Starting a Mobile Valeting Company

Introduction

I will be making my project around starting a small business a mobile valeting company. I will get all my information from the internet and various other sources. But before I start I need to revise the market and see what my competitors are charging for their services. Also I need to find out if my company is worth starting to ensure it generates enough money so that I can cover costs such as the equipment, materials, advertising and general expenses while I take a wage out myself I will do this by adding up all my personnel monthly outgoings and the business outgoings and revise my price according to that of my bills and the market to turn over enough money to cover these things.In this project I will:

Find out the prices of over 10 different companies within my field of business. Put the results into a bar chart to see how the prices vary. See what materials, products and equipment are needed and the cost and

quantity of this stuff is needed. See how much money will go on each part of the business areas and put it on

a pie chart. Comparing the vans prices and specs to see if I can fit my water tank in the

back. Calculations to see if my company will generate enough revenue to cover

costs and make a profit. Compare my prices to the other companies to see whose is more superior. I will sum up my business and see if it’s worthy enough to enter the market.

The Types of maths I will be using is: Mean Mode Medium Formulas Area Volume Percentage Multiplying Adding Subtracting Dividing

PricingCompany General Wash Mini Valet Full Valet

Ultimate Valet £10 £25 £120Standard Car Valeting £7 £35 £75

High Peak Valeting £12 £25 £70Quality Valeting £15 £25 £95

ALT Valeting £15 £30 £70Sutton Auto Valet £6 £40 £130M.S Mobile Valet £15 £30 £70

James Hesketh Valet £14 £25 £70Car Valet UK £5 £20 £28Auto Valet £20 £40 £60

Average/Mean £12 £30 £79Mode £15 £25 £70

Median £13 £27 £70Range £15 £20 £102

I rounded these numbers to the nearest pound to help with my calculations.Company General Wash Mini Valet Full Valet

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Ultimate Valet 10 25 120

Standard Car Valeting 7 35 75

High Peak Valeting 12 25 70

Quality Valeting 15 25 95

ALT Valeting 15 30 70

Sutton Auto Valet 6 40 130

M.S Mobile Valet 15 30 70

James Hesketh Valet 14 25 70

Car Valet UK 5 20 28

Auto Valet 20 40 60

Average/Mean =AVERAGE(B2:B11) =AVERAGE(C2:C11) =AVERAGE(D2:D11)

Mode =MODE(B2:B11) =MODE(C2:C11) =MODE(D2:D11)Median =MEDIAN(B2:B11) =MEDIAN(C2:C11) =MEDIAN(D2:D11)Range =MAX(B2:B11)-

MIN(B2:B11)=MAX(C2:C11)-

MIN(C2:C11)=MAX(D2:D11)-

MIN(D2:D11)

DiscussionBy working out the mean mode median and range you can clearly see that the Full Valet workings vary the most I think this is because every company I got the price from offer different stuff in their full valets. Car Valet UK’s full valet only cost £28 but then you get additional charges for what type of services your looking for.I think by working out the prices of various companies it have given me a rough estimate of how much I should charge for my services. By just getting various quotes from different companies and working out the average price I can really see and work out how many cars I need to valet to generate enough business income to keep my company going. I can do this by calculating all my costs and seeing how many cars I need to valet on a monthly basis to cover all the costs.

Equipment + Advertising + Materials + General Expense = (Answer)

Then with the price range that I have set I would work out how many General Wash, Mini Valet and Full Valet I would have to do to cover the cost of the monthly outgoings.

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I put my results into a bar chart to see clearly at what my findings has shown me and also it’s easier to read the results. This process will help me find a reasonable price for my company and my services.

Equipment, Materials and Products

I have £2,000 to spend on my equipment, materials, products, advertising and general expenses here I’m going to work out how much the equipment, materials, products and advertising will cost me then the left over amount will go to general expenses that I will need to start my first weeks of trading.

Equipment Price QuantityHover £200 1

Jet wash £150 1Generator £150 1

Water Tank £120 1Extension Lead £10 2

Total: £640I rounded these prices to the nearest £10 to give my calculations more accuracy and help with my calculations.

Materials and Products

Price Quantity Overall Price

Interior shine and trims £2.50 2 £5Interior polish £6.50 2 £13Glass Cleaner £5 2 £10

Leather cleaner £3.70 2 £7.40

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Odour eliminator £8.50 2 £17Bodywork shampoo £11 2 £22

Bodywork Polish £5.50 2 £11Bodywork Wax £30 2 £60

Alloy Wheel Cleaner £5.50 4 £22Degreaser £15 1 £15Buckets £2 4 £8Sponges £1.50 6 £9

Wheel Brushes £3 2 £6Leather Cloth £5 2 £10

Microfiber Mitts £7 4 £28Cloth £1 4 £4

Polishing Cloth £1.50 4 £6Polishing Pad £3 4 £12

Total: £265.40

I will now add up the cost of the equipment + Cost of material and products = Overall Cost.SUM: £640+£265.40= £905.40Overall Equipment and Product costs: (A) £905.40AdvertisingI will also want to advertise my business to get work for my company and my main strategy for this is by leaflets, business cards and adverts for shop windows. I will price my advertising on the basis of me doing it on the computer but needing to buy paper, card and ink. I also have to take in consideration that I need someone to deliver my leaflets for me to various areas that will also cost as a charge.

