Car Wash business is one business that can easily be setup if detailed feasibility study is carefully carried out.
Such study does not require the service of an expert to be successful. It is a business that can be handled from one person up depending on how big you plan to start.
Car wash business is so profitable that making a N500k per month is as easy as a poker game.
The business is not limited to a particular class of the society.
It can be started by youths, graduates, unemployed, businessmen, women, investors etc. it is so viable that anybody that set it up would never dream of changing his line of business ever again.
As easy as the business seems, there are some important tips that had to be strictly adhered to, to stay afloat and become successful, please stick to these steps;
1. Finance
The first thing that should be uppermost in the mind of anyone going into a car washing business is raising of capital. You need finance to get necessary tools to work with. From rough estimation it is a business you need nothing less than two hundred thousand naira only to commence operation.
2. View others
One area that pushes some people out of business is lack of needed expertise in such business before delving into it. To succeed in this business, please visit at least three to five other outfits (in same line of business) and see how it is set up generally.
Ask helpful questions, get facts and figures on how to bill and treat customers so they would always come back.
Be confident and very observant you never leave anything out during your tour of these places (if possible go with a writing pad and a pen).
3. Location
Deciding on a particular spot to cite the business is another step that requires careful consideration.
Don’t locate the business out of sentiment as this might push you out of business. Get a place where there are lots of vehicular movements.
You won’t last long in this business if you settle for a remote spot or an area out of town not known with lots of traffic.
4. Approval
After deciding on your location, the next step is to get needed approval from authorities where the business falls.
Don’t ever commence business without getting this approval as it is a necessary thing that ought to be in place due to nature of the business.
The authorities must confirm such area has good drainage and gutter so that dirty water won’t flood the road.
5. Borehole /well
Water is the livewire of any car wash business. Take every effort to sink a borehole (this is a small machine sunk to the ground with the ability to produce water where there is none). Another alternative is by digging a well.
Make sure the well is treated on a regular basis to give clean water suitable for vehicles.
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6. Overhead Tanks
The tanks would be strategically placed to store water for any period when there is none available. A small thank will do in this instance to save cost.
As time goes on you can then go for the bigger ones.
7. Power
You can generate light by getting a small generator (which is about ten to fifteen thousand naira). This you need to power the borehole to produce water as at when due.
You also need power to illuminate your surroundings when it’s getting dark.
8 Detergents
Go for detergents that are vehicle friendly (you must have learnt this in course of viewing other car wash outlets).
From experience, some detergents might be too harsh on paint of vehicle. Am sure you don’t want to run into unnecessary debts.
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9. Buckets
Towels, Brushes: other materials needed include hand brushes (used in washing vehicles), towels to mop dry and buckets to mix detergents.
All these are very easy to get in any neighborhood.
To cap it all, you need lots of humility and self-restraint when dealing with customers.
Some of your customers might have gone through some tortuous moment in traffic; they are ready to flare up at the slightest provocation.
Treat your customers well and you’ll have constant supply of cash.
Car washing machine price in Nigeria
Each type of machine has its own price in Nigeria. The price range is from N60,000 (simplest pressure water manual machine), to several million for automatic machine as above pictures, or even up to N15 million (the entire set of automatic car wash machine) as the technology has no fixed price in itself.
You should identify type of business, target customer and financial status to pick a reasonable investment for washing machine, then search straightly on the Internet for suitable equipment.
Below are some notes to consider in composing your business plan:
Analyze the SWOT: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of your business
Determine your target set of customers: mainstream drivers or hi-class car owners?
Draft your advertisement or promotion to attract more customers: this can be done offline through leaflets, news-letters or online via ads on media and the Internet.
Project the expenditure and sales for the first few months
To know exactly how to run a car wash service, there are so many factors you must learn.
Be open to every advice you get but be selective in adopting them!
CONCLUSION
Start-up is never easy but setting a car wash business in Nigeria is not that difficult.
We hope thanks to this article, you have partly figured out what you need to do to run your business, as well as found out how much to open a car wash with car wash equipment prices in Nigeria.
