Premium Café Car Wash: Smart Model or Labour Trap?

Premium café car washes look like a smart business.

Customers drop their car.
Grab a coffee.
Come back to a clean vehicle.

Simple.

But behind the scenes?
It’s a high-pressure, labour-heavy operation where small mistakes get expensive fast.

In this episode of Good Bad Business, we break down the premium café car wash model using our MOAT framework - Margin, Operation, Advantage, and TAM.

We unpack:

•  Why “premium” doesn’t always mean profitable 
•  The real cost of labour, rent, and rework 
•  What actually drives repeat customers, and what kills them 
•  And whether a single site can realistically hit $1M in its first year 

If you’re thinking about buying a car wash, investing in a service business, or chasing a “premium” concept, this episode will change how you see it.

Because high revenue doesn’t mean high profit.

And we don’t want you to get into a pickle.

If you’re thinking about buying a business,
 listen first.

If there’s a business you want us to break down,
 send it in.

And if you got value from this, share it with someone before they sign something they shouldn’t.

Because we don’t want you to get into a pickle.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Welcome to Good Bad Business from a Pickle, the team that removes caveats from directors' homes. Each week we take an everyday business and analyze it so you don't get into a pickle. We break it down using our moat framework. That's M for margin, O for operation, A for advantage, and T for total addressable market. And then we answer the questions that actually matter. Can this business make $1 million in the first year revenue? And is it a good business or bad business? Or are you going to get into a pickle owning one? And for all intents and purposes, this is to be taken as general advice. And we highly recommend you seek independent financial advice. So let's get into it.

SPEAKER_00 0:43

For me, what is a pickle? It's very simple. We just remove caveats from directors' homes. But more importantly, we empower small businesses by restructuring multiple bad debts. We offer a commercial debt recycling home loan and expert debt negotiation services to turn insolvency into an opportunity. At the end of the day, we negotiate your debts and we consolidate the chaos. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how we get businesses out of a pigle.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

That's it.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Alright, let's get into the first episode. Well the second episode. Jeez, we're killing it. Yep. It's mid-1990s. We're in Melbourne. Apparently, all the good stuff happens when it comes to coffee culture. Someone had a simple idea. People hate waiting for their cars to be washed. So give them somewhere to sit. A coffee maybe, a muffin, and a reason not to rush. That was the birth of the cafe car wash. Fast forward today, they're in shopping centers, valet bays, branded uniforms, wash clubs, loyalty app. It feels premium, it feels scalable. But here's the uncomfortable truth. This is still a labor-intensive business with water, and we all know the cost of water these days, rent, and the keys are handed over to a very anxious customer. So today we're asking the real questions Is the premium cafe car wash a scalable platform, or is it a high-stress business, a service business that tops out early?

SPEAKER_01 2:18

Welcome to Good Bad Business from a Pickle, the team that removed caveats from directors' homes. Each week we take an everyday business and analyze it so you don't get into a pickle. We break it down using our MOT framework, M for margin, O for operation, A for advantage, and T for total addressable market. And then we answer the questions that actually matter. Can this business make $1 million in the first year revenue? And is it a good business or bad business? Or are you going to get into a pickle owning one? So let's go.

SPEAKER_00 2:50

Okay, fabs, episode two.

SPEAKER_01 2:53

Yep. Love it. We're making it.

SPEAKER_00 2:55

We got this far.

SPEAKER_01 2:56

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 2:57

We're professional podcasters. We've done this is our second, this is our second episode.

