Competition in the mobile car wash industry
We have all seen the mobile washing units making their way around our city, they are usually trucks, vans or trailers with a water tank and pressure washer unit on board. They market their services with flyers and business cards, however most of their business comes from weekly repeats and referrals. Some cities have hundreds of these units going around town cleaning things up. You may think that it is a big business, but as with any business, there is a competitive component to the industry, which is not so obvious at first glance.
A typical car wash competitor is a one-man operation with no room in their truck, van or trailer for a hot water pressure washer; Steam pressure washer/cleaner. Many of the smaller teams have simply put a Home Depot pressure washer on their truck or trailer and attached a plastic water tank to it. Most likely, they may not even know what to do with the hot water pressure washer, even if they had one. The fact is, if the retailer had a steam pressure washer/cleaner, he wouldn’t go out of business every year when it rains. In many parts of the US and even the world, the mobile car wash has to deal with inclement weather that prevents working in low temperatures when the water turns to ice and it is hard to sell a car wash when it rains outside. Since car washing can be a seasonal business, many mobile car washes turn to cleaning other things with their units when it rains.
These mobile car washes will diversify efforts to wash things like: Concrete, Heavy Equipment, Auto Interiors, Truck Fleets, Signs, Holiday Window Paint Removal, Graffiti, and/or Paint Prep. This is when those with hot water pressure washers have an advantage and can use this to stay strong even in winter. It’s also one of the reasons why there are so many small mobile car wash and auto detailing businesses out there, that they don’t stay in business as long. If you are considering a business of this nature, you must think about seasonality and develop a good strategy. Think about it.
