Thinking of getting into car valeting ?

DezUk

DezUk

DezUk

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I have recntly been considering the idea of starting my own car valeting business. The idea of using an all contained van and going round lots of business parks and washing/valeting cars whilst people are at work. I was thinking a rough price guide as follows


Wash1 - 6 quid

Hand wash bodywork
Hand wash alloys
Dry Off


Wash2 - 12 quid

Hand wash bodywork
Hand wash alloys
Dry Off
Hand Polish
Treat Alloys
Clean WIndows



Wash3 - 15 quid

Hand wash bodywork
Hand wash alloys
Dry Off
Hand Polish
Hand Wax
Treat Alloys
Clean WIndows
Hoover inside
Empty Ashtrays


These are just some ideas i thought on the spot just now, I'm not sure if the prices are in the right area but sounds ok to me. I'm basically wondering if you guys would use a service like this if it was to turn up in your works car park ?
 
depends how far you want to go really - you can either do basic washes (like the ones you've posted) or go as far as detailing etc.

With regards to the prices, it might be easier to charge a more rounded amount, so £5, £10, £15 - its easier for people to pay, intead of messing about with change.
 
Don't know about other peoples car parks but here you can barely walk round the car, nowhere near enough room to wash :(
 
Where I work there is already a car washing service done by a a local indy group. I don't know how much they charge as I've not had mine done by them, but quite a few people here have very nice cars (me not included), and regularly get theirs done by them.

They do it in a spare couple of bays in the car park, I bet they make quite a lot of money too. I'd say go for it if there is a good business opportunity.
 
Its not an awful idea but you wil need an awful lot of energy and determination to see it thru. You are also going to need to do plenty of cars each day to earn a decent living.
 
a lot of places there are immigrants that do it rediculously cheap so you should check out the competition in your area first. They do a full valet for a fiver :eek:
 
The local (fixed, not mobile) eastern european powered place to me does :-

Hand wash & dry £5

Hand wash & dry and vac and glass £10

Hand wash & dry and vac and glass & interior detailed £15

As above plus polish £25 or £30

As above plus hard wax I think is about £40.
 
Your pitching your prices a bit low imo. Go for the "you get what you pay for" approach and offer a better level of service. The "quick wash for those who can't be bothered" places are becoming ten a penny. Also you really need to add window washing into the basic wash.
 
There is an "American Hand Wash" up near me. Starts at £12, and the majority of the cars they have are exec saloons, X5s, RRs, etc. Thats the market you should aim for. People who can only afford a £5 wash tend to do it themselves :D
 
lordrobs said:
Your pitching your prices a bit low imo.
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I agree. My first job was valeting cars, my boss used to make very pretty penny (And paid me buttons :p ) We used to mainly focus on the more executive side of things so he charged a bit more. It was amazing how many times someone would book a valet and once we turned Mr X and Mr Y would also ask to have theirs done.

There's definitely money in it, but working in the winter is a total nightmare, ever tried washing a car when the water freezes on it within seconds? :( Because of this we used to do a lot of office / carpet cleaning in winter.
 
Yeah prices are too low. Should be taking an hour on the car and chargingaccordingly. We paid £30 for our pool car to be valeted. Could tell he had took his time though, nice and clean with no missed bits, spotless windows, interior looked new and smelt nice.

You need to offer something that would take someone a long time to do rather than a quick wash that they can do in 10mins when they get home from work.
 
DezUk said:
I'm basically wondering if you guys would use a service like this if it was to turn up in your works car park ?
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I wouldn't let anyone else touch my car but that's just me.

Do you have any timescales for how long it would take to do the different washes per car? Wash 3 for example would probably take over an hour to do so when you take off overheads you're probably earning £10 per hour, not exactly the greatest of wages for pretty hard work.
 
Some good comments :)

At the moment i am working in an office job and have done for over 3 years now and it is really beggining to drag, they pay sucks at 14k year for what is a IT professional job. So i reckon if i could get 100 cars a week that would be cool :D

I had the idea of using my week off next week to make up a load of flyers and go round as many business parks that i can think of and drop them in at the receptions. And one day go round some of them, call in at reception to let the building know i am there. Customers can leave their keys at reception and i can whell their cars into a free space and wash away, hand keys back and collect the cash. This is how a guy used to work that came round our office block.
 
What about insurance? (in case you damage a car whilst moving it or get a stone caught in your sponge and wreck somebodys paintwork)
 
What are your outgoings? I know for me i wouldnt be happy with the insecurity of paying ~£800pm fixed bills on an uncertain and potentially low income?

With your current job you have a fixed salary coming in, you KNOW you will be able to save X per month after bills etc. If it were me i would be looking to do this alongside your proper job for a good while to see how it pans out.
 
Your basic wash doesn't include windows?

You need to include window washing, it's often the main thing that needs cleaning on a car. I mean, what are you going to do, wash around them? :confused: Especially how the suds will just drip down them anyway.

The prices seem ok, but I can't see you making a decent living off it, it's the kind of thing kids do during the summer holidays to make a bit of pocket money.
 
why not trial it..do it during the everning and weekends and see if it worth it??

use it to TOP up your current wages and see how you get on??


GJUK
 
You'll never earn much doing it yourself, especially at those rates. Better idea would be to employ some of the immigrants mentioned a few posts above and supervise them to make sure they are doing a good job. That will increase your capacity and earning potential by a huge factor.

Will also allow you the sufficient time to win new business etc.
 
Sagalout said:
You'll never earn much doing it yourself, especially at those rates. Better idea would be to employ some of the immigrants mentioned a few posts above and supervise them to make sure they are doing a good job. That will increase your capacity and earning potential by a huge factor.

Will also allow you the sufficient time to win new business etc.
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Yes thats exactly right. If you can get in with say some hire companies or courier or taxi firm then you will have a constant income from those sorts of people.
 
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