Planning on starting a hand car wash for a weekend hustle...

Learn how to clay bar = profit.

Process how long it will take you to wash a car that shows results worth the price of admission. Can you provide a quality wash/dry and vacuum in under 15mins? Or at best, 10mins?

Best of luck to you OP..

get plenty of PlastiDip and you're set. Good luck OP! 

championboyz7 said:

There's setting in which you can turn it down a bit i believe and it's mainly for the wheels. To really get the dirt out.
All car washes around my way have em and the spot I been going for years uses it as well . Never damaged the paint.

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i actually do it although it is thru 501c3. I actually tried that area and did moderately well.... I would say typical weekend 700 or so with saturday being a around 500 day and sunday typically being a little slower but picking up after the creflo crowd.

I would suggest to go online and buy supplies wholesale and in bulk. Also get some shimmys so the water dont set and create spots. Another note is to maybe get some help and kinda get a team/tandem thing going on. I was typically charging 10 for basic wash, 15 for suv's vans etc.... wheels and cleaning/restoring the lights and extra 8, 5 for vacuuming and 25 for everything including cleaning out car, air freshener, armor all tires (this is where you reallyy need to get it in bulk, no stereotypes but esp...young hood dudes want that super greases coat it 5 times shine on the tires.....Also get some awesome from the dollar store, qtips to clean out vents etc.... bar keepers friends for rims (trust me does just as good as high end expensive rim cleaner and waaaaaaaaaaay cheaper) And dont use windex for windows (eats the peel on tint and also smudges) use car window cleaner or vineger and shimmy.

Also i would suggest place signs visable far ahead of where you are actually washing. Dont promise a certain time limit, a most of all minimize cost/maximize profits.... And i also would suggest washing your car family cars etc.... ppl are inclined to if nothing else stop and possibly come thru just on the premise of you having business. Its the sheeple subliminal mindset of most..... So when it looks like you booming, ppl will if for no other reason will come thru simply because you have customers and must be doing a good job.

Also if you set a time to start and finish stick with that time, if not you loose out on repeat customers and potential customers who might have been busy etc...and planned on comming back. In my case i was lucky because thru the holy loophole which is religion i could use the 501c3 to employee ppl and many of the supplies for free (ie thru write off as community service and ppl always need communtiy service hrs). Buut typical good day is give a take 35-40 cars in a 8 or 9 hr time frame. So a good steady pace is about 4 or so cars and hr.

thapointguy said:

Try it out you don't got nothing to lose. Customers get their car washed while they get their hair done might get some to bite.

Kinda ghetto but use a leaf blower to get rid of most of the water off the car especially the very tight spots before drying with a towel.

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Sounds good but no offense naaaaaaaaah do not do this...I tried that, and especially in his area keeping it 100 most black women saw it as ghetto and/or um i aint seen that before you somehow are going to ruin my car. To us guys etc..most ppey wou see the sense and logic in doing so...but just save you self a neckroll, a he ghetto/bootlegged, stereotypical just like a N word comments and dont do this.

Bro, thank you! Thread is turning out much better than I thought it would, and I appreciate everything. I need to start my research and get my hands dirty. What part of College Park are you in? Judging from your church crowd comment, I'm thinking mid Old National?

ATLien Seeko said:

Seriously, though? It's not profitable? I think it depends on how you market it. Why not get your car washed for the weekend while you're getting your hair done? It's a vanity focused business.

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FAIL

To adjust to the economy most car washes offer monthly passes to customers or corporations. If this is just a weekend hustle you lose out of weekly profits.
Your overhead will cost more than you're making. Not to mention permits and insurance for vehicles that may get damaged.

ATLien Seeko said:

Bro, thank you! Thread is turning out much better than I thought it would, and I appreciate everything. I need to start my research and get my hands dirty. What part of College Park are you in? Judging from your church crowd comment, I'm thinking mid Old National?

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oh no i dont live in college park im in covington actually... i networked with a guy i know who has a hospice and a christian rehabilitation home for ex offenders, drug addicts etc... we would ask stores if we could use their side/back parking lots for the car wash. Before i got into business with my parents i tried the mobile meal type thing..(if you wanna make money this is a way to go now that atl has made it legal to do so on public grounds ie falcons/braves games etc.... ) i would sell food etc while they waited etc...or went shopping he would wash their cars. kinda a joint venture type thing...

I mean this was a few years back but all in all old nat was ok... like i said i mean you had the so called uppity negros who damn near tried extra hard to find something wrong with your job, or you had the oh im just s single mom and blah blah blah and all of us gotta look out for each other and black folks need to unite aka cut me a deal just cause im a single black mom and its hard....

