Research from the Moneymaker Factory

Every year in Russia the number of cars increases by 1.5 million units. In addition to the increase in demand due to the growth in the number of cars, there is already a frantic shortage in the car wash business. The advantage of self-service car wash stations is a quick payback for investors, because they are in demand among the population due to the low cost of services and the controlled level of quality.

What is a self-service car wash? This is such a service, with the help of which the car owner will be able to wash and take care of his car on his own.

For this, stationary posts are organized in the car wash complex, designed for one car place. Each post is equipped with a special panel with connected equipment, where the user can choose a number of paid services, such as:

1. Washing: hot or cold water, foam, osmosis;
2. Waxing;
3. Insect treatment;
4. Drying.

Compared to traditional car wash services, self-service car wash is cheaper and takes less time. there are practically no queues at such washes, and the washing procedure itself is fully automated. The car owner himself acts as an operator and can independently control the thoroughness and quality of washing.

In times of crisis, the overwhelming majority of consumers will give preference to a self-service car wash over a traditional service. After all, this is an order of magnitude cheaper, besides, there is a real saving of time, and the quality of washing increases many times over, since the owner independently controls the entire process of washing and caring for his car.

If we compare self-service in a car wash service with a seemingly even cheaper alternative, such as washing in the courtyard of a house or near a pond, then here, in addition to the realization that by his actions the car owner causes significant harm to the environment, there is also a high probability of administrative imposition. fine. The size of the fine will be from 3 to 5 thousand rubles, while self-washing at a car wash will cost only 100-200 rubles.

Now let's find out how popular car washes are in Russia - for this, let's take a look at the following statistics.

The need for car wash services

According to the State Traffic Inspectorate, as of the beginning of 2016, 56.6 million cars were registered in Russia, of which 44.2 million are passenger cars and 2.2 million are motor vehicles. The annual growth in the number of vehicles is 1.5 million units (+ 2.7%).

The average car owner washes their car at least 2 times a month. According to the investment company ROSTA, which specializes in the construction of turnkey car washes, a self-service car wash with 6 posts can serve up to 900 cars daily.

This means that, even in spite of the provision of the market with car wash services, due to the increased number of vehicles, the annual demand for car washes will increase by 110 units.

1 500 000 new cars * 2 times / month. * 12 months = 36,000,000 washes per year for new cars

36,000,000 washes / (900 washes / day * 365 days) = 109.6 complexes.

The given calculation is very general, since does not take into account the seasonality of the business. In periods such as March-April, October-November, which are peak, the load is maximum - the standard loaded car wash may not cope with the influx of visitors.

In addition, car washes rarely work at maximum technical load 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Also, the density of the location of car washes plays an important role - it is not uniform everywhere. Therefore, the annual need for the construction of new car wash complexes to cover the growing needs will be 200-300 centers for the provision of such services.

In addition, about 5 thousand car wash services are required to meet the needs for washing all available road transport - today this need is not even half provided.

The deficit among car wash services is clearly demonstrated on the example of the city of St. Petersburg in the following graph (Fig. 2):

Benefits of self-service car washes

With the existing deficit of services, which was demonstrated above, and in a crisis, only car washes with the possibility of self-service will be in predominant demand (due to the price of the service (3-4 times lower), the quality and speed of receiving the service), therefore it would be more rational to pay attention to this particular type of business.

As for the speed of service at car washes, we will study such data. They are graphically presented in table 1.

Based on this, it becomes obvious that during the crisis, the most popular service that can cover the growing need for this type of service due to the increase in the number of cars will be a car wash at a self-service station. The benefits are visualized in Fig. 2.

Rice. 2. Advantages of self-service car washes.
According to the investment company ROSTA

Main advantages

Profitability.

From an economic point of view, building and maintaining self-service car washes is more profitable than owning and using traditional car wash complexes. This is due to the fact that savings are observed:

• On wages, since the number of personnel is reduced (no washers are needed);
• On commissioning, since this structure is being built from lightweight prefabricated metal structures, i.e. it is easy to assemble. Also, for such structures, the requirements for registration of land plots in ownership or long-term lease have been reduced.

Fast payback and low competition

The quick payback of the project is ensured by the high demand for this type of service among the population, as well as by the higher productivity of the service. In addition, there is still low competition for this type of car washes, since this type of service began to be popularized in Russia only 5 years ago.

All-season service

Due to the fact that car wash stations are equipped with an anti-icing system, the downtime in service due to very low air temperatures is close to zero. Such car washes are closed only when the temperature drops below -30 degrees Celsius. And this is no more than 4-7 days a year. This makes it possible to profitably use such complexes in all climatic zones of Russia.

Usually the temperature in winter does not drop below -10 degrees Celsius. At this temperature, self-service car washes operate smoothly - this mode of operation is ensured by laying a constantly operating snow melting system in the concrete floor in the form of heated antifreeze circulating through the pipes.

Turnkey price

Let's find out what the turnkey price of a self-service car wash includes.

According to the estimates of R. Matsarin, co-owner of the Rosta holding company, the turnkey cost of a standard container-type facility for 6 posts will cost 10 million rubles.

Where did these numbers come from? This can be easily traced using the following calculation formula (Fig. 3).

The advantage of container-type car wash complexes is that all equipment is assembled in a separate technical container. The equipment installed in the technical container ensures uninterrupted operation of up to 8 posts (according to the Italian company MIX).

The tech container looks like this:

Container station with 6 posts:

A modular type car wash will be cheaper, because it is created on the basis of a pre-fabricated frame structure, therefore, the main share in its price is taken by the cost of equipment with commissioning services.

The price of a modular type car wash includes:

• Production of permits and design documentation (20-25% of the cost of the object);
• The cost of building materials + construction work (30-35% of the cost of the object;
• Equipment (40-45% of the cost of the object);
• Installation supervision (5% of the equipment cost).

As an example, we will give an excerpt from one thematic forum (Fig. 5) - here is the entire costly part of starting a 6-post car wash complex:

According to the Aqua Technology company, the business profitability is 83%, and the payback period is 2-3 years. The average bill is 60 rubles, the duration of washing with wax application is up to 10 minutes. Service temperature - up to -30 degrees Celsius.

Among the most economically attractive calculations, one can single out the one that was made according to the data of the Elematica company. So, the cost of equipping one post will be from 120 thousand rubles. When calculating maintenance of up to 140 cars per day with an average check of 150 rubles, the payback period for 1 post will be 2 months.

Self-service car washes payback period

The average profitability of a self-service car wash, according to Rosta, is quite high. Here is the data for one of the implemented projects - fig. 6.

Based on all of the above, we can conclude that self-service car washes will be in increasing demand every year. And with the constant increase in the number of vehicles on the roads, which can be observed even during the crisis, it is these car washes that will be in high demand. First of all, because of the economy and the lack of queues.

In order to organize your business, it is important to determine the location of the car wash - the best one will be a place with busy traffic. You also need to choose the appropriate format (number of posts) and decide on the equipment. As you can see from the presented price range for equipment, you can start your own business even with minimal investment. The quick payback of the project will allow it to expand profitably and in the shortest possible time.