Get a car wash in Beirut without wasting a minute with Blink My Car

How many times have you wanted to get your car cleaned but didn't because you were too busy or just flat out lazy? I think we've all suffered just the same.

Back in November 2015, Lebanese entrepreneurs Rami Hallal and Ralph Choueiri  officially launched Blink My Car, to save us all from the burden of car washing. We sat down with the co-founders and had a little chat about their story, their services, funding, and their next steps.

Currently, you can book a car wash Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. As summer approaches, they will be extending their operating hours as well as introducing weekend car washes very soon.

Exterior cleaning is $10. Adding interior cleaning to exterior wash would be an additional $2, totaling $12, which does not differ greatly from regular car washes in Beirut. Plus, as they say, time is money and with this app, not a minute of your time is wasted. "People don't understand that you don't need water to wash the car," Hallal told Stepfeed. Blink My Car specialists use "premium waterless products" and "clean microfibers" ensuring maximum safety for your car.

When they first went live back in November 2015,  they were pretty much receiving orders from their friends and family and had only had seven orders. After months of hard work, they closed 105 orders in the month of February alone.

"With a new service you need to get people to try it, to experiment with it," Hallal said.  Offering a free wash for first-timers was their main form of marketing as they see the strength behind word of mouth marketing and the 'heard it threw the grape vine' phenomena. They are currently testing social media ads, on both Facebook and Instagram.

An eco-friendly initiative at heart, Blink My Car not only limits the use of water to that of a cup of water, but also has specialists get to their car wash destination using electric bikes!

If you're looking for some extra cash, you could easily make a few bucks by becoming a Blink My Car specialist. By hiring young Lebanese car enthusiasts, Blink My Car is creating part-time jobs for anyone looking to make some money on the side.

Blink My Car secured a seed round of funding from a Lebanese private investment company, Al Amir Holdings . At the beginning, they were bootstrapping, working in a tiny office their investors provided. The co-founders were literally sharing a desk. Luckily though, they will be expanding into a bigger office soon.

As part of their marketing initiatives, they are looking into corporate deals. They tested this with the Beirut Digital District by offering all BDD tenants a discount on all orders after the free trial.

What started as a car washing app will soon "take burden of any small services" of the car away, Choueiri said.

In terms of technology, they are working to revamp their existing iOS app and expanding beyond just iOS. Soon, their Android app will be going live. With that, comes the move from cash-on-delivery to online payments, as they've secured an international payment gateway to ensure maximum security. "Handling cash is a nightmare, you can't offer discounts easily, you can't offer promo codes easily, can't offer bundles easily," Hallal said.

While you're waiting for their Android app to go live, you can Whatsapp them at 81 779 767 ; Just say "Hi" and they'll take care of the rest!