What documents are needed to open a car wash. What you need to open a car wash

The essence of the business idea

The optimal business option for cities with a population of 500 thousand to 1 million people is a car wash with six stations. This type of activity has a number of features. The most important one is that opening a self-service car wash is much more expensive than a manual car wash. But this option also has advantages:

1. Automation

The operation of the self-service car wash is fully automated, so the human factor is reduced to a minimum. There is no way for employees to work past the cash register. And fewer employees are needed: a few administrators are enough to work, who do not need to be carefully selected and trained for a long time.

2. Customer flow

The range of customers for a manual car wash depends on various factors (price, location, external and internal appearance of the car wash, personnel qualifications). If an entrepreneur is targeting an expensive segment and the cost of a car wash is from 1000 rubles, only owners of premium cars will visit it. Others will not be able to afford such services.

To stay afloat, it is necessary to introduce additional services: polishing, interior dry cleaning, detailing, etc., as well as a loyalty system and good advertising. You will also have to work with 3-4 suppliers, because one supplier will not be able to provide the entire range of goods.

There are no such questions for a self-service car wash. Anyone who saw the sign from the road drove to the car wash. In this case, a standard set of services will be sufficient: car washing and vacuum cleaner. Working with suppliers is easier: you need to choose consumables that suit you in terms of price and quality. And it will definitely be one supplier.

3. Responsibility

At a manual car wash, conflicts with customers often arise. A car enthusiast may accuse the car washers of damaging the car or stealing something from the interior. At a self-service car wash, such situations are excluded: if the client’s car is scratched, it is his fault, if something is missing from the car, a third party is to blame.

Mobile car wash in the garage: necessary details

The first thing you will have to deal with is purchasing all the necessary parts that will be needed to assemble and connect the car wash. The most expensive and important of them is the pump; its performance must be very high.

During operation, the pump must develop a power of up to 200 bar.

When purchasing this part of the system, you need to pay attention to how well it is made. In the optimal version of the pump, the pistons in the working part are made of either durable ceramics or metal, and the block head is cast from brass. The bearings of the crank mechanism must be provided with a large support area.

Electric motor requirements:

Single-phase with a power of 220 Watt;
It is desirable to have a single-stage gearbox and capacitors.

Due to this, the device will be quite safe to use. Additional equipment will increase the service life of the electric motor and the pump itself.

How to prepare for the opening?

Before opening, it is important to research the market of the city in which you intend to operate. Count how many residents there are and how many self-service car washes there are. When calculating, do not take into account hand washes.

The ideal option is one post per 10 thousand people. That is, for a city with a population of one hundred thousand, a total of ten posts is sufficient. You can open a car wash and make a profit even in a crowded market. But it is important to understand that in this case the return on investment will take much longer.

There is an excellent example where businessmen did not calculate the market capacity and suffered as a result. In a city with a population of 600 thousand people, there was a self-service car wash that received 1.3 million rubles in revenue every month. Later, another car wash opened next to it, and the turnover of each of them dropped to 700 thousand rubles. With such revenue, the profit is minimal, and the return period for investments increases significantly

If you have assessed the market capacity and understood the potential of your business, you need to look for equipment suppliers. Don't be afraid to work with Russian manufacturers. Now, at a comparable or lower price, their equipment is superior in quality to foreign analogues.

Equipment is the basis of a self-service car wash, so choosing a supplier must be approached responsibly.

The first thing you need to pay attention to is what are the terms of cooperation, service and how competently you were advised.

But even if you are satisfied with everything, do not rush to conclude an agreement. First, you should check the equipment in action. Go to where it is installed, see how the washing process goes, talk to customers, test the equipment on your car.

Installation of a home automated mini-wash

Hydraulic diagram of a car wash.

You also don’t need any special knowledge to create such a necessary thing as an automated mini-wash. Only the necessary tools, the availability of the necessary parts and the desire to make the process of washing your car with your own hands more enjoyable.

