How To Start a Car Wash Business: 10-Step Plan

Wherever there are cars, there are car wash businesses—the ubiquitous answer to the time-honored “Wash Me” plea scrawled in rearview window dust. And business is good. Experts from The Business Research Company forecast that revenues for the global car wash market will climb from $35 billion in 2025 to more than $43 billion by 2029.

Aspiring small business owners have a compelling opportunity here. Car washes provide a service every community needs and offer the potential for strong operating margins (between 14% and 26% on average, according to SharpSheets consultancy), making them an attractive business option.

This guide explores different types of car wash businesses and outlines the steps that can help you clean up in this growing industry.

Types of car wash businesses

• Self-service
• Automated
• Full-service
• Mobile
• Franchise

When considering the style of your car wash business, there are five main business models to choose from. 

Self-service 

A self-service car wash business charges drivers a small fee in exchange for access to all of the equipment and materials they need to clean their own cars. This includes high-pressure hoses, cleaning fluid, sponges, and towels. Self-service car washes typically have multiple open bays and charge customers based on time.

Automated

An automated car wash business relies on a conveyor belt and automatic washing equipment that lets cars and their drivers move through an exterior wash service. While automated car washes help a small business owner save on labor costs, the need for specialized equipment necessitates higher starting costs. 

Full-service

Full-service car wash businesses provide both exterior and interior cleaning services, plus more detail-oriented offerings like tire dressing, deep-cleaning for mats and carpets, dashboard polishing, and air fresheners. It’s possible to use add-ons like these to upsell customers into various packages or treatments. Full-service car washes require more staff than self-service and automatic car washes.

Mobile

A mobile car wash business offers all the benefits of a full-service auto detail, bringing it straight to customers and eliminating the need for permanent real estate. These types of car washing businesses require special equipment for taking their services on the road. You’ll likely need a portable generator, pressure washers, and water tanks that fit in a large company van or trailer.

Franchise

Buying into a franchise gives independent owners a boost from existing brand name recognition and operational infrastructure. This can alleviate much of the early decision-making around services, pricing, training, marketing, and more. This will generally involve higher upfront costs, however. Franchise car washes may follow any of the formats mentioned above.

How to start a car wash business

1. Conduct market research
2. Write a business plan
3. Secure funding
4. Register your business
5. Find a location
6. Obtain licenses, permits, and business insurance
7. Buy equipment and set up your wash
8. Decide how much to charge
9. Build a website
10. Market your services

Ready to make your mark (and then gently buff it away, of course) on the car wash industry? Here’s what you need to know. 

1. Conduct market research 

Conducting market research is an important first step for any new business because it gives you an understanding of the opportunities and challenges within your target market. Research for a car wash business might encompass:

• Looking at vehicle ownership data to develop a sense of your customer pool

• Studying industry-specific trends, like eco-friendly washes and subscription models

• Uncovering target audience preferences, like speed (e.g., washing services in 30 minutes or less) or attention to detail (e.g., comprehensive packages for deep cleans)

• Analyzing location options, traffic patterns, and accessibility

If there are many car wash businesses in your area, complete a competitive analysis, like a SWOT analysis, to chart your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

2. Write a business plan 

Your car wash business plan serves as a roadmap for all internal and external stakeholders. It should include an executive summary, a company description, and relevant findings from your market research. Also include an overview of your company’s organizational structure and team details, pricing models and financial projections, a high-level marketing strategy, and a guide to the services you plan to offer.

For example, for a self-service car wash, your car wash business plan may list services oriented toward the tools and materials you’ll provide customers, like hoses, cleaning fluid, brushes, and towels.

At a full-service car wash, on the other hand, your offerings might include:

• Exterior cleaning, with towel-dry and optional wax and polish

• Interior cleaning, like vacuuming, dusting, and polishing doors, consoles, and dashboards

• Deep cleaning, like floor mat shampooing

• Tire dressing

• Air freshening

3. Secure funding

Bootstrapping a car wash business can be difficult, thanks to equipment and construction costs, so you’ll need to decide how to secure financing. You can do this with a traditional business loan from a bank.

You can apply for small business financing like a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan, which offers funding for specific groups like women, minorities, veterans, and rural businesses. You can also seek investment from an outside firm.

Whichever method of business financing you choose, prepare the necessary paperwork in advance, including your business plan and financial statements like a balance sheet and projected cash flow. It will likely also be necessary to open a business bank account at this stage.

