The Business Landscape For Your Mobile Car Wash

Aside from the business plan itself, understanding the business landscape in which your mobile car wash will operate will likely be the biggest strategic edge that you have over your competition. A solid understanding of your business landscape will provide you a complete picture of the industry, competition, and market factors for your mobile car wash.

To start with, we recommend spending at least a couple of hours researching the car wash industry in general. Even though your car wash and detailing service will be mobile, it’s a good idea to understand where the industry in general is going.

For example, there may be certain environmental restrictions that will start to change the way car wash services are delivered. There also may be new technologies that you should be aware of. Understanding the direction and factors involved in the car wash industry will help you uncover opportunities for your mobile car wash venture.

Next, study the spending patterns of prospective customers. How loyal are car wash patrons? For example, once they find a quality car wash do they return again and again? Or do they shop around to find the best deal of the week? This may be the perfect time to break out some coupons and perform your mini-market survey. Visit local coffee shops and ask customers some questions about their car wash habits. In exchange for their responses, give them a coupon for a free car wash. The questions you should ask include:

How frequently do they get their car washed?
When was the last time they had an interior and exterior detailing?
On average, what do they expect to pay for a car wash and complete detailing?
Would they find value in the convenience of a mobile car wash? What kind of premium would they pay for this kind of service?
Do they frequent the same car wash business or shop around?

If you are like most of us, the thought of approaching complete strangers with these types of questions can be a bit daunting. Practice on your family and friends a couple of times until you feel comfortable with your introduction and line of questions. Once you start, you’ll find the process actually goes quite smoothly. You’ll also be amazed at the amount of information you gather. Sure, you may get a few “Not Interested” responses, but this is to be expected.

With your customer information in hand, the next step is to identify the competition you face. To start with, you will want to evaluate your most direct competitors. These adversaries are other mobile car wash and detailing businesses in your area. Mobile car care is still pretty new so we doubt you will run into prohibitive direct competition here. Nonetheless, you need to determine the level of direct competition you will face. Is your market large enough for both of you?

You will also want to evaluate your indirect competition which is the full-service and self-service car washes. Which ones are the most popular and why? What are some thoughts and ways to attract customers away from these standalone businesses to your mobile services?

Take a step back and really look at all the factors you can think of that may affect your business operations. For each factor, identify the level of risk or opportunity. For risks, like competition, put plans in place to address these head-on. For opportunities that may develop, think of ways you can react quickly to turn these opportunities into profitable outcomes.

< Market Analysis | Sales Strategy >