More and more people are choosing to clean their cars and other vehicles in a manual car wash. The reason is that it is more efficient than doing it with an automatic one and sometimes it is worth paying a little more for a deep cleaning of the upholstery, windows, wheels or dashboard. Manuel is a self-employed worker de Palma who ten years ago decided to start his own car washing business in the garage of his home. Although at first he only served his friends, he now bills between 10,000 and 15,000 euros every month, as he explained on Adrián G. Martín’s YouTube channel.
During the interview, Manuel highlights that the profitability of his car wash is very high and that the day he made the most money, it reached 1,600 euros. He acknowledges that, when he started, one of his main problems was the ‘paperwork’ and the bureaucracy. Because of this, it had to close for a while. “I received a letter in which they told me that there was an urban planning violation, that we had to close and the police even came to seal my business.”
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“We have grown as a company, we have specialized because we started doing normal washing and now we do detailed washing,” he explained during the video in which he also assures that in America the conception of these businesses is “completely different.” “The mentality that comes from the United States is to establish a connection with the client, letting them explain to us what they want.”
“We closed the business for a month”
During the time the store was closed, “I took it as a vacation” since what had happened made no sense. The urban planning violation for which the police came to seal the laundry room consisted of some signs on the façade “that were not legal” and an attic that had been in the warehouse “since 1991, for which we were able to obtain an invoice, it had really expired.”
In one day they can wash between 3 and 5 cars
Manuel highlights that they are having great acceptance, with a high number of clients. In a single day, wash between 3 and 5 cars, taking from an hour to an hour and a half with each of them. When the customer selects express wash, it is 15 minutes.
For those who want to become regular customers, it has a special subscribers section. “We are 18, but we are just getting started.” The customer can hire an express wash for 15.99 euros per month and a complete one for 45.90 per month, which if this advantage is not available, costs 80 euros.
“We not only wash the car, but we offer an experience so that the customer leaves thinking that their car is like new.” The good progress of the business led the United States laundry sector to become interested in it. “There you can wash cars on the street, here it is prohibited, but it is that mentality that we want to bring.”
“We are talking about a turnover of 10,000 to 15,000 euros per month”
The car wash business, according to Manuel, is profitable. “Cleaning 3 or 5 cars a day we are talking about about 10,000 to 15,000 euros per month.” “The level of profitability is very high, “more or less 70% and even 75%.” The day he made the most money was 16,000 euros, he acknowledges.
Daily, therefore, this business generates “more or less between 300 and 500 euros.” For this reason, manual washing businesses are more profitable to start and even maintain than automatic ones. “In the automatic car wash it is at least 200,000 euros, but in this one you can end up starting with between 5,000 and 10,000 euros.”
It also has many expenses such as staff salaries, “the fee for freelancers, materials and suppliers,” although it recognizes that the sector has a lot of potential.