A drawing hangs on the wall of Michael Racine's spacious third-floor office above his WashLand Car Wash. The 10-year-old sketch is evidence of how he wanted his car wash to look and perform. His dreams of car wash ownership actually date back 25 years. Today, he has that dream wash, combinin

Face it. It doesn't matter whether your base wash package is $3 or $15 ? every customer who enters a car wash expects to leave with a completely clean car. This means all vehicle surfaces, including wheels and tires. In a perfect world, customers would appreciate the additional detergent, lab

The 17th Annual Northeast Regional Carwash Convention was held for the fourth year in a row at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey from Monday, October 16 through Wednesday, October 18, 2006. It was hosted by the New England Carwash Association, the official show sponsor was

Everybody's angry. Or so it seems. Perhaps it's the current election cycle that sensitizes one to this sorry state of affairs, or perhaps recurring election cycles actually instigated it. For the past several weeks ? it feels like months ? we've been exposed to non-stop electioneering in

The car wash industry, like most others, has always been an evolving business. Those who have been around for a while recognize this. History, if nothing else, has taught us that change is not only constant, it is healthy and promotes growth. OVERVIEW Think back on this: During the very early d

Establishing and building up a detail business either as a separate location or part of a car wash operation is always a difficult process. The Small Business Administration (SBA) reports that four out of five new business startups in this country never make it beyond the first three years. Consi

Few equipment packages can, by mere presence or absence, affect the fortunes of a car wash operation more profoundly than a water reclaim system. By its absence, under drought conditions, it could threaten the car wash with closure. By its presence, it could save the car wash a stack of money in imp

As a car wash entrepreneur, you should already know the value of vending to your business ? especially at self-serve sites. Vending is convenience-based sales. You provide care products to your customers for their automobiles on-site. They don't need to stop at an auto center to pick up supplies

This is the fourth in a multi-part series dedicated to the "business" of detailing. In last month's column, we discussed employee issues. I started by suggesting to employers that they must take at least some of the responsibility for the performance of their employees. In fact, poor emp