Keeping any business running and profitable is always a challenge. Car wash facilities are no different. Equipment and supply costs must be kept low to maximize potential revenue. If you are looking for a new way to make money in the vehicle wash industry, consider starting a self-service car wash.

Because self-service car washes operate 24 hours a day, they can give you a consistent revenue stream with lower overhead. However, they aren’t completely risk-free ventures. Here are some helpful tips to keep in mind:

1. Franchise Opportunities

Joining an established franchise is certainly worth considering, especially if you’ve never owned and operated a car wash before. Although, some entrepreneurs hesitate about going this route because of the residual income that a franchising corporation requires. Franchisees also don’t have the same opportunities as other facility operators to develop a unique experience in their individual businesses.

However, there are several advantages to being a franchisee. As part of an established brand, working with a franchise gives you a strong corporate backing that you won’t get by going independent. This includes a variety of tools to help your business be successful such as marketing, advertising, and access to top quality professional car wash equipment. Not only does being a franchisee eliminate some of the inherent start-up costs you run into with a new facility, but when customers are familiar with the franchise you are working with, you’ll have greater financial certainty.

2. Leasing or Owning

If you’re starting a self-service car wash, you’ll need to decide whether you’re leasing a property or buying it outright. Leasing offers operators greater flexibility. With a lease, you can change locations easily. This is extremely useful if you find out the location of your operation isn’t ideal, or if you decide you need to expand your operation later on. Breaking a lease and paying a penalty is always an easier undertaking when compared to trying to sell commercial real estate that comes with car wash equipment.

Leasing is not cheap, though. Make sure to compare the recurring costs of a lease that doesn’t have an end to payout terms versus making a monthly payment toward ownership of the land. Owning the property can also help you forge deeper ties in your community, which is great for building customer loyalty.

3. 24/7 Traffic Patterns

Location can make or break your business. Whether or not you choose to lease or purchase a property, it’s important to know the surrounding area’s traffic patterns. Make sure to determine what kind of traffic your locations gets during both day and night time hours, too. Doing so will illustrate just how much exposure your facility would get from drivers of all kinds. Regardless of how much advertising you do for your business, drivers won’t use your facility if it’s not convenient.

Overall, the best location for a self-service facility is one that has space for people to comfortably wash their cars. It is also helpful if the facility is located in an area that sees high volumes of traffic during peak business hours and evenings, too. If the neighborhood is busy during the day, but doesn’t see much action at night, then investing in professional car wash equipment for a 24-hour facility may not be practical for your business.

4. Safety Considerations

Speaking about knowing the activity around your property throughout the day and night, it’s useful to know just how safe your facility’s surrounding area is. Whatever area you choose to start a self-service car wash in may be an acceptable part of the city in the day, but what are things like at night? Do people make a habit of not traveling there because of safety concerns? It’s important to remember that public perception of your business’ potential location can play a big part in its success.

5. Car Wash Equipment

For customers, giving them the ability to professionally clean their cars quickly is a huge convenience. This is also beneficial for operators as self-service facilities have few or zero on-site employees. But without workers to monitor and maintain equipment, it becomes increasingly important for each machine to always operate at its peak.

Investing in the very best professional car wash equipment is essential. If something breaks down it could take hours – if not longer – before the malfunction is discovered and taken care of. Having the best equipment available and making sure to perform routine, scheduled maintenance on the machinery is an essential part of self-service facilities to prevent safety liabilities and costly down times.

Conclusion

While self-service car washes may look like a win-win for business owners and operators, how you go about starting a self-service car wash involves some considerations. Are you going to lease or own your property? How about having the financial backing of an established brand by becoming a franchisee? These are all important things that N/S Wash encourages new operators to consider before starting a self-service facility.

If you’d like to learn more about which essential car wash equipment is right for your business, contact us today. Call (800) 782-1582 or leave us a message online.

