How my RM100 car wash couldn't cover RM25k overhead

I made a pretty baller move in my previous business.

While every car wash in town charged RM10-20 (RM30 tops for premium), I went and charged RM100. RM50 if you wanted basic service. Crazy? Maybe. But I actually had steady customers who appreciated quality.

Here's the problem nobody talks about when you go premium... My overhead was RM25,000 per month. I open shop 25 days a month - every day must hit minimum RM1,000 revenue daily just to break even. That's 10 premium washes per day. Or 20 basic ones. Sounds doable, right? Wrong.

Because quality takes time. My crew could only properly service 6-8 cars max per day. Do the math: 8 cars x RM100 = RM800. Still RM200 short. Every. Single. Day.

You must be thinking, can upsell ma... But here's where it gets painful... I didn't have time or resources to train my crew properly on upselling. So, sendiri do lor... When I was there? We'd hit our numbers. When I wasn't? Crickets.

My crew wasn't lazy ah, btw. Quality work every time. But working hard doesn't fix a broken business model.

This taught me the most expensive lesson of my life:

The Viability Question every business owner must ask:

"How many sales of my BEST-SELLING product do I need to cover running costs?"

Not your dream product. Not your highest-margin product. Your EASIEST-to-sell product. The one that moves without effort.

Here's the brutal formula: Monthly overhead ÷ Price of easiest-sell product = Required sales Then break it down from monthly, to weekly, to daily. Then ask yourself, these numbers realistic or not?

For me: RM25,000 ÷ RM100 = 250 basic washes monthly That's 10 per day. We could only do 8. Game over before it started.

Today? Different story. Every sale I make is pure profit. Zero overhead eating my income. Bad month? I don't panic about rent and salaries. Good month? Everything goes to family and clearing debt.

The freedom is liberating. No more choosing which bills to pay. No more borrowing for groceries. No more 12-hour days just to lose money.

Want to know exactly how I rebuilt without the overhead nightmare?

I'm documenting the whole system - from picking the right model to using AI tools that replace expensive staff.

Fair warning: This isn't passive income BS. You still work. But you work smart, not desperate.

Discover how: [LINK]

Always cheering you on,

Kon

P.S. That car wash? Lost RM200k total. Could've figured it out with 5 minutes of honest math. Don't skip the basics.