Increasingly, busy people find themselves cash rich and time poor. A demanding job and a hectic social life lead inevitably to an emphasis on quality time - whether with the family, or simply relaxing for an hour or so, away from the daily melee.

Perceptive Peter Carmichael picked up on this trend, and worked out exactly where his market opportunity lay before deciding that a Professional Car Cleaning (PCC) franchise was the perfect business to plug into this prevailing preoccupation with buying back time.

"I personally resented the idea of washing my car at weekends, when I had worked hard during the week and wanted to spend time with my family," he says.

"And I'd seen figures that suggested 36 per cent of all private homes have cleaners, so I figured that there would be a huge marketplace of car owners who felt like me and would rather pay to have their cars cleaned than waste valuable time doing it themselves."

A former Pest Control District Surveyor, Peter (pictured above) had long wanted his own business, but before taking the leap had thoroughly researched different franchise opportunities. "I saw PCC in a franchise magazine and sent off for further information," he recalls. "A pack arrived next day, which impressed me, so I booked to attend one of the PCC Discovery Days to find out more."

Peter's main criteria for choosing PCC was the massive marketplace - over 30 million cars - the potential for regular, repeat business, backed up by a professional support team. Launched earlier this year, PCC made an instant impact offering a comprehensive, high quality franchise package backed by one of the most experienced franchisors in the industry. A sister franchise to the highly successful ChipsAway International, PCC franchisees benefit from the high brand presence of ChipsAway as well as the outstanding track record and automotive expertise of its management team. They operate a mobile service from smartly liveried, fully equipped vehicles, providing high quality valeting both to private individuals and to local businesses.

Peter's PCC franchise has quickly taken off. As part of his launch plan, PCC pre-arranged a series of appointments with local companies for him, which he attended accompanied by the company's General Manager, Adrian Stiehl. "Having Adrian's support for the first couple of days in business was a real confidence booster," Peter confirms. "It was clear that once people saw the fantastic finish I could achieve, the service more or less sold itself. To build my business, the key has been to do as many demonstrations to as many different potential customers as I can."

Consequently, Peter has leafleted all the nearby industrial estates and business parks, although he says more and more of his work is coming from word of mouth recommendations from 'time poor' private customers.

A typical corporate customer is Norwich's largest double glazing company, which books every Friday to have all their executive cars and company fleet valeted. Other examples are a well-known firm of solicitors who have proved an excellent source of referrals for Peter's services, and a national health & fitness club with whom he is currently formalising a dedicated service for members.

"I started by valeting cars for the management of the club," he explains, "but members started approaching me and asking me to do their cars while they were in the gym. There is a nice bar and restaurant area, where you can have lunch after exercising, and so members tend to be in the club for a good couple of hours. That's plenty of time for me to complete their valet, and so they can emerge feeling great and pick up their sparkling, freshly valeted vehicle to drive home!"

Peter claims he too is feeling the health benefits. His new hands-on business has increased his physical fitness as well as his confidence - so much so, that he is currently in training for the next London Marathon.

"I've really got my life together," he says. "I'm so busy and yet I'm spending much more time with my family. I'm loving the flexibility and freedom I've gained and I'm fitter than ever." As for financial rewards, Peter estimates that within six months he will be earning some 30 per cent more than he did in previous employment, and beyond that he sees his business growing substantially. "I've got definite goals," he confirms. "There is just so much business out there. It's just a case of finding it. Already I'm thinking about taking on an employee to help and eventually, I want to have a fleet of PCC vehicles on the road."

According to PCC Managing Director, Steve Bignell, Peter's success is no surprise. "We are particularly proud that our new PCC franchisees are building thriving businesses," he comments. "They come from various backgrounds - from the insurance sector and retail management to couriers and business services - few have any prior automotive experience, and yet all have quickly developed a regular customer base and are growing very well.

"The valeting marketplace is very fragmented. There are a couple of large companies with a network of static valeting operations - but they are unable to match the flexibility and convenience offered by PCC franchisees. On the other hand, there are literally thousands of one-man bands in operation - but they have nothing to differentiate them in terms of brand or service.

"In contrast, the PCC franchise is strongly branded. Its franchisees are well trained and professionally supported, providing excellent valeting services, using a specially developed product range, exclusive to PCC franchisees - small wonder they're cleaning up!"

Love cars?

So do we...and so do our customers
Clean up with Professional Car Cleaning from leading franchise group ChipsAway.

Demand for professional and reliable valeting services is higher than ever and PCC offers hard working franchisees the opportunity to earn up to £1,000 a week.

Operating from a smartly liveried, purpose-designed vehicle using top quality exclusive products, franchisees will benefit from the experience, high profile brand and customer base of its sister company, ChipsAway. For more information please register today...