Water and soap are the most basic, fundamental components in ensuring each vehicle that goes through your business is as clean as possible. Yet, there are a number of safety and maintenance considerations that any business owner needs to manage.

As technology develops to create more powerful car wash soap sprayers that can handle the various forms of grime, the challenges of leftover soap increase. Allowing even a small amount of residue to accumulate on surfaces can lead to significant issues. No matter what type of car wash sprayers your facility uses, here are some of the more common problems that can occur if your operation doesn’t handle soap residue properly:

1. Slip and Fall Injuries

If you’re a business owner, you need to ensure your facility is as safe as possible for customers and employees alike. Operators in the vehicle washing industry have to pay particular attention to this as water, soap, wax, and other elements can create slippery conditions.

Car wash sprayers can create hazards for your technicians if the equipment experiences a breakdown. Injuries from slip and fall accidents can happen when repairs are being made, too; or even during routine maintenance. Cleaning off the washing track as well as other operations can pose serious risks to your employees if soap residue is left behind.

2. Workers’ Comp Cases

A poorly cleaned and maintained car wash soap sprayer that causes accidents doesn’t just mean downtime for employees. In many slip and fall injuries, workers’ compensation cases arise. These cases aren’t just costly for facility operators who have to pay out on liability claims, but can raise your business’ workers’ comp insurance premiums.

3. Customers Can Slip and Fall

Depending on how your facility’s car wash sprayers are positioned, there’s a great possibility that customers are at risk for slips as well. While your employees may know the inherent risks of working in a facility dealing with slippery conditions, your customers aren’t held to the same standards. Employees may also have stipulations in their contract which prevent lawsuits in the case of an injury. To keep customers safe, ensure all waiting areas are regularly cleaned and maintained, with minimal obstructions customers could trip over and non-slip mats by entryways.

4. Amazing, No Smoke “Peel Outs”

Residue from a car wash soap sprayer isn’t just the only thing that can endanger customers and employees. A buildup of soap at the end of a vehicle wash system can cause “peel outs.” These peel outs happen when a car literally spins its wheels and barely inches forward while trying to exit the wash facility. Rear wheel drive vehicles are especially susceptible to peel outs.

5. Vehicle Accidents & Property Damage

Peeling out doesn’t just damage the vehicle trying to exit, it can damage other vehicles as well. Imagine a car is spinning its wheels at the end of the track then suddenly gains traction. When this occurs the vehicle can literally shoot out of the wash track and impact whatever is in its path.

Along with injuries and vehicle accidents, property damage is another liability that can arise from poor car wash sprayer maintenance. Accidents caused by vehicles shooting out of a tunnel may not be limited to vehicle damage alone. A car may also slide off the track into a pole, wall, or a piece of equipment. If the accident is determined to be a result of residue from your facility’s car wash soap sprayer, you may be held liable for any repair costs or insurance expenses.

Clean & Maintain Your Facility

If soap residue accumulation is a problem at your vehicle wash facility, let N/S Wash give you the expertise and equipment needed to ensure your business always stays safe and operational.

For more information, call (800) 782-1582 or contact us online.

Winter can be really tough on vehicles of all kinds. If you live in an area where the temperature drops to bitter levels and precipitation becomes frozen, you have to take all kinds of steps to prepare your vehicle. Many of those same elements need to be kept in mind when operating a car wash in cold weather so that your facility is properly winterized and able to remain profitable even during a particularly frigid onslaught.

While there are shorter daylight hours and more dangerous conditions during the winter, that doesn’t mean your business should see a drop off in customers. In fact, there are many areas where customer volume increases for wash facilities during the winter. Tough road salts and other chemicals used to keep roads safe can actually damage vehicles, too. Because of harsh additives, drivers often flock to their preferred car wash to keep their vehicles clean and well-maintained. With that in mind, it’s important to be prepared with the right car wash repair maintenance routines depending on the weather you’re expecting. To ensure your facility is ready before winter sets in, here are some useful tips:

Prep Before the Cold Weather

As you begin weather preparations at your facility, timing is important. Consider what you need to do at your facility long before the weather turns chilly. Start off by testing all of your facility’s wash systems – including tunnel and bay heating equipment – to make sure they are in proper working order. Waiting until the first cold days to test out heating equipment can result in some inconvenient downtime and money spent replacing parts if something doesn’t work.

