4A – Forming An Opportunity Belief

I believe senior citizens cannot hand wash their own cars anymore and need people to do it for them.

The unmet need is that the older population can no longer hand wash their cars.  This need is because the older generation have cars as well and need their cars cleaned but cannot do so themselves.  Many times they take them to the drive thru car washes. 

However, these drive thru car washes often leave scratches and swirl marks on the vehicles and don't leave them as clean as a hand wash.  They also sometimes can't physically vacuum or clean the inside due to their physique. I feel there is a high percentage that this opportunity exists, especially in 55 and over communities and apartment complexes.

During the weekend, I spent some time at the country club near my home.  It's here where I spoke to an older gentleman about my idea.  He currently drives a 2015 Cadillac, and loves to have it sparkling clean.  Often times he gets the car waxed and detailed , as well as a good deep clean for the inside of vehicle.  He stated that many years ago, he would take care of his car himself but as the years passed, he finds it very difficult to wash it himself now.  He noticed the need about 5 years ago when his son moved to California.  He would help wash his car on his spare time.  Now he currently takes it to a gas station where he waits about an hour for people to clean the exterior and interior of his Cadillac.  He is satisfied with the work they do but says he doesn't like to wait for them to be done.  He would much rather be playing golf.  He notices the need for someone to come to him, while he waits for his wash and thinks it would be a great idea for the car wash to come to him.

I realized that looking for the customers in this age range is a great idea because many of them are willing to pay for the job.  They also find it very difficult to do this job themselves.

After speaking with 2 of his friends, I realized that they all have the same need.  One of his buddies says he had a man coming to wash his car, but it was too pricey so he ended up not continuing the service.

The opportunity is there and narrowing down the customer base is a huge plus, but also tweaking some prices may definitely happen.  However, I think feedback is great but, some things like pricing can't be too flexible.