Beautifying carz

A car beauty clinic is a unique idea in India and has fascinated entrepreneurs from day one. Anckur Sama, Founder and Director of CarzSpa gives us an insight into his brain child and shares his future plans.

Abha Garyali (AG): Tell us something about the origin, growth and success of‘CarzSpa’? When, where and how did it originate?

Anckur Sama (AS): We entered into this industry four years back with one outlet, but today, we have around 25 outlets across India. The idea of switching over to car beauty clinic hit me from one of my foreign visits where I saw such centers flourishing. I liked the concept of grooming cars to perfection. Hence my profession of selling cars coupled with a passion of grooming cars brought me into this business

AG: From where did you get the inspiration to opt for franchising as a mode of expansion?

AS: Franchising has always been the preferred route for business development. It becomes very difficult for one company to handle the entire business across the country hence we require entrepreneurs to run the show in different cities and locations for further development and success.

AG: What products and services does CarzSpa offer for the beautification of cars?

AS: We offer all products that come under car grooming. Emulating the offshore servicing patterns, we adopted steam cleaning of car interiors and AC blowers; sanitising and rendering them thoroughly. We offer other services like steam wash and wax, paint correction and protection, antiglare glass treatment, anti-rust treatment, AC de-odoring, UV guards for interiors, paint glass enhancement, paint protection flims, carbon fiber finish, lamination on interiors and exteriors and personalised vinyl stickers.

AG: What difference have you noticed in the performance of the company after it opted for franchising?

AS: Our quality of products and services has improved and it has added to our advantage. Buying power has also increased. Scale of operation has helped systems and practices to get standardised. A centralised distribution system has added to our advantage and we are able to ensure consistency.

AG: What qualities do you look in prospective franchisees for your company?

AS: The qualities that we look for in our prospective franchisees are an inclination towards the service industry and passion towards cars.

AG: How many franchisees do you have and in which cities?

AS: We have two company owned and operated centers in Surat. CarzSpa is present in 18 cities with 25 centers. Our centers are in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Baroda, Bhopal, Calicut, Coimbatore, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Indore, Jalandar, Mumbai etc.

AG: What all training and support do you provide to the franchisees?

AS: We provide a week’s comprehensive training to the staff of all our franchisees including the top notch executives. Printed training manuals are also supplied. On-site practical training is also provided.

AG: How much investment is required by an aspiring franchisee in terms of money and time?

AS: A reasonable investment of just Rs 10 lakh is needed by aspiring franchisees for a unit of CarzSpa. It can be launched within five weeks, after site approval.

AG: What are your future plans in terms of expansion through franchising?

AS: We plan to have 50 franchised centers operational all across the country by end of 2010.

AG: What are the challenges faced by franchisees in this business? How can they overcome these challenges?

AS: To create sufficient footfalls and business in initial months is a challenge for a franchise. We can overcome these challenges with low budget marketing advertisement and good services so that the customers become our permanent clients.