While preparing your car wash to operate in cold weather, don’t just focus on equipment: employee preparation needs to be done as well. OSHA standards have guidelines for the outdoor work your employees are likely to be involved in. This training can include knowing how to operate engineering controls and other equipment that may be exposed to the elements.

Make Sure Employees Dress for Weather

Speaking of employees, it’s important to make sure they are properly protected for any cold conditions. While it seems like common sense to have your employees bundle up, layering for insulation is always recommended for any worker who may be exposed to wind and precipitation. Other employee recommendations from OSHA that you should keep in mind include:

• Wearing loose clothing to encourage blood circulation
• Ensuring clothing is water resistant, including gloves and waterproof boots
• Ensuring clothing also accounts for visibility, like bright neon safety vests, to account for fewer daylight hours.
• Keeping a hat that covers the ears, or a knit mask to cover the face and mouth if needed

Having guidelines for all employees to follow when it comes to proper winter wear can ensure your facility is well staffed during busy winter periods to avoid downtimes from labor shortages as you run your car wash in cold weather.

Protecting Equipment with Proper Heating

Another way to keep your facility running smoothly during the winter is by providing adequate protection to all necessary equipment. Take note of what equipment inside of bays and tunnels may be exposed to the bitter cold and provide appropriate protection. It is essential to have the proper heating system for your facility, so you can avoid frozen water lines and ice buildup that can result with potentially devastating results.

A stainless-steel infrared system is generally considered the most cost effective heating option when it comes to car wash facilities. This type of system is also a more effective option to keep all essential equipment properly heated. Stabilized temperatures inside of tunnels and bays – which can ensure equipment is kept running at peak performance regardless of outside temperatures – is also an advantage of infrared systems. Before you invest in a heating system though, it’s best to research options to find the best fit for your facility.

Invest in Equipment with Maintenance & Upgrade Plans

It’s important to adopt proper car wash repair maintenance procedures before the cold weather sets in. You want to be proactive with any issues, rather than reactive, to minimize any weather related breakdowns. Unless you are a new operator, you are likely familiar with the weather patterns in your area and know what to expect before winter arrives. Avoid running any vital equipment close to their failure point during winter months as this can be costly; especially if parts or technicians can’t come to your facility promptly due to inclement weather. You can also take advantage of unusually warm stretches or even dry periods during the winter to perform additional inspections on all of your equipment to stay on top of potential issues. Despite any initial costs that come with scheduling additional maintenance checks the potential savings in preventing a breakdown can be huge when you are running a car wash in cold weather.

As you perform inspections make sure to get an accurate inventory of all your equipment and parts to see where improvements can be made. Older facilities may benefit from technology upgrades – especially if there is new equipment that has been designed to better handle cold temperatures and snowy conditions. Your facility can potentially see major gains over its lifetime if you stay on top of upgrades as well as maintenance.

Note Chemical Location to Avoid Potential Freezes

Every facility deals with a lot of cleaning chemicals. Many modern day operations even go beyond the simple soaps and waxes that have been traditionally used to clean vehicles by offering customers a full-service experience. If you plan to operate your car wash in cold weather, be sure you take note of any chemicals you routinely use before winter approaches.

Certain chemicals can freeze in really low temperatures. This is problematic if your facility is in an area that often sees sub zero days throughout fall and winter. As you go about routine car wash repair and maintenance checks, take note of where chemicals are stored in relation to areas where any cold air might seep in. Frozen chemicals can often cause serious damage to sprayers and other equipment. Worse yet, if chemicals come out in frozen chunks there is the potential to damage customer vehicles as well; leading to costly complaints and potential safety and legal issues. Avoiding these problems is easy when you pay extra attention to chemicals at your facility ahead of time.

