When it comes to functional design in business, it takes a lot more than a college design student or a superstar design architect; You need that too, but most of all you need someone with a lot of experience in the industry, someone who understands the flow. of the business model, difficulties and how to obtain the efficiency of the process. It does not matter if we are talking about retail, restaurants or service companies. So let me use an example here in my case study; a car wash building for the South China market.
First, space and real estate are hard to come by, and command a hefty premium whether buying or renting. Still, if property values are expected to rise, owning the property might also be a good idea. If ground space is at a premium, you should build, but when was the last time you saw a two-story car wash in the US? Well forget about that for now, we need to design something new from scratch because China is a whole different world in that sense.
Main concerns of the South China market:
1.Limited space
2. High Real Estate Costs
3. Smaller vehicles and more of them
4. Rapid inflation of property values: you may have to sell
5. Automotive Sector: No Real Brand Recognition Among Automotive Services
Okay, let’s talk, okay? If you can compete on quality and price in a car wash, detail center (1 bay), and oil change (1 bay), then you have three bays. You can upload? I mean double-deckers, I mean cars in China, “some” of them are lighter vehicles; BYD Motors, vehicles the size of Tata Motors, right? So detail cars upstairs, wash downstairs, change oil upstairs, used oil easily drains to small storage tank downstairs, office downstairs. Take a look at “Markline Modular Green Buildings” featuring a variety of two-story commercial buildings, as an example to help better visualize what I’m talking about here.
Now, if real estate values are going up continuously in South China, and if you’re going to have to move your facilities, you need to modulate it, so you can pick it up and move it quickly. You also need to be able to get the car wash installed quickly to start making money quickly and get a solid return on investment (ROI) because land costs are so high. Income Property Analytics noted in a May 21, 2011 article “China’s Real Estate Activity Halts,” by Landon M. Scott, that property values had temporarily slowed and then noted the following year they were rising again .
Therefore, it would make sense to create a strategy to take advantage of real estate investment under the self-service and car wash business model. Perhaps the entire building could be prefab, basically the size of 6 shipping containers, three wide, two tall. Your quality can build brand recognition, attract the best workforce, and bring you abundant word-of-mouth business, but quickly building the number of units you need to dominate the market regionally isn’t that simple. The place is huge; South China is a huge potential market, and so many cars. Therefore, it is important to be able to deal with space and grow quickly.
Focus on making the building with one important thing in mind; efficiency. You can make the exterior of the building or the facade anything you and your team of design architects can dream of. Back to efficiency; Always remember that in this type of service, the business is in “time”, not “work”, and if you can create a highly efficient mini-assembly line, look for speed, with an inspection person at the end of the line. , maybe selling more. for more services above, it might increase revenue, but you can’t “force sell” and also build strong brand loyalty because it has to be a soft sell so people feel it’s their choice, therefore reinforced, therefore, feeling good about spending your hard earned money with you.
A semi-automatic wash, with manual interior makes sense for what you suggest. But I can show you that it’s possible to wash, soap and dry a small size vehicle in less than 3 minutes with just one person, all by hand, not including the interior, and that’s as fast as most 60 seconds to 90 seconds. -second automatic washes if you include the drying time; Plus, you don’t have to buy equipment and move it around when you resell property and engage in quick real estate deals. Why not solve all the challenges and take advantage of all the opportunities in your building design? Please consider all this and think about it.
References:
1. YouTube video; “Genesis Delivers BP/ARCO Car Wash to Victorville, CA”.
2. Wash Trends Magazine, Spring 2008; “The Wonders of Modular: Today’s modular car wash buildings can do wonders for your bottom line,” by Sydney Petty
3. “A Surprise For New Balance: China Partner Became Rival By Gabriel Kahn, Wall Street Journal, December 19, 2002. Focusing on business licensing challenges, particularly in southern China
4. Bloomberg, May 1, 2012; “Cash-poor Chinese developers push commercial property deals.”