SPEAKER_01 3:00

Yep. Fantastic. Indeed, mate.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

This one for me, it's something that I've always wanted to do. And I know with our our business, Fabs, where we probably get this inquiry two, three times every couple of months. Should I buy a cafe car wash? And I don't know why there's a demand to actually purchase one. So I thought this would be a really good episode to sort of really break down that business model. Because at the end of the day, Australia is very hot, but that doesn't mean that it's hot right throughout the year. It also rains and your fixed costs stay the same. And if it rains for two, three weeks at a time and you've got large overheads, that's a problem. But we do want to break this business down and we want to see whether or not the premium hand wash cafe model is actually scalable. Now we're not talking about the automated ones, we're not talking about, you know, the car lovers back in the day where you can just rock up and do it yourself. We're talking about the premium cafe car wash models. And again, you know, when you break down that model, for me, I think you know, we always talk about branding. I think there's a bit of a branding exercise first up, and I'm gonna hit it pretty hard straight off the bat. If you look at a particular area, now right here, our podcast studio is in Parramatta, and if it's Parramatta Car Wash Cafe, the emphasis is on the car wash. Why isn't the emphasis on coffee? Why don't you just flip the switch and go, well, you know, it's Parramatta Cafe, but we just happen to do car washes as well. It's a whole different framework, it's a whole different mentality. And that's something that I really want to chat to you about today. And I know we're gonna sort of break that down. But at the end of the day, look at cafe car wash, especially the premium model, it's full service. There's human hands, it's not the automated wash ones, it's interior and exterior, it's optional detailing. So there's a lot of services, there's a lot of add-ons, which is something that you and I talk about all the time. When businesses lose clarity, they start to add products, they start to add services. When businesses win, they take away everything that isn't the core fundamentals of that business. Because simplicity scales, complexity fails. The more services, the more products you add, the harder it is to scale that business. So when you start offering interior, exterior, optional details, you can already start to see that I don't know, this is going to be an interesting episode, but I'm looking forward to breaking it down. The thing is, is that the optional services for a lot of these types of businesses is that not only are they in shopping centres, but they're also in car parks and high artillery roads. So rent can also potentially be an issue. If it isn't a shopping center, when you sort of break down that particular model, you're going there to shop. So, you know what, I'll just get my car wash done at the same time. It's a it's it's a luxury that you're essentially prepared to pay for. So custom customers are going to drop off their car, they might go grab themselves a coffee, or more importantly, I'm just gonna go to Woolies while I'm getting my car wash. So that seems like it's a pretty good sort of thought process. But it comes back down to how clean the vehicle is because at the end of the day, this is a car wash. And if the cafe isn't in the business, then it's also a distraction. I think some of the really good models that we've been introduced to is that there's a separate cafe and a car wash. So it's premium, but they're two separate businesses, so they're complementing one another, and a lot of them do really, really well in that particular sector right now. But it's the economics. The economics are driven by cars per hour, labors and minutes, and rent. And if you can't control those three, the coffee ain't gonna save you. So is it about the coffee or is it about the car wash? I think there are that's a big question that everybody needs to answer before you get into this particular style of business.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

Fabs, over to you about the margin. Yeah, certainly. So, yeah, let's start with the hard part, the M for margin. So, you know, hand wash is labor intensive. You know, if you've ever gone to one of these premium car washers, you've got at least, you know, five to ten people working on any given vehicle at a time and compound that with the cross-selling. And the industry averages show that the profit is under 10%. So that includes automated sites. But for the purpose of this podcast, we're focusing on the more premium hand washers. And with the labor being around 25 to 45% of the revenue just on wages. So add to that super and pay as you go to tax. It does impact cash flow quite extensively, um, as well as margin. Then you've got the rent, you know, premium locations mean premium leases. They need bigger spaces, especially if you want to service multiple cars at once.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

And now you've got a lot of staff.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

Yep, exactly right. Got a lot of staff, and then you've got water, utilities, equipment, redo work when customers aren't happy, which it does happen quite frequently. And you don't lose money slowly here, you lose it quickly. And it's very interesting for Australia, a country that one thing that really differentiates us from the Yanks, and the Yanks always mock us for it, is we like to even hang our own clothes. We will spend hours just to hang our own clothing while everyone else tends to throw it in the dryer. So it's quite fascinating that it's the market.

