Mobile Car Wash on Mopeds For the Chinese Emerging Car Wash Market?

Well, it appears that the Chinese like clean cars just likewashing carts that operators pushed around. This way
us Americans, and will all the cars they are buying thethe cost would be low, as we must remember that
car washing business sector there cannot seem tothe cost of a car is $2500 to $4000 and the cost to
keep up. There are all sorts of issue, such as energy,wash would be a tenth of the basic (mobile) wash
land cost, and water usage. So, where are the 470here of $5-7 USD, so we are talking $.50 - $.70 per
million in the Chinese middle class going to get theircar wash, but it is still doable.
cars washed - that is once they buy a car. In ChinaThat is, "if" the washer kept 33%, and was charged a
middle class means about $1200 per year in earningsfair rental rate the business person who owned 25-50
or about $3 (USD) per day and the cost for a carcarts would make a very good amount of money. The
wash couldn't fetch more than about one-tenth ofroyalties collected could be substantial, but it would
what it does here.have to be a home-grown entrepreneur, not a US
Okay, so, we must too realize that the labor costs arebased franchisor. After all, since the Chinese are
one-tenth as well. So, is it feasible, is there room forexcellent imitators, they'd simply copy the business
100s of thousands of car washes? Perhaps not inmodel, and the US franchisor, would never see a dime.
Shanghai, Beijing, or some of the other highly populatedThe franchisor could not trust that market or maintain
cities, but mobile car washing could certainly work, andproprietary rights to the business model and still get
employ vast numbers of Chinese too.paid, so they'd have to get paid up front, but I do not
What about mobile car wash operations on mopeds,see how someone would pay $100,000 to $500,000
three wheeled bicycles, carts, and other variationsup front for something they could copy and steal, and
depending on the exact location - would this workeven if their limited knowledge of the copy was
well? How about larger units for bigger more industrialincorrect, in their minds, they'd be a shrewd business
areas where buses, trucks, aircraft, marine equipment,person in cheating the US based franchisor.
agriculture equip, construction equip, new cars, rail, etcMeanwhile, others would copy them and put them at a
would be washed? Is this a viable business model?disadvantage by stealing the concept and competing
My answer is YES, yes it is.directly with them, while they had paid us. As the
In a nut shell, a smart entrepreneur, not US based, butfounder of the largest mobile car wash franchise
a Chinese business person could produce mobile carcompany in the world, those are my thoughts.