First, you need to prepare the canisters; one of them will have to be cut in order to create a “second bottom” where the shuttle for winding the wire and power and the rotating lid will be located.
For cutting, you can use a knife or scissors, depending on the thickness of the canister walls.
Regular drinking water cans are ideal for this.
In the bottom of the whole canister you need to make a hole corresponding to the diameter of the large hose, that is, 10 mm, exactly under the inlet of the canister. On the opposite side you need to make a hole corresponding to the washer.
The washer is attached using a brass M8 bolt, respectively, with a nut and washer, to the outer surface of the bottom of the whole canister approximately in the middle. The motor is secured with a clamp, which can be easily made from a strip of plastic.
To install the hoses, plastic bushings are used. These can even be cases from ordinary felt-tip pens. After fastening, you need to connect the receiving tube from the motor to the bottom of the canister into the hole made in advance, from where water will flow to the motor.
The wires and thinner hose are inserted into the larger diameter hose. You need to insert it into the inlet of the canister and through the hole made in its bottom. For reliability, the hose is secured in the hole with a sleeve.
You need to install a switch or button on the brush; make a choice from these parts yourself. Choose what you find more convenient, because you will perform the entire manufacturing process with your own hands. A button or switch is glued inside the handle.

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To decorate it, use a piece of corrugated hose; a diameter of 25 mm is suitable for this. It must be put on the brush handle in advance, that is, before assembly is carried out. Naturally, wires are connected to the switch.

The lower ends of the wire must be connected to the washer motor and to the power cord, which, in turn, must be connected to the motor. When choosing a power cord, do not forget that it must be 12-volt. The cigarette lighter plug is connected to the cord.

After the wires have been soldered, the lower part (cut) of the canister, that is, its “second bottom,” is attached to the main canister with self-tapping screws. Do not forget about the tightness of the connections; you must use a sealant, even if it seems to you that everything is fine. The rotary cover must be attached in the same way. If all the nuances and smallest details are observed, assembly will not take you much time.

How much does it cost to open a self-service car wash?

The investment in a self-service car wash is higher than in a manual car wash. If you build a regular car wash for six stations on rented land, you can spend 7 million rubles. For the same self-service car wash, investments will start from 13 million rubles. The figures are given without taking into account the supply of communications.

It is important to consider that a self-service car wash uses more water and electricity than a manual car wash. This means connection, preparation for opening and utilities will cost more.

You should not get involved in this business if you are limited in funds: costs may rise unexpectedly. For example, the issue of connecting communications may take a long time. All this time, the car wash will not be able to operate, but you will have to pay for renting the land.

The main part of the cost of creating this business is investment in the construction of a sink and equipment. You will definitely need six posts ready-made. In addition, you may need to purchase:

Apparatus for supplying desalted water (osmosis system),
A machine for exchanging money for tokens and cards,
Vacuum cleaner,
Vending machine for selling car cosmetics,
Video surveillance system.

Monthly business expenses depend on how much water, chemicals and electricity customers use. In general, keep in mind that 35% of revenue will go to cover costs. It is not advisable to save on consumables. Customers stand in line at car washes, where they have enough water and foam to wash their car the first time.

You can reduce costs a little by heating and lighting. There are virtually no employees at the self-service car wash, so the heating can be kept to a minimum. But even with this, utility bills will still be higher than at a manual car wash.

Revenue amounts vary depending on the city and other factors. For example, we once invested in a car wash, the revenue of which was planned to be 1 million rubles. But the car wash is powered by a residential pipe, so during peak loads there is only enough water to service three stations instead of six. Because of this factor, revenue was lower than planned.

Additional revenue can be obtained by installing vending machines for selling coffee and snacks, antifreeze or car cosmetics. By maintaining a balance between price and quality, this will increase customer loyalty.

The return on investment in a business is from 2.5 years, provided that the market is not overcrowded. We try not to get involved in projects where the return on investment period is longer.

Setting up a garage for a car wash: what is important to know

It is not possible to install a professional car wash in every garage building. After all, it will be necessary to allocate an appropriate place for it.

What you will need for this:

A special post to which sewerage and water supply will be connected;
The slope of the floors, which will be necessary so that dirty water can drain into the sand trap.

Small particles will have to settle at the bottom of the latter. This device will need to be cleaned periodically. Liquid with very small particles will have to flow into the sewer connected to the sand trap.

Such arrangement of the floor will allow dampness to accumulate in the garage, and the sewerage system itself will not be able to become clogged with large particles of dirt.

When carrying out work, we must not forget about compliance with electrical safety rules. For these purposes, it is better to use a transformer that will lower the voltage in the network during water procedures to 110 volts.

If there is no transformer, then it is necessary to ensure complete moisture protection for all lighting devices - lamps, sockets, and even more so the wiring.

It is generally advisable for switches to be located outside the garage. The installation of doors should be non-standard; they should be located outside the room itself for better convenience.