SPEAKER_00 8:38

But we're westies born and bred in the western suburbs. Yeah, that's true. The reality is that I know with a lot of the premium cafe car washers in the northern suburbs, in the eastern suburbs, the Porsches of the Ferraris, everything gets rocked up. So they do really, really well. Yes. So I think location certainly plays a big part with the margin because if you do have a lot of staff and it is a premium product, people are prepared to pay for a premium service. Correct. If we're saving time, we're saving complexity. And something that we implement into our business is to edit, delete, and to simplify. So if I can simplify my day by taking my car and getting it washed, and if I can have more hours within my personal framework, I can get more work done. And am I prepared to pay a premium for that? Absolutely, I am. So again, I think it just to sort of touch on what you just said there what is the location? Are we prepared to pay a premium for it? Because it looks premium, and so owners expect premium margins, the owners of the business, I should say. But you know, this isn't luxury. At the end of the day, this is precision. If labor blows out during the peak periods, then your margins are going to evaporate pretty quickly.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 9:53

So, Fabs, what do we score margin? I mean, there's it seems like it's pretty tight. I don't know. What do you what do you score it out of 10, mate?

SPEAKER_01 10:01

Yeah, I think on that note that you said about the whole one, also the location. I would say then I'll give it a five out of ten because you know, it is a good business model, provided you're in an area where they pay the premium. But if you're not, which a lot of Sydney isn't, yeah, you might struggle. So five out of ten.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

Yeah, I think I think I'm gonna agree with you. I'd probably go a little bit lower. Actually, you know what, I'll do a five as well out of ten. The only reason I say that is because this type of model, you need to be in a premium location and service the premium cars. Yeah, if it's an area outside of the eastern suburbs, you know, we're we're obviously sort of Sydney based, but the same thing with Melbourne, same in every other state, you need to be sort of looking at the top-end customers for a premium cafe car wash. But also the coffee needs to be premium as well. Because if it's if you're offering a premium service for the car washing and the detailing, well then how good's your coffee? Because at the end of the day, someone that's prepared to pay a premium to get the car wash also wants a premium coffee. So there's a system that needs to be taken into consideration here as well. And obviously, we're going to touch on the operation, which is which is next. So that was a good segue. I did I did that well. Yeah, you did well. You did well, mate. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm getting better at this broadcasting thing.

SPEAKER_01 11:17

It's only been to learn from you, mate.

SPEAKER_00 11:21

Operationally, so this is closer to a busy cafe kitchen, which is what I was just touching on a moment ago. It's more of a busy cafe kitchen and less of a car wash. And this is the premium sector that we've been touching on. If you go to a station, you know, there's sequences, there's queues, and there's their constant sort of virability. And every car is different, there's different sizes, there's different dirts, and there's different expectations. So when it comes to operations, all of these things need to be taken into consideration. Yes, we're talking about premium, but at the end of the day, your margins might be higher in a premium car wash and you're charging a premium price for the coffee. But if it rains for three, four weeks at a time, guess what? Your expenses stay the same because they're all fixed cost. Correct. So you get you're going to lose money. It's very cyclical. It's a cyclical business. You're going to make a shitload of money through the summer and you're going to struggle through the winter, whether you're premium or you're not. So there's weekends, there's after rain, there's school holidays. What happens when everyone goes on school holidays? That's right. And you travel into the Sunshine Case for two, three, six, four, five weeks at a time. And that's when the business starts to break.

SPEAKER_01 12:31

Yeah, and and and you're correct about that. And we know, you know, being an outliner business, cash flow is everything. You can have a lot of per annum revenue, but if it's not matching your business expenses, the cash flow, then you are going to struggle. And, you know, on that note, the good operators do treat this like a production. They track the labor minutes per car, the redo rates, the complaints, which once again are a part and parcel of the business. It's actually a quite a frequent occurrence. They force a final walkaround every time. And most of the negative reviews do come down to one essential thing that the car wasn't clean enough for the time that they waited, and really giving them the ultimate question of, well, why didn't I, you know, clean the car myself? So, yeah, that's really my take on it.

