. I have a buddy in Hanna that runs one. Seems to do ok.

 

Thanks Shane...Its going to be anywhere between 5 to 7 years of free sweat labour before any return until the business is paid off...Then it should be ok...I hope...

 

Dave, congrats & I wish you well with your new venture.

By coincidence I have a brother in-law in Ontario that owns 3 coin operated car/truck washes. The car washes are his 2nd job but he does extremely well with them.


Best of luck...Joe


edit... LOL, can you fit a chassis dyno in one of your bays?!!

 

OK not to bring you down on your idea but just some food for thought.....

Partnerships can be really BAD experiences if you do not have the PERFECT partners. In my own experiences I shut down a VERY lucrative business because my partner turned out to be a dead beat. I did all the work and he spent all the money, not a good combination for success.

It is difficult to find a business partner that you can actually make money with, lots of personal issues, family issues, romantic issues that can all come in to play to affect your business experience.

I am fortunate right now to have a good partner here at DTR, but learned to regret it the hard way many years ago in another endeavor.

In order for a partnership to work you have to map out your individual duties and STICK to them or else you end up stepping on top of each other all the time.

Money is the main issue, and the control of it HAS to be TIGHT, that means NO expenditures that are not absolutely positively necessary for the success of the business venture.

if you want to be successful you skimp and save where you can while providing the best product you can for your customer, which often means that there are some areas that you can not be to skimpy in. For example using cleaning chemicals that are saving you money but not getting the job done, will only lose you money in the end. You have to find the perfect balance to maintain quality and stick with it.

Don't try to get too big, too fast, that is a real business killer. It takes time to grow a good clientele but only a minute to lose them all if you screw up.

Remember you need partners that are committed to the same level of expertise and willing to work the long hours if you are to be successful in the end. That means your friends most likely are NOT your best choice to go into business with. It is after all about Business and NOT Friendship.

Hope this gives you a few things to think about and best of luck to you in 2011

 

Good luck DD2. I have looked into that industry and think it is a great opportunity, especially in this city where the chinooks would guarantee extra business.

 

Thats pretty cool Dave, we haven't seen ya around in quite some time lol. Best of luck with the new business venture, let us know if you go through with it. As mentioned having a bay setup for detailing would be great, gets a bit nippy cleaning the truck outside, lol.

 

Have a written and partner approved exit plan. (Building on Larry's input)

 

A bay for detailing??? You're turning into a pansy Greg, we need a bay for a chassis dyno!

Do you realize that there is actually no diesel friendly chassis dyno's in Calgary?
RCTS won't dyno diesels that smoke, DPS's dyno is still "under repair", Dale Adams hub dyno is awkward & he says he hasn't dyno'd a diesel in a few years.
Hmmm, maybe this a business opportunity for "Dave's Car Wash & Dyno"...


Back on topic, that is excellent business advice by Larry & Macattack.

 

Do DTR members get a group discount?

 

Blame it on Deb, she converted me after a weekend of polishing at the World of Wheels last year lol. But you are correct, it is unfortunate about the lack of an adequate dyno in this city.

 

Thank you for all the input....I'm going to keep all of this in mind...Very good advice....I also seen many business partners go sour...

 

Dave I am going to email you some info for a business that I have been looking into. I think it would be right up your alley, and should be fairly lucrative