Anyone Can Start a Mobile Car Wash But Few People Ever Do It Right

Before retirement, I was a franchisor in the mobile car washing industry. In fact, one could say that I invented the industry, although there are others who will debate that, because there were people doing mobile on-site detailing prior to my franchising my company. Nevertheless, I can remember often that franchise buyers would tell me; "I don't need you, I can start a mobile car wash company, it isn't rocket science, anyone can do it."

Apparently, this was a challenge to me to debate them, and prove to them why they should buy my franchise rather than start up their own mobile car washing business. I never involved myself in that debate because if someone really believes that, let them go and try, and fail, and try to compete with one of our franchisees, or our team in the marketplace. Indeed, I had spent 27 years building my company, getting all the bugs out, making all the mistakes, and build, at least what I believed to be, a perfect mobile car washing business model.

Yes, anyone can start a mobile car wash company, many people do, but very few people ever do it right. When I first started of course there was no one doing mobile car washing, and the number of mobile detailers in the country was probably in the neighborhood of 100. Today there are hundreds of thousands of mobile detailing and mobile car washing companies throughout the country. I'd like to think that I helped bring about that industry, and allow the consumer to experience better customer service, and convenience.

What sorts of things to people do wrong when they start their mobile car wash businesses? Well, generally they go after all the higher-end clientele, the 5% of the market with all the luxury cars. Indeed 80% of the portable carwash companies and mobile detailers are competing for that 5%. The reality is the money is in the time, not in the job, or the high price that you can charge some rich person to clean their car. There is an old saying"; "sell to the masses and live with the classes."

There's a lot to be said for that, and it is one of the things that these mobile operators make a mistake with. Of course, I can name 1000 others, but if someone is so arrogant, and thinks that 27 years worth of experience, observation, and actually doing it in the industry is of no value, then who am I to debate with such a know-it-all anyway? Are you beginning to see my point?

This is why when franchise buyers used to ask me; "why should I buy your franchise, it's a simple business, anyone can do it?" I would just look at them and laughed, and I'd say; "go ahead big guy, I'll see you in the marketplace." After all, let's let the customers decide. Isn't that would free markets are all about?

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes writing 23,900 articles by July 4, 2011 is going to be difficult because all the letters on his keyboard are now worn off now..

View the original article here

Does It Make Sense to Start a Waterless Car Wash Business in the Middle East?

Before retirement, I had founded a mobile car washing franchising company, and I had franchised it in 23 states, serving some 450 cities in four countries. Some of our staunchest competitors were those folks that went out and did dry-washing using a waterless carwash solution. At the time, I didn't have much respect for these types of products, because I wouldn't want someone to smear a solution on my sports car, smear in the dirt, and wipe it off. Yes, I realize that it was a bit of water saver, especially considering the amount of water people use in their driveway when they wash their car.

Perhaps you didn't know this, but the average person spends something like 50 to 100 gallons of water washing their car in their driveway. And even car washes which recycle all their water, well, they still use about 16 to 20 gallons of fresh water for every car that they clean. I know using a pressure washer on a mobile car wash rig you can wash a car with about 3 to 5 gallons water without too much problem, if you are careful how you use it, and the car will be perfectly clean.

Now then, the other day someone in Lebanon suggested that he should start an aircraft cleaning company. He had considered using a waterless car wash solution created by a chemist in Jordan. Later that same month someone called me from Israel who wanted to start a mobile car wash there also using a dry-wash type product. And then I read something interesting in Bloomberg BusinessWeek in the June 20 - June 26, 2011 magazine.

The article was in the small business innovator section and titled "Waterless Car Wash" and the article made it sound like this was some type of new innovation that no one had thought of before. However, these products have been around for about 25 years that I can remember, the name of his product is "Keenwash" which claims to be a non-toxic and a bio degradable car wash fluid. Now then, does using such a product like this in the Middle East make sense?

Yes, actually it does, and remember, I'm not even a fan of these type of products. However I do understand the severe challenges of fresh water, and the cost of desalination in that part of the world. It may take a little longer to clean the car, but this franchisor Mr. Atmeshs, might be just what the Middle East needs to provide more jobs. Think of all the people he can help out of poverty? Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes writing 23,850 articles by July 4, 2011 is going to be difficult because all the letters on his keyboard are now worn off now..

View the original article here

Why the 2004 Dodge Neon SE Is a Great Start for a Tuner Car

If you're looking to create a beautiful tuner car, the 2004 Dodge Neon is a great place to start. With a factory stock 132hp 2.0L engine, it is one of the most powerful compact cars on the road (for example, the 2004 Honda Civic LX has 115 hp). The 2004 Dodge Neon is known as one of the best handling compact cars on the road, and its looks are above average for a compact car. All in all, it's a great compact car, and they're incredibly affordable on the used market. You can easily pick one up for less than $8000, and if you search well, you could find a good used one for less than $5000!

Now, you're probably not really looking for a 2004 Dodge Neon, but rather, something that you can turn into an unbelievable tuner. That's where the 2004 Dodge Neon really starts to shine - there are literally thousands of after-market upgrades custom-made for this car. They range from full-on body kits to simple cold air intakes. Here are some of the most common upgrades that people choose to implement when they make their 2004 Dodge Neon's tuners:

Cold Air Intake

A cold air intake will increases your horsepower by about 10-15% according to manufacturers. Essentially, it increases the amount of fresh air your car takes in, allowing better combustion.

Cat-Back Exhaust System

This allows your car to expel the after-combustion gases it needs to get rid of to operate smoothly. Similar to a cold air intake, expect a 10-15% horsepower upgrade. Plus, they provide a really cool sound.

Premium Brakes - Rotors, Calipers, Pads and Brake Lines.

The advantages here are obvious - you can stop faster and drive more aggressively (if you're into that!)

Custom Coil-Over Springs Suspension

This allows improves the handling of your car so significantly!! It allows you to attack corners like never before - once you've driven a car with a coil-over system, you'll never want to go back! Plus, of course, you can adjust the suspension to ride lower - which looks awesome.

Up to 18-inch wheel/tire Combos

Neon's will support up to 18 inch wheel/tire combos. Your Neon could look really cool with tuner looking chrome rims on low profile 18's!

Full Body-Kit

There are several available for the 2004 Neon. These include a front and rear bumper as well as side skirts.

Custom hood (often Carbon Fiber)

Again, readily available for the 2004 Dodge Neon. There are even ram air hoods available, which will increase the amount of cold air going to your engine as well.

Custom Spoiler

There are again several different varieties of spoilers available for 2004 Dodge Neon's. At a minimum, you'll want to upgrade to a SRT-4 style spoiler, which is much higher than the basic spoiler on most Neons.

And that's just scratching the surface! If you do some searching, you'll find thousands of upgrades that will make your 2004 Neon run faster and smoother, stop sooner, hug the curves better, be safer, more reliable and most of all, look awesome. All in all, the 2004 Dodge Neon is a great start for a tuner car.

Brad Penney is the author of Customize My Ride - http://customizemyride.blogspot.com/ - which is a blog about customizing and upgrading vehicles. Customize My Ride provides readers with general upgrading tips and tricks, but more importantly with make/model/year specific guides to to customizing their vehicles. Visit http://customizemyride.blogspot.com/ today!

View the original article here