SPEAKER_00 13:13

Yeah. And I think with the premium cafe model, if it's outside of the premium suburbs, wages become a big issue. Yeah. And it's the compliance is there, but it seems like with a lot of the ones that are outside of the premium markets, they're not optional. Now, we're dealing with the AT on a daily basis. You can't hide anything. If you're not paying award wages, you're gonna get audited. And that's where it becomes a really big problem for a lot of the operators out there that are not compliant. And so one mistake here can wipe out this worth of profit. So when it comes to operation, what are you scoring it, Fabs?

SPEAKER_01 14:03

Yeah, I'll say, you know, six out of ten, because I know that you know they do tend to operate quite efficiently, but in saying that, the kind of fragility and the risk that it poses with the cyclical nature, I'd say six out of ten is fair. You know, you pass, but not quite there.

SPEAKER_00 14:18

Yeah, I think a six as well, probably a six out of ten. The only reason is because the big franchises that are out there, they do have their systems down pat. I think the technology that they use as well is also quite good. I've seen it firsthand. It's a lot of the CRMs and the software and the SaaS software that they're integrated into their businesses. They are tracking the labor, they are tracking the minutes, but it's only really the big franchises that can really do that. Um, so if you are thinking about you know opening up this style of business, I think the franchises have a lot to offer because when you start tracking your labor and your minutes per car, that's when you can really sort of know your numbers and really sort of grow your business internally. So, yeah, look, six out of ten for me as well.

SPEAKER_01 15:03

Well said. And and now we move on to A for advantage. So the advantage here isn't the wash menu, it's three things effectively. So we've got it here down as location, as we've discussed, trust and repeat behavior, which was implied from the things we said before. And the cafe helps, it makes waiting tolerable. But the real mo the lease, premium shopping center car park sites are scarce and they're very expensive. And really, it it just comes down to you know, if it's based on location, sometimes brand or maybe even service might not be as important if you're not able to be positioned a place where you can get the right clientele. What do you think?

SPEAKER_00 15:42

Yeah, look, for me, uh I've had a lot to deal with uh cafe car washes over the years. I drive a big truck and 65-70 bucks for a to get the truck washed. Yeah, I don't know. It's it it starts to get expensive after a while. But one thing that you mentioned that the cafe helps, but is it tolerable? Now I know I might have my laptop there and I'm doing some work because as we said before, I want to try and sort of save as much time as I can. If I'm doing it throughout the week, take the laptop, do some work, punch out some emails. But on a Friday afternoon, they seem to get really busy as well. Now, if I'm waiting an hour and a half, two hours, I drank my coffee two hours ago. Exactly. Like I need to get on with it, and we, you know, we need to get back to the office. Yeah. So yeah, I don't know. Look, brand branding matters. I think brand has a big part of all of this. So it goes back to what I said before about you know the big franchises because you know a customer is handing over a key. Yeah. If you're driving an expensive car and you're handing over a key, you want to make sure that you're dealing with a brand that you also trust. That's right. Because it's a premium service. If the brand is fragile, then you know you're only one damage claim. And so insurance is another thing that we a lot of these cafe car washers need to take into consideration as well. Because what happens when you if you smash the Porsche? Yeah, exactly. We've already scheduled this whole podcast. You're definitely in a pickle. Um, so it's you know, it's one viral review because you know, someone drove the car, a young kid drove it and smashed it. So, you know, there's a good TikTok. Yeah. And then look, trust starts to crack. So for me, I don't know. It's I'm gonna give this a five out of ten. I don't really sort of see it as a as a pass. But what about you, mate?

SPEAKER_01 17:23

What do you score it? Look, I'll I'll give it a six out of ten, once again, because it is more of a you know, location is probably the key apart, but yeah, you're right, brand does matter as well. But in saying that, you know, when I find businesses have a variable that's kind of outside their control, I'll give them a bit of a pass, but I'd say it's not quite there, so six out of ten for me.

