Executive Summary
A large number of businesses have found their way into the market in the previous years by businesspersons who saw a chance to come up with a product or service, and followed that vision in search of profit and independence. It is ironic that these business people started with perfect ideas in forming the basis for their new venture, even though most of them did not have the abilities needed for transforming these ideas into a reality. In fact, the shortage of skills in today’s business market has made it very hard for small business proprietors to draw and retain personnel with such excellent skills.
Introduction
Nozzle car wash is a quality hand car wash service that will be established in Howard region Maryland area, in theUnited States out of the need to offer first-class service with less abrasive methods used by automated carwash companies. The business will employ the services of experienced and dedicated employees who will be tasked with hand washing of vehicles and the firm will also seek to make use of eco-friendly agents and materials in order to uphold its environmental standards. Nozzle carwash will be available for the local community through its efforts of establishing loyal bases, attracting new customers from the neighbouring communities, and attracting the vicinities expanding commuter traffic.
Objectives
The firm has three main objectives that it intends to attain though its establishment and operation in the local vicinity which are:
Acquire a substantial proportion of the carwash market share within the local community, and in the neighbouring society.
Appear in the next three to five years as the customer’s hand-car-wash choice both within the local environment and the neighbouring community
Give back to the community by offering employment opportunities to skilful manpower (brandongaille.com, 2013)
Situational Analysis
Market Analysis
Considering that, Nozzle carwash will be starting its first year of operation, establishing an all-round, and workable marketing strategy will be a key factor in determining its success. According to Smith (1997, p.1), locals in the area clean their cars as a routine and about sixty-percent of these individuals wash their vehicles more than once every month. The company aims to target customers who include persons owning cars of between ages sixteen to sixty-five, upwardly mobile working persons and tourists who are on the move.
Competition
In terms of competition, the area is presently being served with only one hand-car-wash located close to Baltimore area, and offers services at a high cost because cleaning cars costs not less than $50 exclusive of the exterior (plazawash.com, 2016, p. 1).
Market Trends/Growth
Currently, the car wash market is obtaining a large amount of its funding from optional spending in addition to driver habits, even though a decline in the number of carwash facilities has been registered in the recent years (sbdcnet.org, 2013, p. 1). However, there is hope that the industry will revitalise as evidenced by the diversification of offerings to include carpet washing services and the increase in the number of car sales and vehicle registration within the locality.
Pestle Analysis
Political factors
Carwash service is a public service linked business; hence, there are established laws concerning minimum labour wage regardless of the businesses daily income in addition to issues to do with abuse of labour and working hours (Tracy, 2004).
Economic factors
Hand car wash service is more labour intensive even though the industry availed exceptional opportunities, which has led popularity of carwash services among vehicle owners who observe high car maintenance standards (ibisworld.com, 2016, p. 1).
Socio-Cultural factors
High-quality amenities that bring value to the customers, and the need to observe high maintenance standards among people owning vehicles is regarded as a culture in the automobile industry (franchisehelp.com, 2016).
Technology factors
Very insignificant technological advancements have been witnessed in the carwash business in the last twenty years, and the only expected ones are most likely to be in the chemical area (carwashmag.com, 2015, p. 2).
Legal factors
Workers unions are spearheading the protection of employee’s welfare and rights, and the recent changing policy issues may give rise to legal actions if they are not keenly observed (autowash.com, 2012, p. 1).
Environmental factors
The main issues that affect the carwash business comprise if water conservation, managing of wastes and the use of hydrofluoric acid, even though concern has been raised for stakeholders to factor them in (Brown, 1999, p. 1).
SWOT Analysis
Marketing Mix
Price
The pricing mechanism for nozzle carwash will involve a per service price where customers will be paying after their cars have been washed either by cash or through electronic payment (Genuino, 2012.
Product
The business will be offering services where skilled employees,using up to date detergents, will wash vehicles manually in order to uphold quality.
Place
Clients will access the services being offered by the businesses from the premise located in Howard area and they can contact the management either online or via a phone call in order to access the services.
Promotion
In order to create awareness, the company will mainly use posters and word of mouth in addition to online media via which customers will be sharing their experiences and attract new customers.
Integrated Marketing and Communication Plan
Push and Pull Strategies
The ideal marketing plan for Nozzle car wash will constitute both push and pull strategy because the former will ensure that the message being conveyed is able to reach a big audience by using all means to make sure that all potential customers are conscious of the services offered by the business (Governing.com, 2015). In order to attain it, the business needs to uphold high standards of user experience both within and outside the business premise considering that the strategy has worked well for another car wash business (Atchison, 2013). On the other hand, a pull strategy will be able to motivate prospective customers to look for the business services, and this will require the firm to offer services that have high visibility.
Messaging
The criteria that the firm uses to package its messages for delivery to the target market has a great influence on the type of response received; hence, the marketing strategies should effectively communicate to the present probable clients why the business exists (Bellis, 2014)..
Communication Channels
In order for the marketing strategy to be effective, the business should use proper communication channels that are able to convince clients that the services offered by the carwash are by far the best in the whole of the locality. Therefore, the firm needs to make use of both personal and non-personal means of communication that include advertisements, sales promotion, events and experience, word of mouth, direct marketing and direct sales (Shin, 2013).
