Randy Shick had a successful corporate career as a senior financial analyst at Ford Motor Company, and then with Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Virginia. But, the success didn’t translate into the flexibility he wanted in his life.
After graduating with a bachelor’s in economics from the University of Michigan, and a master’s in finance from Michigan State University, “I hated my day job,” Shick said.
Shick eventually left his corporate gig and began working at his brother-in-law’s auto repair shops.
“I worked mostly under cars replacing mufflers,” he said. “My father did very well as a periodontist, which allowed him to have plenty of time to spend with family and pursue other activities.”
Armed with the knowledge of corporate life, experience working in the service industry and exposure to an entrepreneurial example, Shick set out on his path to an exit strategy that would allow him to be his own boss.
Shick said he wanted to avoid the typical small-business challenges and limitations. So he developed his own five small business criteria: no advertising, no inventory, no employees, a cash business and one that would operate in his absence.
It took several years, but Shick eventually found a match with the self-serve car wash business, buying his first self-serve car wash in 1995. He followed that with two more washes and a laundromat, and in 1997, added two additional washes to his portfolio bringing his wash count to five.
“I’m blessed,” said Shick. “The self-service car wash business has proven, over the last 20 years, to have met all my criteria. It has allowed me to meet all my spiritual, financial and personal goals, while avoiding many of the usual small-business challenges.”
For Shick, the key has been to meet the customer’s needs in an efficient, cost effective and positive way. “We focus on the details,” he said. “The hogs hair brushes are full, the foam brush soap thick, the decals are clean, the vacuums work really well, and the lot is clean and well-lit.”
Lighting was just one detail that Shick spent extra time researching when he purchased his sixth wash in December 2015. The wash was nearly 30 years old and needed work.
The existing bays featured 8-foot T-8 fluorescent fixtures. Shick, having previously replaced 400 watt metal halide bulbs with CFLs at his other washes, began researching his options.
“I looked at everything from re-lamping the existing T-8 fluorescent fixtures to new T-5 fixtures to LED wall packs to the latest linear LED tube lights,” he said. “The CFL bulbs I’d used saved significantly on my electric bills, but were just adequate in terms of security lighting.”
Through extensive online research, as well as discussions with his distributor and electrician, he found G&G’s WPX Series of LED luminaires.
“I liked that it’s a really bright light, and it’s developed specifically for harsh and wet indoor and outdoor applications,” Shick said. “And it has push-and-click cabling that make it an easier installation for my electrician.”
“The bays are so bright that one customer actually told me that they are too bright,” he said. “This is especially important for a facility that operates 24/7. The increase in bay brightness, appeal and functionality for the customer is outstanding.”
Mike Boyd of Boyd’s Electric has been working with Shick for the past 17 years to service the electrical needs of his car washes. “There’s no heat generation, and maintenance is likely to be nominal, if any,” he said. “It took a single day to install four, 8-foot sections of LED lighting in five of the seven bays, including removing the existing 8-foot fluorescents and two nonfunctioning wall packs per bay.”