Stationary Price Quantity Overall PriceA4 Paper (500sheets) £3.69 2 £7.38A4 Card (250sheets) £10 2 £20Black and White Ink £22.50 2 £45

Coloured Ink £23 2 £46Total: £118.38

The person who I am using to deliver the leaflets is charging me £20 a day and I need him for 7days to deliver my leaflets to cover the distance I’m working in.£20 x 7= £140

To find out the total advertising cost I will add the stationary costs + Leaflet deliverer= (Answer)£118.38+£140= (B) £258.38

General Expenses

To work out the left over money that will add to my general expenses I will add the two costs highlighted in red and take it away for £2,000.£905.40 + £258.38= (Answer) then (Answer) - £2,000= General Expenses (A) £905.40+ (B) £258.38= £1163.78£2000 - £1163.78= £836.22

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By doing this pie chart it shows me that out of my £2,000 budget most of my budget will go on equipment and products which isn’t too surprising as I will need to start from scratch to start my business. A slight proportion of my budget will go onto advertising to get my company’s name out to the public. Lastly the rest is on general expense for the first couple of weeks of trading such as replacing products, petrol, more advertisement, tax and insurance. So according to my results I’m very happy with what my results have given me and I’m in a strong position.

I checked the pie chart by measuring the slices and comparing it to the calculated slices to see if the pie chart was produced correctly.

Checking the Chart Calculated Slice Measured SliceGeneral Expenses 151 151Equipment, Materials & Products 163 162Advertising 47 47

TOTAL 361 360

Checking the Chart Calculated Slice Measured SliceGeneral Expenses =SUM(836.22/2000)*360 151Equipment, Materials & Products =SUM(905.4/2000)*360 162Advertising =SUM(258.38/2000)*360 47

TOTAL =SUM(B2:B4) =SUM(C2:C4)

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Comparing the van specs to the specs of the water tank

VanI have a Citroen Berlingo van and I need a water tank to fit in the back to carry my water for the days working. I will do this by finding a water tank looking at the dimensions and calculating the dimensions for the back of my van to see if it will fit.

Measurements Van Water TankHeight 1250mm 825mmWidth 1800mm 325mmLength 1230mm 1100mmVolume 2.8m2 0.03m2

I rounded my volume answers to two decimal places.To get an easy number to work out the volume I converted it from millimetre into metres to help with my calculations. Measurements Van Water TankHeight 1.25 0.825Weight 1.8 0.325Length 1.23 0.11

Volume =SUM(E2*E3*E4) =SUM(F2*F3*F4)

Scale- 1:20

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1.625cm

5.5cm

4.125cm

9cm

6.15cm

6.25cm

I drew this drawing on the scale 1:20 to see if the water tank would fit in the back of my van. I did this by dividing the results by 20 and moving the decimal place to the left by 1 number e.g. 1250/20= 62.5 then I would put the decimal place to the left by one number to change the mm into cm e.g. 62.5mm:6.25cm.

As you can see the water tank will fit into the back of my van with ease. By doing this I saved a lot of hassle because if I bought the water tank and it didn’t fit then I would of have to take it back to the shop to change it.

Calculations

According to my research of the market I have decided to come up with a price for my company that will compete with the market but also attract customers.

General Wash Mini Valet Full Valet£7 £20 £40

Now I will add up all my monthly outgoing to see how many cars I would need to valet a month to pay all my bills, replacing products and materials, wages and general expenses.

Monthly OutgoingsMaterials and Products £234.40Petrol £200.00Diesel £50.00Water bill £100.00Insurance £125.00Phone bill £25.00Car Finance £75.00Wages £800.00

Total: £1,609.40

Now I need to find out how many cars I need to valet to cover the cost of my overall monthly outgoings. I will do this by dividing my overall monthly outgoings by the price of valet for each. I will round the figure to the nearest pound to help me with my rough calculations. E.g. £1609/7 = Number of general washes I need to cover my outgoings.£1609/7= 230 cars at general wash£1609/20= 80 cars at mini valet £1609/40= 41 cars at full valet

It takes me 30mins to General Wash, 1hr to Mini Valet and 2hrs to Full Valet a car so in this calculation I want to know how many hours I will be required to work on each valet to generate the money to cover the outgoings. I will do this by multiplying the amount of cars x the number of minutes / four weeks in month= amount of hours needed to generate the money.

