If you’re preparing to open your own car wash business, you need to know a few things: how to start your business, how to establish it in the community, and how to expand your customer base. Here are 10 tips to help you accomplish those key milestones.

Establish Your Name and Business Structure

To become an official business, you must decide on a formal name and establish your business structure. Your structure will partly determine which permits and licenses you need to acquire, and which taxes you need to pay.

Many car washes adopt an LLC structure to protect their personal assets and improve their credibility. Since car washes handle other peoples’ vehicles, limited liability makes the most sense.

Determine Your Business Plan

As with every startup, you must determine your business plan early on. What product or service will you sell? How will you deliver it? Your plan should also include the following elements:

Your business location(s)Sales and marketing strategiesExecutive and company summariesFinancial planRisk assessment

A comprehensive plan will guide your business through its infancy and give you clear direction. It also helps you appear more legitimate, which will allow you to obtain enough funding to launch your business.

Register Your Business

Next, you must register your business with your department of labor and acquire an employer identification number (EIN). Your state also has a specific set of paperwork you need to file. This initial registration sets the stage for all future financial transactions, including taxes.

File Your Taxes

Using your EID number, contact your local treasury department and figure out which state and federal taxes your business needs to pay. LLCs also need to pay a different set of taxes than other businesses to obtain more benefits. Your state might also have unique sales and franchise taxes. Consult your state’s department of revenue website for more information.

Acquire the Right Permits

The most important permit your car wash needs is the certificate of occupancy (CO), which gives you permission to conduct business in your desired location. You also need to research the local zoning laws and building codes. Those details will make some of your design decisions more straightforward.

Secure Funding

With your taxes and permits in place, you can go to your bank and request a small business administration (SBA) loan. Showing competence in the previous steps will tell your bank that you take this endeavor seriously and that you will put the money to good use.

Design a Website

Once you gain the funding to launch your business, you must grow brand awareness. The quickest way to raise awareness is to establish your online presence with a website.

Your website should be the one-stop source for all of your business’s information. Make sure you include the products/services offered, FAQs, an “About Us” page, and other standard website features. For car washes in particular, photo galleries of cars and testimonies from satisfied customers are especially useful.

Market Your Brand

Your website is also an essential part of marketing your brand. You should establish a blog or another content hub that gives your target audience helpful information without explicitly making a sales pitch. Any type of content that informs the reader and generates a call to action falls under the marketing umbrella.

Social media is the best tool to accomplish both tasks. It allows you to directly engage with your market, gain a following, and generate more traffic to your website and your location.

Research the Market

Social media also gives you some keen insight into your competition’s strategies. Observe how they interact with customers and see if you can spot any trending tactics. What platforms and content types are more successful? Your market is constantly changing, and you must find ways to adapt.

Build a Customer Base

New businesses cannot rely on random customers to turn a steady profit. They must work hard to identify a target audience and build a loyal customer base from that audience. Car washes tend to find a unique target audience based on their services.

For example, if you offer touchless washes that kids seem to love, you might take a more family-friendly approach. The demographic you zero in on will influence many aspects of your business:

Your car wash’s design details (signs, color schemes, decorations, uniforms, etc.)The tone and subject matter of your online contentYour interactions with customers on social mediaLoyalty incentives and rewards programs

Car washes are also unique because they often have the lot space to host community events. Fundraisers, cookouts, and other fun activities will increase your brand awareness and endear you to the community.

Make Your Car Wash Plans a Reality

Business owners have to build their brands from the ground up, starting with a thorough plan and ending with a loyal customer base. All of the actions in between will require a lot of hard work and dedication. But if you steadily raise brand awareness and adapt to meet your market’s demands, you can make your car wash plans a reality.