A “self-managed” car wash is sold for $140,000, the new owner earns $5,000 a month and only mixes soap and collects cash

When it comes to successful car wash ventures and pop culture references, By Walter White A1A from “Breaking Bad” comes to mind. But for one young entrepreneur, her cleaning business is no excuse: It makes tons of money and practically runs itself.

What you should know: According to Business Insider report22 years old Hannah Ingram In 2021, he purchased a coin-operated car wash in Tennessee for $140,000. It generates about $5,500 a month in profit and requires almost zero work.

When he purchased the almost fully automated car wash about three years ago, it was already up and running and profitable. After contacting the owners who had put the business up for sale and taking a quick look at the books, Ingram saw several areas where he could cut costs and boost the company's bottom line.

“For example, I was getting paid a few hundred dollars a month for a radio ad that I knew I could lose and replace with social media marketing. By doing those calculations, I could clearly see the path forward where I could stay in the green, and that gave me confidence in the investment,” he told Business Insider.

See also: Investors dump their car wash: Tax-motivated buyers are making the net-lease car wash market red hot

Ingram was able to avoid having to make a large down payment by purchasing the business through seller financing, which is a real estate arrangement that allows the buyer to make incremental payments to the seller at the time of purchase. In this case, he actually took over the owner's existing bank loan.

When Ingram eventually acquired the car wash, she replaced many of the brushes, vacuums and soap dispensers. She also invested in new signs to give the business a new shine. Ingram said she made a decent profit in her first month as owner.

Later, he added machines that accepted credit cards and made a few more improvements. In total, he invested an additional $7,500 in the business on top of the purchase price and the car wash now generates profits of $5,500 per month on average.

Ingram used to spend about 30 minutes each day taking out trash and doing minor preventative maintenance around the site, but he hired someone to take over his minimal maintenance routine.

“Nowadays, I basically stop to mix the soap and take care of the money… Otherwise, I manage everything myself, and I still make thousands of dollars a month,” she told Business Insider.

Check this out: This entrepreneur turned a side hustle with a vending machine into a $300,000 business — now he works just 4 hours a week

Photo: Roberto Wilkos from Pixabay.

This story is part of a new series of articles on the topic of success, Gasoline Inspiration.

Elements of this story were previously reported by Benzinga and have been updated.