Product Strategy: Building a New Business Model to Upend Car Washing

How would you shake up the car wash industry? Describe the opportunity you would go after and what you would build. ```hint Map the industry first Lay out the ways people get their cars clean today, from automated drive-through washes to washing at home, and note where each one costs the customer time, money or quality. Disruption usually starts with the customers incumbents serve worst. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Am I entering as a new startup, or as an existing company that can use assets it already has? - Should I focus on private car owners, on fleets such as rental, delivery and ride-hailing cars, or on both? - Does disruption mean taking share from existing car washes, or does growing the market among people who rarely wash their car also count? - Is there a particular geography in mind, given how much climate and water rules vary? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - How the industry works today (its formats, how each makes money, where customers lose time or money) and what disruption means here - A chosen target segment with specific pain points - A concrete product or business model, compared against at least one alternative, with a clear reason incumbents would struggle to copy it - A cheap first test and the metrics, including unit economics, that decide whether to scale - Risks such as regulation, liability for damage, labor, seasonality and how incumbents would respond ### Follow-up Questions - How would your answer change if the company entering were Google rather than a startup? - What would you do if the large drive-through chains cut their membership prices in response? - How does your idea hold up in a cold winter with salted roads?