SPEAKER_00 17:40

Yeah, you're a lot nicer than I am. Yeah, and so now we've got to really determine whether or not this is a scalable business model. Let's look at the TAM, the total addressable market. Australia has over 21 million registered vehicles, so look, demand's there. There's plenty of cars to wash. Yeah, but the premium cafe hand car wash, it's a slice, it's much smaller, it's much niche. And so that's why the big franchises are specializing in a niche marketplace and they have been able to scale and grow their brand. This is a convenience play, it sort of goes back to what we said right at the beginning. If you're going to trade time for money, most people are prepared to do that, especially in respect to the high-income households that are out there. So that's why if you're going to pay a premium for location, you want to be at a high-income, higher household income. That didn't really make sense, did it? Yeah. I think I got there. I got there at the end. No, you did, you did. So, you know, the national scale is definitely possible, but it's constrained because I mean, how many, how, how many high-income earners are out there and how many premium marketplaces out there? And our sites available in that particular location. That's right. And if you're looking at, you know, your your Turacks, for example, in Melbourne, and if you're looking at your point pipers in Sydney, well, they're sharing it with service stations. So they're also limited for space. And so therefore, the kitchen is also limited. Your cafe is also limited. So now you're not providing the premium service for the premium marketplace. Correct. So now there's a whole conundrum that needs to be sort of broken down as well. So are we looking at sites? Are we looking at labor? Are we looking at compliance? All of those things need to be broken down when you're taking on this type of business.

SPEAKER_01 19:28

Yeah, that's right. So effectively, in summary, it's meaningful, but it's finite and it's constrained. And especially if you've been to you know the higher end areas, it's very, very hard getting anything council approved. So it can be very difficult finding a more pragmatic site. And as you said, the ones that are existing are obviously um scarce and there's not many in between. So, in terms of scoring, what do you reckon, Pete?

SPEAKER_00 19:50

Look, I think I think because it's a a niche sector and every niche sectors can be scaled, especially in today's sort of technologically advanced market that we're in. Locations can be identified, but like I said, they you need to be able to scale back your operations and still provide that premium service. So look, I'm gonna give it, I'm gonna be nice. I'm gonna give it a six out of ten.

SPEAKER_01 20:16

Yeah, I agree. I'll give it a six out of ten as well. Maybe because you're right, it is a niche and it is something that's in demand. And look, to be fair, you know, I live close towards the Blacktown region, and Blacktown, you know, it's quite infamous for what it's infamous for, and I've seen at least three or four premium car washers there. So I think the tradies really utilize it as well. So I'll give it a six out of ten, too.

SPEAKER_00 20:36

Fabs, we made it episode two. Yep. Mate, we're podcasters. How good is that? Yep, the pickle experience. The pickle express. You know, one thing that we we took away from the first episode was really just sort of breaking down the fundamentals of a business because there's too many people, and especially with all of the customers that we deal with, is they purchase businesses and not really understanding the numbers, not understanding what the margin is, what the operation is, what are the advantages? Is there a particular product within this franchise that's going to give me an advantage? What is the total addressable market? And that's why I think it's extremely important that we did this episode. And I actually like how we're able to sort of break it down in respect to the automated car washers versus the premium cafe car washers, because premium is premium, you're offering a premium service, so therefore the coffee should be of high calibre, the kitchen should be of high calibre, and it's not about the car wash per se, which is something that was really interesting that I actually got out of this episode. Because, you know, when you go to a premium cafe, you've got a bit of time to spare. So you want to sit down and enjoy the coffee. If the coffee's Well, then the experience is terrible. Yeah, that's right. And so it doesn't matter what car I drive because I'm in a premium location and I'm asking for a premium product. I had some downtime. I wanted a coffee. And you know what? I want to get my car washed all at the same time. So if you are thinking about business or you're getting into a business, have a chat to us. Let's go through the moat strategy and let's sort of break it down. We're fortunate out of pickle because we do have a lot of data. We're dealing with businesses on a daily basis. We have a lot of real-time data. One thing that we do really, really well is obviously sort of debt recycling and debt refinancing. We specialize in removing KVUs from directors' homes. And what does that mean? It typically means that you have a personal debt that has been originated from company activities. And so therefore I've taken out a business loan, I've defaulted on that business known, and now they've registered a KVI against my title. You call in a pickle for us to act as informal negotiation, we'll debt negotiate with your KVU tours, and then we'll consolidate the chaos. The reason why I'm going off on a little bit of a tangent because it is the second episode, it's all of the years of experience and the data that we have. And we're able to essentially put forward some form of credit decisioning for each new application that we get. But this is why we wanted to start this podcast to use the data that we have to break down that strategy so businesses don't get themselves into a pickle. And so if we do save a couple of business owners from the stress that our customers go through on a daily basis, I think that's a big win, mate. So over to you.