Keeping All Areas Clear of Snow & Ice

One of the biggest winter storm issues is buildup from snow and ice. Facility operators tend to focus their snow removal efforts on parking lots and sidewalks so that employees and customers alike have easier access. But when it comes to cleaning following a storm, you need to pay attention to more than just these obvious spots. Removing snow from the roof of your building is also essential to avoid structural damage caused by the weight of a heavy snowfall. Electrical hazards may also be present if ice builds up around environmental controls or other equipment. And of course keep an eye on sprayers, as excess water may freeze and create slip hazards. Making sure all areas are clear of snow and ice can promote a safe work environment, as well as present a more inviting facility to customers.

Other Safety Considerations

Improve the safety at your facility this winter by setting up work zones with signs, barrels, and other barriers. This protects employees from skidding vehicles that may hit a patch of ice as they try to come onto your property.

Operating your car wash in cold weather can be easy and stress-free with the right preparation – along with thoughtful car wash repair maintenance – you can keep things in running order throughout the year. If you need more ideas or help getting your facility ready for the winter, the professionals at N/S Wash are here to help. For more tips or to speak with our experienced team members, call (800) 782-1582 or contact us online.

Running a car wash facility can be costly, especially when a breakdown occurs. Performing proactive car wash maintenance can minimize downtime by identifying potential issues before they become major problems. Infrared scanning for equipment maintenance is a useful technology for this purpose. Utilizing a thermal scanner can have major benefits if implemented properly.

Get Precise Readings

Like many types of commercial equipment, professional car wash equipment can heat up from repeated use. While some machines come with a thermometer or temperature readout, these devices are not always effective at gauging temperatures in every part of the machine.

By including infrared scanning that uses thermal imaging as a part of your car wash maintenance service plan, you can scan individual areas on machines to get the most accurate temperature readings. When a temperature reading for a particular area runs abnormally hot, it can indicate a potential problem that may eventually require a repair.

Problems Scanning Can Identify

Unusual temperature outputs are often the first sign of damage or malfunction in many machines. Using infrared scanning, you can keep a closer eye on equipment and note any concerning fluctuations. Infrared scanning can identify concerning fluctuations by:

• Monitoring bearing temperatures in large motors
• Identifying “hot spots” in electronic equipment
• Identifying leaks in sealed vessels
• Finding faulty insulation or terminations
• Locating overloaded circuit breakers
• Identifying fuses at or near their current rated capacity
• Identifying problems in electrical switchgear
• Capturing process temperature readings

As employees conduct car wash maintenance based on infrared scan results, they can use the address areas that require special attention, handling the issues before they cause a breakdown.

Cost Factors and Benefits

While thermal imagers are popular for predictive equipment maintenance, smaller facilities might hesitate to buy them outright and incorporate them into their car wash maintenance plan. Like any hi-tech tool, the initial cost can be high. You also have to consider time spent training staff.

However, once the initial investment is made, many facilities see a savings of 30-40%, according to the Federal Energy Management Program, as maintenance costs and breakdowns are minimized. With that said, for facilities that don’t have the budget to acquire infrared scanners, infrared scanning can be performed as a third-party maintenance service for a reasonable fee per scanning session.

Conclusion

The best car wash maintenance services focus on preventative instead of reactive maintenance.
When you focus on being proactive rather than reactive with equipment needs, you can see big savings, as breakdowns are minimized.

Whether you decide to use your own scanner or receive scanning from a third party, incorporating infrared scanning into your car wash maintenance can help locate problematic issues before they become severe. Even though N/S Wash does not currently perform infrared scanning, we recommend considering implementing it in your equipment maintenance plan.