Finishing Line

Over the last six or seven years, more and more of my business contacts have been related to buying or selling a car wash or curing a sick business rather than building a new wash.  »

Propensity is an inclination or natural tendency to behave in a particular way. For example, propensity to buy would be to say that most men living in Florida prefer to buy Ford trucks as opposed to GMC, Chevy, Dodge, or Toyota. »

In 2006, car wash investment planning guides described the business as a sure bet.  »

Consolidation is a tool to achieve and sustain power in the marketplace and is encouraged by changes in the external environment. »

When stock market prices collapsed in 2008, the bear market wiped out half of the savings of many ordinary working people who dabbled in the market to augment their wages. »

Nissan’s self-cleaning Leaf vehicle is on the streets. The exterior of the 2015 Leaf boasts the Japanese automaker’s proprietary Ultra-Ever Dry paint treatment which Nissan says repels every type of liquid from rain to eggs. »

About 10 years ago, mobile car washer, futurist, and now think-tank blogger Lance Winslow predicted the car wash industry would converge on two types of operations:  »

Historically, car washing has been a cash business and run mostly by mom and pops owning one or two locations — self-serve, full-serve, or exterior-only. »

In a recent article in CSPnet.com, Eric Wulf, CEO of the International Carwash Association, reported on some car wash industry trends.  »

The U.S. car wash industry is fragmented and mature and should progress through some form of consolidation life cycle. »

Barriers to market entry are obstacles that restrict the ability of a new car wash to enter and begin operating in a given area. These obstacles may involve making large investments in capital equipment or overcoming strong... »

Entrepreneurs are a lot like baseball players — they would rather hit a home run than a single or double. Similarly, investors tend to build big car washes rather than small ones. »

I came across an article written by an equipment manufacturer that discussed what traffic count is needed to assure a profitable location. To paraphrase: Enough cars are needed to pass by every day so even if only a tiny... »

A broad view of environmental responsibility is that a good business can simultaneously make a profit and steward the environment. »

It’s taken roughly 10 years for Lotus-Effect paint to go from laboratory scale and proof-of-concept to future commercialization with Nissan introducing its prototype “Leaf” model with self-cleaning paint. »