4. Register your business 

First, consider the name of your small business. It’s a good idea to use the words “car wash” somewhere in your name for searchability and clarity, but the rest is up to you. Some businesses choose to highlight a particular quality, like speed, in their name. If you need a brainstorming boost, Shopify’s Business Name Generator can help.

Once you have a name you love, decide on a business structure. The biggest choice is deciding the level of liability you’re comfortable with. Your options include:

• Sole proprietorships and general partnerships. With these entities, there’s no legal distinction between the personal assets of the owner and the business. Without this distinction, an owner is personally responsible for the business’s losses, debts, and liabilities. 

• Limited liability companies (LLCs) and corporations. These entities offer separation between an owner’s personal finances and their business—and personal liability protection. Forming an LLC is much simpler than forming a corporation, and this business entity enjoys pass-through taxation (i.e., no taxes at the entity level) by default. C-corporations are subject to two levels of taxation—corporate taxes on profits plus taxes the shareholders pay on their dividends—but you can sell shares as a way of raising capital.

A business lawyer and a tax professional can be helpful resources when you’re deciding on the best entity type for your business. Then, register your business through your state’s secretary of state office or business division and acquire a business bank account for managing operating expenses and for paying business taxes.

5. Find a location

Location is one of the biggest factors for operating a car wash, which requires enough space to move multiple cars through a track efficiently, or, if you’re offering self-service, room for multiple bays. Look for lots near busy intersections or alongside the main flow of traffic (you can find this data through your local government’s infrastructure and roads department).

Ideally, the location will catch passing motorists’ eyes and be easy to access should they choose to pull over. The space should also be zoned for commercial or business use.

Of course, if you’re operating a mobile car wash, you won’t need to find a location. Instead, you’ll likely need a vehicle to transport your equipment to customers’ homes and other locations. 

6. Obtain licenses, permits, and business insurance

Depending on where your small business is located, you will likely require permits for water discharge and disposal of grit trap waste (gravel and other solids collected from wastewater), in addition to standard business licensing. In California, for example, car wash businesses are required to register with the Department of Industrial Relations, obtain a Car Washing and Polishing Registration Certificate, and pay a $150,000 surety bond.

Business insurance will help protect your car wash from liabilities like accidents and damage to equipment or cars. Mobile car washes will need commercial auto insurance to protect their company vehicles, general liability insurance to protect against property damage or accidents with customers, and property insurance that covers equipment and tools.

7. Buy equipment and set up your wash 

Once you’ve found the best spot for your business and acquired the necessary permits, it’s time to build out your physical space or company vehicle. You can purchase car washing equipment from an online retailer, like Car Supplies Warehouse.

Your shopping list might include:

• Car wash machines, like in-bay or tunnel models

• Pressure washers

• Portable generators (for a mobile car wash)

• Vacuum cleaners

• Detailing tools, like brushes 

• Water storage tanks 

• Cleaning agents

• Towels

Implementing eco-friendly practices and products can help reduce environmental harm. It also serves as a compelling value proposition for like-minded consumers looking for responsible solutions.

Many car washes also choose to stock their main buildings with small gifts, books, magazines, and a coffee counter for customers to use while they wait. Incorporate a Shopify POS system for seamless checkout, membership sign-ups, and inventory management. Car washes should also consider accounting software, customer relationship management software, and online booking software, among other tools.

8. Decide how much to charge 

To price your services, take stock of these metrics: your own operating and per-car costs, how much nearby competitors charge, and your value proposition (speed and turnover versus in-depth quality and attention).

Decide whether you’ll offer a subscription, membership, or other loyalty programs, which can increase your guaranteed revenue each month and incentivize customers to choose more inclusive packages with discounts. Car wash businesses often use tier pricing for different packages. For example, a basic exterior wash may cost $20, while a package that also includes waxing and tire shine treatment may cost $45.

9. Build a website 

A well-designed, easy-to-navigate website is one of the best assets you have as a business, and it’s worth spending time on a mobile-optimized site that lets customers browse locations, pricing, services, and customer reviews via their smartphones. Shopify’s website builder makes it easy to choose and register a domain and then create a modern user experience with various high-performing templates to choose from.

10. Market your business

Though many car washes rely on drive-by and impulse business, it’s a mistake not to invest in marketing from the start. Many modern car wash franchises have embraced social media marketing to attract customers, posting light-hearted reels featuring mascots, behind-the-scenes staff profiles, promotions, and more. Traditional marketing, like direct mail or placing coupons in local newspapers, can also help to generate new business.

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Local SEO is an important marketing technique for businesses like car washes, with a customer base limited to a specific area. Conduct local keyword research, create a Google Business profile, and solicit online reviews.