SPEAKER_01 23:43

I'll let you score it. Yeah, very well said. And I will add to this the data that the pickle's collected is amazing because it's actually picked it up, ironically, since you know the whole business cycle of COVID um lockdown. So we've been able to see a full cycle of companies go into a pickle and either recover from it or unfortunately go into insolvency and liquidation. So yeah, very well said. Now back to the scores. So let's have a look. So as part of the moat framework, for margin, Pete and I together had a collective 10 out of 20. For operation, we had 12 out of 20, advantage 11 out of 20, and total addressable market of 12 out of 20, which gave us a collective score of 45 out of 80, which was a pass. Um, and that is at 56.25%. And you know, we we know that these businesses are succeeding. We know there's demand for them, but obviously we've obviously covered over the shortfalls as well. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:37

But again, I mean, we are looking at a niche sector, we're looking at the premium market. I think there's a lot of advantages, but I think there's a lot of disadvantages as well. So yeah, that seems about fair.

SPEAKER_01 24:48

Yep, definitely. So, can this business earn one mil in the first year? Does it pass that test? Well, average transaction, about $45. That's pretty much if you gain the basic package. Cars per day, you probably need about 80. And days open, 350. That gets you to about 1.26 mil. So, yes, it's possible, but going back to what Pete mentioned before, there is the whole cyclical nature. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 25:14

It's a cyclical business. So the reality is that that 1.26, that's not necessarily possible because we're we're talking about winter. So we're talking about that business being open every day right throughout the year, and we know that's just physically not possible. Correct. So if the business is turning over less than than a million dollars a year, at the end of the day, you bought yourself a job. Yeah. And it's uh it's a high intensity, it's labor intensive, and it's gonna demand it's this isn't a business where you can sort of walk away from it. I mean, you know, can you put a a manager on to be able to run these businesses? Yeah, maybe in the top end of town, but if you're trying to scale outside of the top end of town, you're limited with your scalability.

SPEAKER_01 25:59

Yep, that's right. I agree.

SPEAKER_00 26:01

You know, and that's and that's where we've always got to try and assume consistency. Because we just spoke about that business being open every day of the year. That means that there's no labor blowouts, that means that there's no rent shocks.

SPEAKER_01 26:16

And the fundamental question, can you replicate it? If another business owner wants to buy a franchise, can he replicate that model without having to add too much?

