Business Operations/Management

Creating and Maintaining a Program I have been very fortunate to have worked in many successful organizations during my career in this industry. Due to those experiences, I have often…

Getting in Control of Your Cost per Car

Trends Favor Detail Business Growth The ugly duckling of the car care business is turning into a swan. That scrawny little business usually found on the wrong side of the…

Soap is made by mixing fat with a water solution of sodium or potassium hydroxide. Detergent properties are due to dissociation hydrolysis — water added to a substance causes both…

There’s an unsettling notion in the car wash industry that the equipment in the tunnel is the most important aspect in the business. Although how clean a car leaves your…

Last month we suggested the principal constraint that limits or prevents a “mom and pop” start-up from investing in the car wash industry is the availability of capital. Now we…

Twelve months ago, our State of the Industry Survey, although showing some improvement over the previous year, offered results that could best be described as a mixed bag. The results…

Last month, we discussed the first four of six steps to take when a customer has a problem: 1. Show regret and empathy 2. Ask questions and listen 3. Be…

Executives of four car wash equipment manufacturing companies agreed to participate in this year’s look ahead to what the following 12 months might hold for the industry. The panelists are:…

As car, SUV, and truck owners increasingly customize their vehicles with wheels that are larger and more intricate than ever before, there is less tolerance for dirty rims and tires…