General Wash230X30= 6900min/60=115hrs/4= 28¾ hrs a week

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Mini Valet 80X1= 80/4= 20 hrs a week

Full Valet41x2= 82/4= 20 ½ hrs a week

Comparing my prices to other companies prices.

Here I will compare my prices to other companies to see who is cheaper. I will do it for each valet and put my contents into a table for easy reading.

Company General Wash

My General Wash price

Cheapest

Ultimate Valet £10 £7 MeStandard Car

Valeting£7 £7 Them

High Peak Valeting £12 £7 MeQuality Valeting £15 £7 Me

ALT Valeting £15 £7 MeSutton Auto Valet £6 £7 ThemM.S Mobile Valet £15 £7 Me

James Hesketh Valet £14 £7 MeCar Valet UK £5 £7 ThemAuto Valet £20 £7 Me

Company General Wash My General Wash price

Cheapest

Ultimate Valet 10 7 =IF(B2>C2,"Me","Them")Standard Car

Valeting7 7 =IF(B3>C3,"Me","Them")

High Peak Valeting 12 7 =IF(B4>C4,"Me","Them")Quality Valeting 15 7 =IF(B5>C5,"Me","Them")

ALT Valeting 15 7 =IF(B6>C6,"Me","Them")Sutton Auto Valet 6 7 =IF(B7>C7,"Me","Them")M.S Mobile Valet 15 7 =IF(B8>C8,"Me","Them")James Hesketh

Valet14 7 =IF(B9>C9,"Me","Them")

Car Valet UK 5 7 =IF(B10>C10,"Me","Them")Auto Valet 20 7 =IF(B11>C11,"Me","Them")

Company Mini Valet My Mini Valet price CheapestUltimate Valet £25 £20 MeStandard Car £35 £20 Me

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ValetingHigh Peak Valeting £25 £20 Me

Quality Valeting £25 £20 MeALT Valeting £30 £20 Me

Sutton Auto Valet £40 £20 MeM.S Mobile Valet £30 £20 Me

James Hesketh Valet £25 £20 MeCar Valet UK £20 £20 ThemAuto Valet £40 £20 Me

Company Mini Valet My Mini Valet price CheapestUltimate Valet 25 20 =IF(B14>C14,"Me","Them")Standard Car

Valeting35 20 =IF(B15>C15,"Me","Them")

High Peak Valeting 25 20 =IF(B16>C16,"Me","Them")Quality Valeting 25 20 =IF(B17>C17,"Me","Them")

ALT Valeting 30 20 =IF(B18>C18,"Me","Them")Sutton Auto Valet 40 20 =IF(B19>C19,"Me","Them")M.S Mobile Valet 30 20 =IF(B20>C20,"Me","Them")James Hesketh

Valet25 20 =IF(B21>C21,"Me","Them")

Car Valet UK 20 20 =IF(B22>C22,"Me","Them")Auto Valet 40 20 =IF(B23>C23,"Me","Them")

Company Full Valet My Full Valet Price CheapestUltimate Valet £120 £40 MeStandard Car

Valeting£75 £40 Me

High Peak Valeting £70 £40 MeQuality Valeting £95 £40 Me

ALT Valeting £70 £40 MeSutton Auto Valet £130 £40 MeM.S Mobile Valet £70 £40 Me

James Hesketh Valet £70 £40 MeCar Valet UK £28 £40 ThemAuto Valet £60 £40 Me

Company Full Valet My Full Valet Price CheapestUltimate Valet 120 40 =IF(B26>C26,"Me","Them")

Standard Car Valeting 75 40 =IF(B27>C27,"Me","Them")High Peak Valeting 70 40 =IF(B28>C28,"Me","Them")

Quality Valeting 95 40 =IF(B29>C29,"Me","Them")ALT Valeting 70 40 =IF(B30>C30,"Me","Them")

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Sutton Auto Valet 130 40 =IF(B31>C31,"Me","Them")M.S Mobile Valet 70 40 =IF(B32>C32,"Me","Them")

James Hesketh Valet 70 40 =IF(B33>C33,"Me","Them")Car Valet UK 28 40 =IF(B34>C34,"Me","Them")Auto Valet 60 40 =IF(B35>C35,"Me","Them")

Summary

With all the information I have gathered I’ve come to the decision that it’s a good idea as an average person works a 40hrs a week and I only have to amount 28¾ hours to generate enough money to cover costs. This means with the extra time I could potentially earn extra money and over exceeding my targets. But the only draw back is potentially getting the customers to come to me. So by finding out the prices of various companies and creating a price my self and seeing which is cheaper I can clearly see that my prices are much lower compared to the other companies offering the same services. So if that’s the case then I should generate enough attention with my prices to make the customer come to my company. I also found in this project that the water tank I needed will fit my van perfectly and it’s saved me a lot of time and effort.

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