WINTER2022_SSCWN_1-68-3

PUMPED UP FOR A NEW YEAR!
That’s the key: clear, concise goals. New lights?
Designing a company t-shirt? New trash signs?
Painting the bays? Raising your prices? Is there
anything you want to do? If you’re wondering
what others are doing take a look at what self serve
owners are planning for this year.
“First of all, before you pump, you
must warm up or else you’ll hurt
your muscles. Now, listen here:
We can’t make you warm up,
that’s entirely up to you!” - HANS
THE SECRET OF SUCCESS FROM VID
ODERMAT OF BROWN BEAR
This story is told by Car Wash Hall of Famer Vic Odermat, president of
Brown Bear Car Washes, to Perry Powell during his podcast, Wash Ideas.
“Keep plodding on. Damn the torpedoes, full
speed ahead. That’s exactly what I did. It was
from the ground up. You helped yourself by
picking yourself up off the ground and continuing.
If you have a goal in mind, I think anyone
can succeed. But they have to have some idea
or some goal of what they want to be or what
they want to do.
… But the next year I knew I had to do
something. I went and leased a sign for $135
a month. That helped. But I think the thing that
really helped was that there was a local newspaper
called the BALLARD Tribune. I took out a
one-inch column ad on the front page and made
every Tuesday be Ladies’ Day and I gave fifty
cents off. I think between the sign and the Ladies’
Day promotion, we generated the volume.
Within a year, year and a half, I was doing close
to 5,000 cars a month. Then, when the opportunity
came to acquire another car wash that had
been built in 1965 by Dan Hanna – in business
with another individual – I acquired that car
wash. And then, in 1967, another car wash had
been built that was having trouble and I acquired
that car wash. Then I built my first car wash in
1969. I built another in 1970. Acquired another
two or three washes that year, too. And we just
continued to grow. I want everyone to know –
that in my opinion: ‘Bulls make money. Bears
make money. And pigs get slaughtered either
way.’ And I would like to encourage everybody
to have a philosophy in mind. Perseverance in
principle is more important than ambition.”
“One of my exciting new goals is to further
enhance the security at my car wash! I already
have 31 HD video cameras, provided by Alert
360. They recently added a video monitoring
service, using 2-way audio cameras where they
can speak with individuals to discourage loitering
and/or illegal behavior. Between 11 p.m.
and 5 a.m., they monitor 14 of my cameras.
When they see such behavior, they announce,
“This is Citrus Heights Car Wash Security....”
If the activity continues, they can immediately
call me or the police. Video monitoring is much
cheaper than having a security service drive
through 3-5 times a night or having a patrol
officer sitting on-site for 6 hours a night (which
can intimidate female customers). Knowing
that a 3rd party is watching over my business,
has given me more peace of mind. Since my
car wash is located on a busy corner, I have
opted to upgrade the sound system with louder
speakers. My car wash is open 24 hours and
stays busy, so I don’t want to close it down at
night with a gate.”
- Kimberly Berg of Citrus Heights
Car Wash, Citrus Heights, California
“LED. LED. LED. Just having a super hard time
nailing down exactly what bulbs/fixtures we
want to do. …We may put in something today
that we love, and 12 months from now it’s obsolete.
And the lighting colors never match when
you have to start putting in different LED lights
because the ones used before aren’t made anymore.
I don’t want the washes to look bad, so
we’ve been very hesitant to pull the trigger on
this. The consistency with metal halide technology
has been fabulous for the last 24 years. But
we feel it’s time that we switch over to LED.”
- Jeanine Humphrey of Hidden Cove Car Wash, Utah
“I always try to do something either new or upgraded
each year. This year I will be replacing a
landscaped/vacuum Island that is outdated. I am
working with a landscape contractor now about
putting in something done all in stone. Up-todate,
more modern and aesthetically pleasing.”
- Timm Bauldauf of Advanced
Car Wash, Voorheesville, New York
“I’ve worked hard for the last 20 years making
sure everything works how I want it and improving
energy efficiency. The hard work is finally
paying off now because I have few breakdowns.
The downside is that I get very bored without
having a large project in progress or on the
drawing board.
I intend to add more colored LED lights to
complement the existing lighting on my Razors.
People typically make favorable comments about
the lights so adding more should bring more compliments
and satisfied customers. I hope it helps
differentiate my washes from the competition.
I’m also considering some new business opportunities
and partnerships.
I’m trying to locate another property for a
wash in a neighboring community, but land
prices are too high. I’m trying to convince my
competitor to sell to me but that looks to be a
VERY long time from now.
After 22 years of washing cars, which should
read as “picking up after slobs,” I’m feeling a
little burnt out. I still love this business, but I may
be ready for a new challenge.”
- Eric H of Leominster, Massachusetts
“Increase another 20%”
- Mac of Cape Coral, Florida
“Our goals can only be
reached through a vehicle
of a plan, in which we
must fervently believe,
and upon which we must
vigorously act. There is no
other route to success.”
– PABLO PICASSO
“I’m planning to do all the finishing touches on
my remodel of my automatic wash. I am completing
the signs for my entrance archway. I would
like to add another sign on the front of my wash
that says: Car Wash Open 24 hours. I would
like to build a small storage shed for my hand
tools and some car wash items. I should repave
a section of my parking lot. I am closing on a
five-plex apartment building with a commercial
space that’s currently set up as a beauty shop.
That should keep me pretty busy, but what I really
want to do is sit around and watch the cars go in
and out of my new razor car wash!”
- Waxman of House of Wax, Orange, Massachusetts
“I want to install new all-in-one bay meter boxes,
with adding on some new options in the bays.”
- Sydney H. King of The Good Spray Car Washes, Utah
“Upgrades! Several new in bay features...Purchase
new sites.”
- Kyle Peel of Happy Days Car Wash
of Jackson, Louisiana
52 • WINTER 2022