SPEAKER_00 26:24

Well, what's the hook? What are you selling? I mean, the business is going to be open 365 days of the year. Yeah. I mean, you can't say that is the franchise all. Yeah. And the compliance issue is a big one for me. It's a lot of these businesses being compliant and making sure that the staff are being paid the right amount of money. Yep. And we know, especially within our business, we can see the financials, a lot of them are not being paid at award wage, and that's a really big problem. Yep. So, yeah, look, can you earn a million dollars one car at a time? Or not every day of the year. Final verdict. All right, let's wrap this one up. Look, the business is definitely real. They're real businesses. There's no doubt about it. In the right location with the right systems, or it can be a good business, but you're limited. It's not a passive business. Because, you know, we're every business that we look at, every business that we identify, we want it to be a passive business. You know, what's the definition of business? The definition of business is a business that works without me. That's right. Because if the business is not working without me, I've bought myself a job. So is this style of business passive? No, it's no, it's not. And it's not an easy one. And if you're putting on a manager, well, that at the end of the day it's eating into your margins. If it's eating into your margins, what about the rent? If the rent's increasing, and the rent's obviously going to increase every year because we've got CPI. The landlord's going to want more rent every year because it's built into your lease. So that's going to also eat into your margins as well. If you treat a cafe like a car wash, you're in trouble. And so it goes back right to my very early comment. There's a branding issue. It's called a car wash. You know, if our audience gets anything out of today's episode, stop calling a car wash.

SPEAKER_01 28:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:13

Focus more on the cafe, and you just happen to do a car wash. It's complementary. And so, therefore, that time that you are closed because it's raining, or at least you your regulars are coming in for a coffee.

SPEAKER_01 28:26

That's right. Yep, yeah. And people will travel, you know, people will discuss and travel for coffee. They will rarely ever, you know, have a conversation to go there. The car park's there, there's space there. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 28:35

You know, you can easily go up there, rock up, park your car, even though it's raining, you're not going to get a wash, but you're going to go get a coffee. Yeah. You might get a muffin.

SPEAKER_01 28:41

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 28:42

You might get a sandwich. Yeah. Yeah. Or it's raining.

SPEAKER_01 28:44

And how often have you had a conversation if someone says, I know a good coffee place? No one ever goes, I know a good place where they want too much carbon.

SPEAKER_00 28:51

It doesn't matter. No one's ever said that. Yeah. So make it about the coffee unless it's about the car wash, because that's going to help justify the period that the business is closed. Because we just said to earn $1.26 million, you've got to be open 350 days a year. Insane. Insane. Roughly $350. Yeah. You know, at what, $40, $45? What's the average cost? $45. $45.

SPEAKER_01 29:14

And that's a basic package, too.

SPEAKER_00 29:15

So if you if you if you close for two, three weeks at a time, you need to make it about the coffee. So I think, you know, from my summary, if you treat a cafe car wash, the production, the business, if it's more about the hospitality and less about the car washing, then you really need to sort of change a framework, make it about the hospitality. You know, are you a hospitality business or are you a car wash business? That framework's important if you're going to pick up one of these businesses.

SPEAKER_01 29:46

Yeah, and 100% on that note, the pickle lesson, right? Premium doesn't mean expensive, it means consistent. And if you can't standardize the finish, you can't franchise the promise.

SPEAKER_00 29:57

Yeah, that's a good one.

SPEAKER_01 29:58

Yeah. Yeah, that's a good point, man. Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 30:01

Because you you have to you you have to systemize your process to be able to scale.

SPEAKER_01 30:06

Correct, correct. It goes back to what we said before in the first episode the whole McDonald's effect. Can you replicate it? Can you repeat the success? And that's without you necessarily being involved.

SPEAKER_00 30:15

Right, that's right. You know, Mc McDonald's is a real estate business. They just happen to have a system that flips hamburgers.

SPEAKER_01 30:21

Yeah, yeah. Who knows? They might open a car wash as well.

SPEAKER_00 30:24

Yeah, well, you know what? But you know, that that's an interesting point because if you went, if you went to McDonald's, you're going there for a for a burger, but I just happen to wash cars as well. Yeah. You know, so there's some competition, man. If you're listening. All right, let's do the close. So before you sign a lease, before you get into a franchise, is there another business that you want us to break down? Please send it in. We're here to we're here to help. Because we don't want you to get into a pickle.

SPEAKER_01 30:56

That's right. Exactly. And we're open to all kinds of businesses. We want to be creative, we want to make this fun. So, yeah, definitely reach out and put your suggestions through. Great episode. Yep. Thank you.