I’m now going to conduct a SWOT analysis on my Speed shine car wash and this will show all the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of my speed shine carwash.
Evaluation of SWOT analysis
Strengths
The strengths of opening up a carwash business are that I can change the prices easily to compete with other businesses, create good relationships with clients and they will feel comfortable with the business and they would recommend it so that it expands to a wider range of consumers and they will keep coming back. Likewise take my time to get it perfect however the customer might want a great wash but in quick time, put prices on individuals and create a special price for an outside and inside wash.
Also set myself timings which could be unusual timings to help stand out. For example if the local car wash business was to close at 4 o’clock that is when most people finish work and they won’t get a chance to go to a car wash service, however if Speed shine is open till 7pm then I’ll be able to get in more customers because not many services offer that.
Another strength is that it’s relatively cheap to set up and I can always upgrade the products once there is enough money made, also employees will not need any necessary training unless using technology like computers, software etc. In this case I won’t have to spend money for employees to train.
Weaknesses
The weaknesses of opening up a carwash business are firstly that weather is unpredictable which could affect the money my business makes. For example if it is raining the business is unlikely to maximize the sales unless I provide a roof or shelter which would cost the business money but would it be worth it? Therefore this is the first weakness of having an outdoor hand carwash.
Secondly if what if my business doesn’t satisfy the customer’s needs, then the reputation of Speed shine will go down and it could be the end of the business with bad reviews, for example if my workers are rushing to get cars washed and provide poor quality service to the customers then will leave my business losing those customers, and ending up having a bad reputation and those customers would go to my competitors.
Opportunities
The opportunities of opening up a carwash business are that the business can expand and have more than one chain in future, if my carwash runs successfully, which in my case in 3 years’ time speed shine will be making a profit of 18, 400.00 as mentioned earlier, then its possible in about 10years time I can open up another branch in another area.
Secondly my carwash can change its prices only if I’m getting a lot of customers and that are loyal, then I can take advantage of that and increase the selling prices a bit.
Threats
Competitors are one the first threats that my business will have to face. I do have another car wash business down the road “waves” I am going to have to compete against and when I start the business, it won’t be easy; as customers will feel comfortable with that brand. So something has to attract the customers and have to stand out, for example unusual working hours.
A slump in the economy; for example the recession this would mean the amount of sales my business makes will decrease. This is because people now become conscious on what they spend their money on and therefore a carwash would not be a priority to spend money on at this stage it would probably mean they use it on food and petrol which are necessities for everyday life.
People might argue what’s the need for hand carwash when technology is always improving. For example in many petrol stations they offer a machine car wash which are relatively cheap and who knows, with technology always on the increase, who knows what’s going to be offered by that service next.
People today have less time to spend getting their car washed. One of the main challenges of today’s car washes are that the owners are not just providing their customers with clean cars but they are providing customers with clean cars in as short time as possible. Another challenge is providing the best quality of wash possible. Customers today are better educated about their surroundings and demand more value for their money.
Conclusions
It has been a tough bit of work and the thought of going through this stress in reality must be hard but with the fact that money is involved it may act as a motivation. So to be able to complete this in real life you must be able to handle the pressure as well as being able to put a hard amount of work in and in reality it may even involve sleepless nights. But once it is up and running it has the opportunity to turn into a free flow business and once the money is coming in then you will be happy that you put this amount of effort into setting up a business. What I have also found is that you have to make yourself stand out nowadays and offer something that no one is doing. This is very hard because everyone has a USP but perhaps in the future with the increase of technology it may see the advent of a new standing out point.
I think the first problem I came across was the location. Personally I found the perfect location in Chigwell but the cost was well too high and to finance the cost of having a carwash in Chigwell was going to cost up to a £900,000. This is very expensive compared to the £75,000.00 I am paying a year but as a matter of fact, Chigwell’s location makes it the ideal place where I could get a return quickly because the economy of the area is very sustainable but not only that, it is surrounded by millionaires who can have up to 6 cars to wash making it very attractive to move into. Perhaps this is something to look for in the future but for now I am happy with the location as it is in Chad well heath because it has the potential to have a major success in the market and I have the potential to make it one of the leading car washes in the UK.
I have learnt a lot about myself as well because I thought at the beginning that this would be easy to do on my own but you do need people around you to just be your safety net just in case you fall. I don’t want a partnership due to my personality but what I would want is a friend or family members helping me so that I can have their experience and transfer it to my business.