Often smart entrepreneurs look for out of the way businesses, things out of the mainstream but businesses, which have a good customer base and steady incomes. This is an extremely interesting story. I had always considered the mobile truck washing efforts to be very profitable and believed that fixed truck washes were a big waste of money. That was until one year when a new franchisee joined our team from Oklahoma City. I run a franchise company called the Car Wash Guys; www.carwashguys.com. Turns out the franchisee was formerly employed by Blue Beacon Truck Washes the largest chain of truck washes in the US. They do about $138,000,000 per year with 80 truck washes and the company is very closely held. Tim our franchisee was a truck manager for them and before buying into our franchise and started washing cars in OKC even though he knows truck washing best. He had a two-year non-compete with his old company, which we have honored in OKC. He has tons of experience and had indicated to me that the business is sound and we should really get into it. Later that year I sold a franchise to a person in WA State who owned car washes (5) and he made a deal with a truck stop on an Indian Reservation, he never started the plan, but the numbers we ran on the spreadsheet looked great and very profitable.
Even as a serial entrepreneur, I had never considered the fixed site truck wash business, as the mobile truck wash business seemed so much more efficient and so little over head; www.truckwashguy.com . So even with all this knowledge on the team we still did not enter that market. One of our competitors in the car washing industry bought up two truck washing chains for a total of fourteen truck washes and proclaimed it more profitable than his other car washes by 5 times as much money. They now own nearly 100 locations of truck and car washes nationwide. After looking into it some more a franchise buyer who owned Fuel MAN, an East coast Fuel Card for fleet owners approached us in South Carolina to use the Truck Wash Guys name and develop a truck wash mid state. At that point we decided to start working on the details. Then a franchisee in OH made a deal with a truck stop between Columbus OH and Pittsburgh, to operate a 24 hour truck wash and de-ice business. He thought how easy this is and now so we have made deal in WV at a truck wash as well. Our Ohio Franchisee at the time took on another partner in WV.
Still reluctant to fully dive into the subcategory of full service truck washes we found our Ohio Franchisee going full guns to put together a deal with Pilot Truck Stops. Pilot Truck Stop has the most Truck Stops on the Planet and sells 8% of all the diesel fuel in the United States. So we planned a pilot program at pilot. Our temporary set up is a trailer unit, which sits at the truck stops and washes made sense. We then worked on plans for a building to submit them to the Building dept. for approval, meanwhile the deals in OH and WV and SC were suddenly in the works. We figured if our deal with the truck stops worked well, the Truck Stops will get more traffic and fuel sales while we generate revenue and a percentage of the total take for the truck stop for the privilege of working there. We are so use to washing trucks and have on our team a gentleman who sells simonize truck wash and has been in the car washing and pressure washing equipment business for 20 years. By using the fuel man fuel cards as currency on the east coast and name recognition of Pilot we figured we could move into this industry and pick up the slack.
There is a shortage of truck washes across the country and also a shortage of oil change facilities for trucks. A franchisee could be trained by our truck wash prototypes and probably on the top performing franchisee in our mobile truck wash division; then quickly set up in their own markets. Pressure Washing companies which specialize in fleet truck washing should in fact consider this type of strategy for moving into the fixed site truck washing business.
If you study entrepreneurial companies you will in fact see that many companies fall into markets due to opportunities which present themselves, it is amazing the opportunities which exist out there and how fast companies can grow when they can handle the demand of those markets. Think on this.
"Lance Winslow" - If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.worldthinktank.net/wttbbs
car service from Midway Burlington .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareMost small businesses incorporated in 2005 will fail by the... Read More
Washing manufactured homes, mobile homes, can be a lucrative and... Read More
1. Don't Spend Too Much Time PlanningWhen you are entering... Read More
The stock market is still on a wild roller coaster... Read More
1. Leadership Is Learned ? While many people appear to... Read More
In this series of articles I'm going to show you... Read More
Many years ago, I had warned the carwash industry of... Read More
If you have ever had your antique shop or mall... Read More
Often smart entrepreneurs look for out of the way businesses,... Read More
What is the Big Race all about when it comes... Read More
Where do you look for the appropriate alliance?One of the... Read More
Most businesses accept checks as form of payment for goods... Read More
Your product is dying. With the same inevitability that we... Read More
You know your prospects need what you sell. You know... Read More
Who is responsible for maintaining the business relationship?Nurturing a business... Read More
The Federal Trade Commission which governs the franchise industry thru... Read More
The bad things starts with the letter 'O'?.like Obstacles, Obstruction,... Read More
If you're an entrepreneur responsible for your own small business... Read More
One of the greatest pitfalls in e-commerce is Field of... Read More
As a Boat Detailing Specialist, you may want to offer... Read More
What could Seinfeld possibly have to do with marketing a... Read More
Q: I really want to start my own business, but... Read More
Do you like animals? Would you like to work for... Read More
Self-cleaning glass has been talked about a lot, with such... Read More
If you are in the professional car care business you... Read More
Granger limo Chicago ..Think the best way to get more customers is to... Read More
And is having a logo really that important?My answer to... Read More
The home-based business market, sometimes called the SOHO (small-office/home-office) market,... Read More
My 16 year-old daughter said, "Gee Dad! You look just... Read More
Maximum efficiency in the cleaning industry is a key to... Read More
A Private Investigator is a professional trained in the art... Read More
What's your job profitability? I meet with business owners every... Read More
You have spent considerable time pulling your business plan together,... Read More
Where would a business be without a business plan? A... Read More
What is a Virtual Assistant?A Virtual Assistant is a person... Read More
As a solo entrepreneur or small business owner, one of... Read More
You've always liked flowers and you think the idea of... Read More
The Customer Analysis section of the business plan assesses the... Read More
No matter what kind of small business you have, you... Read More
Nothing can drive a business down faster than customers who... Read More
For the employees, payday is the brightest day; they finally... Read More
Time. As a small business owner, it's the commodity you... Read More
Most business owners know when they need an accountant, but... Read More
What is the best time to expand a mobile car... Read More
Before you read any further in this article, I'd like... Read More
American small business is again in transition. Many employees, now... Read More
Becoming a contractor or sub-contractor for the U.S. government can... Read More
People will always stress that having a well researched business... Read More
One of the simplest ways to expand your marketing efforts... Read More
It's a strange anomaly.Most people who set out to start... Read More
Small Business |