What documents are needed to open?

Self-service car washes are not licensed. To open, you need to go through the standard procedure for registering an individual entrepreneur or LLC. If you are the only owner, it is better to register an individual entrepreneur. Tax regime – simplified, 6% of income.

The most difficult thing is to draw up documents for construction and installation of communications. The land on which it is planned to build a car wash must have a classification of a garage facility 2.7.1 or a roadside service facility 4.9.1. You need to either find such a site or transfer your site to this category. The car wash should not be located near residential buildings.

You must have a land lease agreement or a certificate of ownership in your hands.

You will also need documentation for connection to electrical networks and water supply, drainage, a building permit and a finished washing project approved by the architects.

In some cities, you will need to obtain permission to place illuminated outdoor advertising. Be prepared for the fact that a sanitary protection zone project may be required.

Step-by-step design and construction plan

Typically, a prefabricated car wash is made to order in production and only assembled on site. The entrepreneur needs to decide on the purpose of the object, its size and location. These parameters are important during design. Next, the budget for the future facility is discussed. Based on it and the wishes of the customer, materials and assembly technologies will be selected.

The car wash project involves the development of a metal frame, supporting structures, elements and assembly units. The design can be optimized by reducing, for example, the metal consumption of the frame, replacing solid parts with welded elements. The designers will answer how much the structure now costs. At the same time, the building will not be inferior in technical and operational parameters to other, more expensive projects. There is a database of ready-made projects, the purchase of which will cost the entrepreneur several times less than individual development.

After designing a prefabricated car wash, the construction stage begins. Any knowledge involves laying a foundation. For a frame structure, you can equip the base using tape, screw or columnar technology. The fastest way is considered to be the construction of a foundation using screw piles, which is why it is usually used.

After this, a metal frame is installed on the base. Then it is sheathed with sandwich panels, partitions and gates are installed. Now specialists can begin conducting communications and installing equipment.

How to choose a place?

In the case of a car wash, the success of the business largely depends on the location. You should be clearly visible from the road. At the same time, the speed of cars passing by should be low so that the driver does not drive through the entrance to the car wash. Therefore, it is a good idea to open a car wash behind a traffic light, pedestrian crossing, speed limit sign or speed bump.

The area of the site for a car wash is from 240 sq.m. excluding access roads and places where car owners can calmly wait their turn and wipe the car after washing. When laying communications, you need to take into account that the washing machine requires large capacities: 55–60 kilowatts of electricity and 30–50 tons of water per day. An outdoor self-service car wash must have heated floors.

Tips for use

The car will be washed as follows.

Water with a special liquid for washing a car is poured into the canister, the button on the brush is pressed - and the wash begins. There is no need to constantly press the button; it is more convenient to use short presses, for about 30-50 seconds with an interval of 15-20 seconds.
When the car wash is finished, the brush hose is retracted into the canister through its neck . Wind the wire around the hook and close it with the rotary lid. This is very convenient; as a result, you protect the wires and the brush itself from mechanical damage, and the sink itself takes up very little space, so you can always take it with you.

It is important to ensure that in winter, at temperatures below zero, all water is completely drained from the canister, especially if the sink is stored in an unheated room.

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Whatever mini-wash you decide to make with your own hands, based on a compressor or an automated version, in any case you will be satisfied. The process of washing your car will not only become faster, but also much more enjoyable.

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Employees

In this regard, self-service washing is much more profitable than manual washing. It will require three administrators working in shifts. At the same time, such an employee does not need any special skills. Any person who is not afraid to come up to the client and correct him, explain how to wash cars correctly and will be able to exchange money if this function is not available in automatic mode is suitable.

The human factor here is reduced to a minimum. Payment is accepted not by the administrator, but by the equipment. Each machine has a counter that shows how much money has been put into it. It is very easy to identify discrepancies between meter readings and the amount in the cash register.

Summing up or maybe it’s worth drawing up another agreement?

As practice shows, collecting the list of documents required by various regulations for opening a self-service car wash is a rather complex process that requires knowledge of how to go through the procedure correctly in order to optimize the registration process and, as a result, save time and money. A good solution is to delegate the issue to professionals (draw up an agreement for legal support). The best option is to choose a contractor who will solve the starting problem “in a complex” - from assistance in selecting a site and drawing up a project to collecting a package of documentation, construction and supply of equipment.