Tom Boyd
Culpeper Car Wash
Culpeper, Va.
Q: Tell us about your business.
A: My current business partner, Steve Corbin, and I started the business in January 2008. We chose in-bay automatics. Our target market is people who truly love their cars who don’t have a lot of time.
Q: How did you get into the business?
A: I am a commercial realtor, but in another life, I was a 40-year manager of industrial complexes around the country. When I retired in 2001, I figured that I better find something to do because I had too much idle time on my hands. I did a little studying in terms of personal investment and saw an opportunity to fill a need in Culpeper, which is why I invested in an upscale, well-maintained and highly attractive car wash.
Q: What’s special about your car wash?
A: Our car wash is often mistaken for somebody’s home. We built it in a Cape Cod home with a couple of drive-through garage bays. And people often think someone lives there. That made it welcome in the neighborhood.
Q: Why do customers appreciate your car wash?
A: We offer a 100 percent guarantee of satisfaction at our car wash, and we post our personal phone numbers at the car wash so that we get the calls if someone is not happy. I could probably count on both hands the number of times we’ve been called in five years. People seem to have gravitated to it. We see our market share growing exponentially while others seem to be fading.
Q: Do you use promotions for your car wash?
A: While our business has grown exponentially, we’ve never run a marketing program in print or on the radio. We don’t offer special promotions. We try to position ourselves, pricewise, as a value buy. It seems to have worked. I think we’re the only car wash in town that provides patrons with free wheel cleaner.
Q: What do you love most about the business?
A: I’m a car guy and I like a clean car. And I don’t think you’re dressed up until your shoes are shined — that’s why we insisted on giving tire cleaner to our customers. With that as a background, it’s been an easy passion to work my way into. I like it because it is a customer accommodation, and our customers tell us they love our car wash. I wouldn’t go anywhere else.
Archie Johnson
The Dryer Pros
Phoenix, Ariz.
Q: Tell us a little about your business.
A: The Dryer Pros was formed for the sole purpose of designing and manufacturing state-of-the-art vehicle dryers. And, being a single product manufacturer has allowed us to focus on making product improvements and developing new ones. A major contributor to our success is that most of our staff consists of specialists who have been in the industry for many years as I have.
Q: How did you get started in the car wash business?
A: In 1966 I was hired by a local car wash equipment manufacturer to service company-owned car washes. Within a few months I was deeply involved in the manufacturing side of the business and have been since.
Q: What new technologies or innovations are on the horizon for car washes?
A: Probably, the single most driving force of new technology in our industry is conservation. Both manufacturers and operators are searching for new ways to wash vehicles with less water and dry them with less electrical energy. The Dryer Pros, as well as other equipment manufacturers, are always searching for ways to improve the efficiency of the car wash industry.
Q: What do your customers appreciate about your business?
A: Probably the thing our customers most appreciate about The Dryer Pros is knowing they’re dealing with professionals who have been in the industry for several decades. Sometimes I explain it to new customers by saying that we must be doing something right to have lasted 46 years in the equipment business. I think that says it all.
Q: What advice do you have for those new to the business?
A: Build alliances with successful industry professionals. That includes everyone from the equipment manufacturer to the local distributor that sells and installs the equipment. They can all contribute to your success.
