This is the fifth post in a series of seven inspired by the third episode of the current series of The Apprentice on BBC. These business ideas are aimed at anyone wanting to start a business on a budget of £200 or less.

What could be simpler than washing cars, we’ve all done it (probably as a child for pocket money) and it’s a very simple service to sell. With over 20 Million cars on the road in the UK there’s a massive market too.

All you need to get started is a bucket, some sponges, car shampoo and a good location with access to water (or you can be mobile and wash cars on the owner’s drive). If you invest a little more money in starting up you expect to make a higher overall return by offering various add on sales such as alloy wheels cleaning, tyre blacking, internal car clean, car waxing and selling those nice smelly Christmas trees so the car continues to smell nice for a couple of weeks after you’ve been.

If you’ve got a bit more money, once you’ve built a reputation you could offer a collect and return service where you collect the car from them, perform a full wash/valet and return it later. You’ll need to make sure you’ve got the right insurance too!

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