Starting a mobile car wash business can definitely be a lucrative business opportunity, with the car wash market valued at a whopping $35 billion in 2020. Starting a mobile car wash business requires a relatively lower startup investment compared to an on-site car wash business, obviously because we can eliminate the cost to purchase or rent a physical location.
Thus, starting a mobile car wash business can be a much more accessible opportunity for entrepreneurs with a huge potential to make profits. Yet, although starting one is relatively easy, it doesn’t mean you’ll automatically achieve success as soon as the business is established: you’ll still need proper planning to ensure you have the right roadmap to achieve success.
So, how to start a mobile car wash business? Where do I even begin? In this guide, we will try to answer these questions.
Mobile Car Wash Business: General Idea
While we’ve discussed that starting a mobile car wash business can be a lucrative business idea, it’s also a relatively competitive field. In 2021, there are more than 54,00 car wash businesses in the U.S. (both mobile and on-site), and the industry is still growing with around a 3% annual growth rate.
So, if you want to start a successful mobile car wash business, it’s important to really understand the basics of car washing (and to some extent, car detailing), as well as the management side of things.
Your Unique Value Proposition
Every successful business has one thing in common: competitive advantage. Some businesses might sell better products/services than their competitors, some might be able to offer lower prices.
Nevertheless, you have to think about your unique value proposition (UVP) as a business: what can you offer that your competitors can’t?
You can try something experimental and out of the box. For example, you can try to be the only mobile car wash business that exclusively uses environmentally-friendly methods and supplies. Your objective is to find a unique target audience that you can attract as soon as possible with your UVP.
Also, the mobile car wash business is, in its essence, a service business, and one of the biggest competitive edge you can create is to provide the best possible service.
Time is of the essence for a mobile car wash business where you are the one approaching your client, and not the other way around. Thus, even by only always showing up on time and finishing your job during the promised time frame, you are already better than most of your competitors. This is where you can leverage technology to ensure customer service excellence and an advanced mobile car wash software by fieldd can provide the following benefits for you:
- Comprehensive field service management tools to ensure your staff arrive on time, every time
- User-friendly customer app to give your customers an excellent user experience
- Optimize travel times with an intuitive navigation feature
- Online bookings, online quotes, and online invoices for better user experience and enhanced brand image
- Manage your bookkeeping easily
- Real-time reporting for better decision-making in the future
- Documenting your work to minimize risks during damages with photos
Different Mobile Car Wash Services
What kinds of services are you going to offer? There are actually a wide variety of services you can offer as a car wash (and car detailing) business. You can either focus on a single service as your specialization or offer a menu of different services, which can allow you to attract more people with different price preferences and needs.
With that being said, here are some examples of services you could offer:
- Exterior car washing and detailing: generally will include washing the exterior of the vehicle, removal of stains/tar, claying the paint, and cleaning the rims and tires.
- Interior car detailing: vacuuming, thorough cleaning and trash removal, window cleaning/restoration, and so on.
- Leather conditioning: specialized car detailing services that offer restoration to leather surfaces (for leather seats, leather dashboards, etc.)
- Car wax: waxing/claying the paint so it looks brand new
- Headlight restoration: cleaning and restoring the headlight so it looks brand new, might involve parts/whole replacement
- Engine cleaning: will require a thorough knowledge for proper cleaning without disrupting the engine’s functionality
- Other services: pet hair removal, mold removal, carpets/seat shampooing, etc.
Mobile Car Wash Pricing Strategy
How should you price your mobile car wash business? There are two basic principles:
- Your pricing should reflect your target audience’s preferences, capabilities, and needs
- Your pricing strategy should be approached according to the prices of your competitors
This doesn’t mean, however, that you should always offer a cheaper price than your competitors, even if you are a brand new business. You can price yourself above the competitors if you can offer more value. For example, if you are in possession of cleaning equipment or technology not available anywhere else, then certainly you can charge more. However, you should assess whether your target audience has the capability to support the prices you want to charge.
Don’t forget that you can always increase your price as you gain more customers (although you should be careful about this). The basic principle is, make sure you can communicate your unique value(s) so even if you increase your price, it’s justified.
Legal Requirements for Starting a Mobile Car Wash Business
First things first, you should establish your mobile car wash business as a legal business entity.
While you can start the business as a sole proprietorship, we’d recommend incorporating your car wash business as an LLC, so you can protect yourself when a client decides to sue you. Forming an LLC does require more paperwork than a sole proprietorship, but the process is relatively manageable.
Licenses and Permits Requirements
You should figure out the licenses and permits required to run a mobile car business in your area. Keep in mind that both federal and state laws might apply, so make sure you’re in compliance. Some states may also regulate where you are allowed to discharge waters, what kinds of chemicals you are allowed (and aren’t allowed) to use, and other details.
Also, check for environmental regulations that might impact your car wash business. Since you are going to use a lot of water and might use chemical supplies, some locations might have additional requirements for environmental compliance.
Insurance Requirements
Depending on your location, you might or might not be required to be insured before you can start a mobile car wash business. However, even if you are not legally required to do so, it’s a wise idea to have your business protected from future liabilities and incidents.
You should get business insurance and liability insurance, and Garage Keeper’s Liability which will protect you when you are working on a car when it’s in your possession.
Also, some clients might only want to deal with insured businesses, so it’s a good way to attract a wider variety of clients.
Mobile Car Wash Business Plan
Having a proper business plan for your mobile car wash business is especially important if you are planning to attract outside investors to fund the business.
However, even if you are planning to finance the business on your own, a business plan will still be extremely useful in providing you with a clear roadmap to achieve success in your mobile car wash business.
While there are various methods and approaches in writing a business plan, your mobile car wash business plan should include:
- A summary of what your business will offer, and your unique value proposition
- Your personal information as the owner of the company
- Your business’s information: registered brand name, address, phone number, and names of your key team members
- Your company’s objectives and mission statement
- How you are planning to achieve these objectives (
- Your pricing strategy and packages (if you offer different types of services)
- Your managerial structure, listing key executive personnels and key employees. If there is more than one owner, list all the owners, their roles, and the percentage of ownership.
- Your target customers, their behaviors, and how your business can provide value to them
- Your financial plan: start-up investments required, budget plans, and scaling plans
- Marketing plan detailing how you are going to promote your business to customers
Mobile Car Wash Business Equipment and Infrastructure
The most significant investment in your mobile car wash business will be the vehicle. It should be large enough to store all your equipment, and in most cases, a (used) SUV is the best choice, which you should be able to get in under $5,000.
If your local regulations don’t permit you to dump waters, then you’ll need to install a water reclamation system in your vehicle, and you’ll need to be able to carry water in the vehicle, around 80 to 100-gallon capacity. Also, make sure the vehicle can operate a professional vacuum.
You’ll also need the following equipment and supplies:
- Vacuum cleaner(s)
- Portable generator
- Water supply tank, pump, hose, and reels
- Buffers
- Pressure washers
- Vapor steamers
- Paint correction tools
- Cleaning supplies
- Chemical storage
- Buckets
- Sponges
Conclusion
While a mobile car wash business can be a very attractive business to start, you still need proper planning and hard work to make the business successful. The best competitive edge you can create is to always provide high-quality service to your customers, and this is where you should leverage technologies like field service scheduling and management tools to help improve your business’s service excellence.