Costs, Budget and Revenue Projections
The cost structure has been determined greatly by the pricing policy that has incorporated aspects of competitors' pricing and as the business kicks off, the total expenditure will be relatively high because of the necessity of raising the marketing expenditure to overturn market share from the core competitor (Percy, 2008).
The cost structure shown in the table below is based on the cost the firm incurs after each car is cleaned.
Budget
Item Cost ($)
Total 50000
Revenue projections
The revenue forecasts for Nozzles Carwash Company are displayed according to the table below and will be assessed on a quarterly basis.
Quarter Revenue ($)
Key Performance Index(KPI)
Key performance index refer to computable measures that assesses how the firm is performing in terms of value that in turn can be used by the firm in the formulation of goals and objectives. Profits and the number of customers will act as the firms KPI because it plans to make minimal profits within the first two quarters, and to add at least one hundred clients monthly for the first quarter.
Work Breakdown Structure
The firms work breakdown structure is as shown in the figure below:
Growth and Expansion
The growth strategy of the firm suggests that soon, a further extension will be witnessed in the services offered by the firm and that other market segments will be penetrated.
Potential Growth
In terms of potential growth, the firm aims at becoming the leading carwash within the locality in the next couple of years, improve its mass-market strategy towards the business, and come up with various stations nationally.
Desired Growth
In terms of desired growth, the firm aims to be the leading carwash within five years, improve its business growth by fifty-percent yearly, and add the number of its customers by ten percent monthly.
Expected Growth
Expected growth refers to the developments and improvements that the firm has planned for in the short and the long run based on the information it already knows. First, the firm expects to make twelve thousand dollars in revenue within the first quarter of business, which translates to twenty-one thousand dollars by the second quarter. Second, the firm also expected to attract approximately one hundred loyal customers within the first quarter of business and to expand its fame to all sections of the locality.
Risks
Risk Identification
The firm has identified two possible risks with the first one being the belief by clients that automated car washes are topnotch; hence, the risk of clients opting for automatic ones and neglecting hand carwash. Second, the firm has also realised that the business of hand carwash may be seasonal considering there are times that clients will be many especially during summer and few especially during winter.
Analysis of Probability and Impact
Likelihood scale
Response Strategy
In order to respond further to these risks, the firm has sought to concentrate on advertising its services and run a ten percent discount within the first three months (McKechnie, Devlin, Ennew & Smith, 2012).
Auditing
Conclusion
Nozzle car wash is a quality hand car wash service that employs the services of experienced and dedicated employees tasked with hand washing of vehicles with the aim of establishing loyal bases or consistent customers in addition to attracting new customers. Its main objective will be to acquire a substantial proportion of the carwash market share, and to give back to the community in terms of offering employment. Push and pull strategies will be used to reach its customer base and to attract new customers. Price will be a per service rate with customers having to go to the business premises for the services.
References
Brown, C. (1999). Water Conservation In The Professional Car Wash Industry. Texas: International Car Wash Association.
Genuino, H. C. (2012). A Review of Hydrofluoric Acid & Its Use in The Industry. Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 1-3.
Smith, J. (1997). Public Survey Used to Estimate Pollutants in Maryland. Maryland: Watershed Protection Techniques.
The executor of integrated marketing communications strategy: Marcom manager's working model. Berlin: Springer.
Tracy, B. (2004). The 7 Ps of Marketing. Entrepreneur. Retrieved 13 February 2016, from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/70824
McKechnie, S., Devlin, J., Ennew, C., & Smith, A. (2012). "Effects of Discount Framing In Comparative Price Advertising". European Journal of marketing, 46 (12), PP 555-559.
Percy, L. (2008). Strategic integrated marketing communication. Amsterdam: Butterworth- Heinemann.
Autowash.com. (2012, June 12). So You Want To Get Into Car Washing. Retrieved from www.autowash.com.au: http://www.autowash.com.au/car-wash-building-construction/
sbdcnet.org. (2013, April 4). Car Wash Business 2013. Retrieved from www.sbdcnet.org: http://www.sbdcnet.org/small-business-research-reports/car-wash-business-2013
brandongaille.com. (2013, October 17). 19 Car Wash Industry Statistics and Trends. Retrieved from brandongaille.com: http://brandongaille.com/19-car-wash-industry-statistics-and-trends/
carwashmag.com. (2014, December 1). 2015 Executive Forecast. Retrieved from www.carwashmag.com: http://www.carwashmag.com/home/article/2015-executive-forecast/818ebcbb58fd0827341d52b11e6fc583.html
Bellis, M. (2014, December 16). Marketing Plan for The Independent Inventor. Retrieved from inventors.about.com: http://inventors.about.com/od/licensingmarketing/a/advantages_mark.htm
Governing.com. (2015, August 8). Car Ownership in U.S. Cities Map. Retrieved from www.governing.com: http://www.governing.com/gov-data/car-ownership-numbers-of-vehicles-by-city-map.html
franchisehelp.com. (2016, January 17). Automotive Industry Analysis 2016 - Cost & Trends. Retrieved from www.franchisehelp.com: https://www.franchisehelp.com/industry-reports/automotive-franchise-industry-report/
ibisworld.com. (2016, January 23). Car Wash and Auto Detailing In the US: Market Research Report. Retrieved from www.ibisworld.com: http://www.ibisworld.com/industry/default.aspx?indid=1695
plazawash.com. (2016, January 25). Plaza Hand Wash. Retrieved from www.plazawash.com: http://www.plazawash.com/