Or the young cat who probably smoked a lb of kush and want you to clean his car and mad you can still smell weed in the car... Or the oh the pistol under the seat illegal so dont take it out or touch it and work around it while cleaning, or the single ma with 5 kids who wanna run out and help you wash the car aka mess things up. or the hood booger who pratically lives in her car and looks like hurricane katrina and expects you to make it look like showroom stock.

The worst to be honest is the chics who think they cute and many are who dont wanna pay full price or try to flirt with you to discount, the hard luck hoos stories aka im a single mom and times so hard cut me a break, and the snooty uppity negros who complain and say and compare oh a white man woulda did it better.

We eventually left and went to douglasville (which did ok) jonesboro over by the old shannon mall and did pretty good...and did really well offa hank aaron across from the dmv near the braves stadium (but you gotta watch for atl police they be on some where ur liscence etc...(apparently llc etc is not enough need a special ordinance liscence to wash cars legally) but in your case i doubt ud need it

but all in all the area is cool dont get me wrong and im not trying to ish on blk ppl and minorities etc... but between the holy rolliers hollier then thou attitudes right after church and the ghetto birds and the so called high scale negros...i just felt like its gotta be a better way lol just being real.

I mean alot of times its pretty easy, most dope boys dont really car about the car mainly shining the hell up out of their tires and rims, the single mommies etc hood boogers mainly be looking to see if you can get the mckie dees ries, gold fish crumbs, fast food trash, endless strains of weave out the inside., and the chirch folks trying to use scriptures to justify you giving them a discount.

I no it sounds maybe corny but we also went to party city and got watever latest marvel, hit movie character that is out and used that to promote...(actually started charging like 5 bcks for kids to take pics with the hulk batman etc....)

I would suggest getting a cylinder rolling shop vac,,,with the multiple attachments... a high pressure hose (mainly because if you are using a shop they are using alot of water ie washing heads etc...) so the high pressure will compensate for the low output u will get outside. get some cones to seperate and guide cars in and out. and set up stations for washing, drying, and vacuuming detailing. also play appropriate music... no cussing i would say something like kiss 104.1 some v103...etc something appreciated and non offensive to anyone.

Get a set i hate the word uniform but a tshirt polo or something that is solid and eye catching... also maybe a bullhorn. Keep a dialogue with customers if there is a wait...the conversation will keep the antsie ppl who may wanna leave in their seats,,due to just having a nice conversation and losing track of time.

Also make large signs with something catchy like the base price ie 10 dollar hand wash. If u gonna do wax id suggest the wash and wax carbunate...not as good as the turtle california gold etc... hand seperate wax...but for most decent to newer cars they wont even notice...so long as you rinse good and make sure you buff before it spots or it will look like part of the car is waxed and part of it isnt.

Ideal time to start i would say 9 and stop around 4...sundays best bet is maybe 1.... a lil after the ending of that 12:30 last service crowd. and possibly to 5.



SolexSup said:

Unless youre a girl in a bikini don't bother

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ATLien Seeko said:

So my family owns a hair salon, and the rear of the building is a perfect setup for a hand car wash. My problem is, I'm not really familiar with the business, but I know I can jump in and do work. I can wash a car.

So what's pricing like at local places? What kinds of services are offered? What are the best kinds of supplies to get with a pretty limited budget?

So this is all the services I've come up with so far. What other services should I add to the list, and what's reasonable pricing? I'm in Atlanta, if that makes a difference.

Services:
- Exterior wash
- Vacuum
- Wheel clean/tire shine (Should this be included with the wash?)
- Rain-X window treatment

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Mobile detailing is decent money if you build the clientele . Don't listen to these cats about models, sounds silly. Once you're real about it get some business cards and flyers and leave them around big business centers and parking lots.

Stationary location might be a little different. People will pay for the convenience of having the whip clean while they work.

Mobile car washers make a killing in my city (Columbia, SC).

There's a mobile car wash next to a Snappy's (auto wash) & when it's super packed (Thurs-Sat afternoon)...everybody hits the mobile van & gets shined up.

Do your thing...people ALWAYS need car washes...even if it's a quick pollen rinse in the Spring (Charge $3-$5) & make a killing. 

For those who are saying he needs something other than a water hose, why? it does the trick

if you want to get fancy, just buy a power cleaner

wanksta23 said:

For those who are saying he needs something other than a water hose, why? it does the trick

if you want to get fancy, just buy a power cleaner

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.

I said the same thing to myself, but someone brought up a good point about cleaning rims. A pressure washer would do a much better job, so I see what they're saying. Not sure if I'm wanting to invest that much into it, though. I was just thinking I already have the facility and a pretty steady flow of traffic through the area. Either way, I really appreciate the advice.