General Analysis
The company provides car washing services. Consumers of these services will be car owners who live nearby. The name of the enterprise is Bubbles E6. The legal form of the enterprise is a limited liability company. The mission of this business is to improve the quality and availability of automotive maintenance services. The founders of the company are individuals; the location of the car wash is chosen in one of the busiest streets of East London. The district contains six big enterprises whose work is connected to transport (Hillard, 2020). Nearby is a car wash service that will increase the flow of customers to the wash. The premises for the car wash will be bought from an individual for 96 000 pounds; the room consists of 4 adjacent boxes. The amount of funding required for the project – 230 000 pounds. Of these, 88% are borrowed funds from lending institutions, and 12% – own funds of the founders.
These services will meet the needs of consumers in the washing of motor vehicles. The area is home to about 6,000 people, which is approximately 2,000 vehicles (Hillard, 2020). The firm’s pricing policy is aimed at winning over consumers. Prices for the range of services offered by this company will be lower than competitors, on average, by 20-25%. As a result, we can reach the constant level of demand because our services will find constant clients.
The main clients of the car wash will be:
- Owners of vehicles living in the area.
- Individuals and legal entities engaged in car sales and rentals. The second direction will significantly increase the turnover of the enterprise since the car market is highly developed.
Marketing Plan
The location of the business is chosen in such a way that there are no competitors within a radius of about 500 meters, so car owners who work in nearby companies will stop by to wash their cars (Hayward, 2018). All car washes in London can be divided into four segments:
- Premium segment – with high prices and a wide range of services
- High price segment – with higher average prices and an extended range of services
- Middle price segment – with average prices and a standard range of services
- Low price segment – with minimum prices and minimal set of services.
It is planned that the car wash will operate in the medium-price segment.
To attract customers, we plan the following advertising strategy:
- Making a backlit sign – costs £10,000.
- Making two signs on both sides of the road – a cost of 10,000 pounds.
- Distribution of business cards in the first two months of work – a cost of 20 000 pounds.
- Issuance of the first customers’ discount cards (5% discount with an option to accumulate up to 20%) – the cost of cards is 500 pounds.
- Registration of the point on an opening day – 1000 pounds.
Operational Plan
Since the car wash is small, there will also be a few staff members. At one time, will work three people – washer, sprinkler, and wiper; the schedule is two days of 12 hours during the day, two days off, then two days of 12 hours at night, then two days off. The role of the director is to supervise the maintenance of all internal and external processes of the car wash and interact with staff and customers in non-standard situations.
After paying for the services at the cashier’s desk, the customer enters the car pre-treatment box. The employee will show you where to stop and how to put the car on the conveyor belt. Before the tunnel equipment started washing the car, the car wash employee applied shampoo to the car body, softening the hard fractions of dirt. The solution formed on the surface of the car is washed away with a high-pressure machine. Then, when assessing the degree of contamination of the car, it is sent for automatic or manual washing.
Car drying also takes place on the conveyor. This uses stationary fans that blow the car from the sides and a horizontal fan, which consistently blows the entire car from the top of the front to the rear bumper at a distance of 5 cm. As soon as the automatic drying is finished, the green light of the traffic light comes on – the client can drive off the conveyor. Washing dry stations will wipe openings and seals of doors and trunks (Dadebo et al., 2022). On average, it takes 15-20 minutes to clean the interior.
SWOT-Analysis
Strengths
- Advantageous location.
- Low level of local competition.
- Experienced, qualified, attentive staff.
- Favourable rental terms.
- Insignificant current costs of raw materials and detergents.
Weaknesses
- The lack of experience and reputation in the given field of business 2.
- The lack of a constant client base at the initial stage.
- Employees with a low professional level, poor service.
Opportunities
- Constant increase in the level of demand due to an increase in the number of cars and, as a consequence, an increase in the number of potential consumers.
- Increase in the level of income among the population.
- Decrease in the level of competition, closure of competing companies.
- Opportunity of free entrance to the market, especially if the location is right.
- Possibility of additional opening of the allied business – sale of automotive goods, car service, rendering of accompanying services.
Threats
- Increase of number of local competitors, growth of competition.
- Negative consequences because of changes in legislation (increase of taxes, necessity to get new licenses).
- Construction or road works near the enterprise.
References
Dadebo, D., Ibrahim, M. G., Fujii, M., & Nasr, M. (2022). Transition towards sustainable carwash wastewater management: Trends and enabling technologies at global scale. Sustainability, 14(9), 5652. Web.
Hayward, S. J. (2018). The agile leader: How to create an agile business in the digital age. Kogan Page Ltd.
Hillard, S. (2020). Plan a car wash. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.