I’ll Be There

I’ll Be There
Operator helps customers get over carwashing fears

A caring woman from India is helping her customers get over their fear of driving through a carwash. Nayana Gandhi is the owner of Bright ‘n’ Shine Car Wash in Normal, Ill. Many of her customers are senior citizens, and some have real fears about driving their cars into the automatic wash.

One day, Gandhi saw an 85-year-old woman hesitate before entering the carwash. Her hands were trembling on the steering wheel, as she and her husband were trying to decide who should drive their car into the wash.

“I offered to sit beside her and talk her through the process while her husband sat in the back seat. She was so amazed that she could do it,” Gandhi says. Thus, the idea of helping people overcome a carwash phobia was born.

Customers become empowered as she sits beside the driver and talks them through the wash, she says.

“I always sit in the passenger seat. I never drive the car for them,” she says.

Most of her customers know they can ask for her help, and Gandhi says she is happy to assist them. Now, they know she will go that extra step to give them the confidence to drive through the wash. And many who may have only used the facility a time or two have become regulars.

Helping her customers overcome their fear of entering a carwash is not the only unusual quality about Gandhi. She not only owns the facility but operates and maintains the 24-hour facility herself with the help of only one employee.

How did Gandhi decide carwashing was the business for her? She immigrated to the United States from India in 1981 and earned a degree in computer science. After graduating, she worked in a variety of computer-related jobs.

Gandhi and her husband settled in Normal, a small college town with a population of less than 46,000. Although the computer industry provided her with a variety of jobs, she always wanted to go into business for herself. After all, she comes from a family of entrepreneurs.

“I needed to find something that would provide me with an income yet offer flexible hours so I can take care of my children,” she says. Despite having no background in carwashing, her assessment of the industry told her it was the answer.

Remarkably, Gandhi was able to build an exemplary facility based on her own due diligence. She was not aware at that time of the many resources available to her, such as trade shows and associations. Much of her information came from visiting other carwashes, and she got a lot of advice from a helpful wash owner whose site was down the street from her home.

Bright ‘n’ Shine Car Wash was built in 1997 on a 15,000-squarefoot lot. Gandhi designed the facility herself, incorporating recommendations from the equipment manufacturers.

“It is really a very basic design,” she says. The 2,000-square-foot carwash has three self-serve bays and two touchless automatics. Gandhi chose to provide self-serve and touchless automatic bays based on the popularity of that combination. Older people seem to prefer the automatic, she says.

The basic price for an automatic wash is $4. The top price is only $6.50. For this price, customers get the basic wash, triple foam, wax and spot-free double rinse. The self-serve costs $2 for four minutes. Six self-serve vacuums, supplied by J.E. Adams Industries, Ltd. of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, reduce the wait time.

Gandhi’s first thought is about caring for her customers, and that’s the reason she is always accessible to them. She is either on site or can be reached by phone. Although customers of every walk of life use Bright ‘n’ Shine, Gandhi particularly understands a certain segment—senior citizens. Some see the automatic filled with hoses, spray equipment and water, and they become inhibited. Gandhi says she is always glad to sit beside the driver and talk them through the wash.

If she sees a bewildered customer trying to figure out how to get change or start the wash, she will help them put coins in the vendor or turn on the system. She shows self-serve customers how to work the wand and advises them on where to start washing their vehicle. She once had a customer with a broken hand who couldn’t work the wash selection in the self-serve, so she washed the car for him. On another occasion, she encountered a female customer who was having difficulty with the bill changer. Gandhi joked that the bill wouldn’t go in because there “was a man sitting on top of it.” The customer laughed at her joke as Gandhi helped her get change and now comes back regularly.

But helping customers wash their cars is only part of the equation. Gandhi believes in being friendly all the time, even if a customer is not. She will be outside visiting with her customers even when it’s cold.

“Sometimes they tell me to go inside where it’s warm. But I prefer being outside with them,” she says. She is always cheerful around her customers and says her attitude is, “Life has to go on.”

Promotion of the wash is done through word-of-mouth. Customers tell their friends about her care of them, spreading Gandhi’s reputation for kind treatment. A recent article in the local newspaper about how she helps her customers overcome carwashing fears generated a lot of new business, she says. When the newspaper reporter asked why Gandhi has so many older people at the wash, she replied, “I always look out for my customers, especially the older ones.”

So many people tell her they come to the wash just to see her smiling face and visit with her, she says.

“I didn’t intend to become popular, but the article caused so many new people to come to my wash.”

Keeping the attractive wash spotless is another factor that keeps her customers coming back. Several of her customers, such as real estate agents who wash their cars almost daily, are in business clothes when they come to the automatic. Gandhi does not want them to worry about getting dirty while their cars get clean. In addition to providing a clean, attractive establishment, Gandhi believes in being part of her community. She supports local school fundraisers and donates to the American Red Cross.

If Gandhi were to do it over again, she would provide more room for cars to line up. Currently, cars waiting for the self-serve bays sometimes block customers trying to access the automatic. She would also add more selfserve bays.

Gandhi says initially she was concerned about the perception of carwashing as a man’s industry. But she has proven to her customers that she can run the business, maintain the property and its equipment and handle the intricacies of carwashing. She likes the variety of challenges a carwash owner faces as opposed to the predictability of her former career. “Managing this business has given me a lot of confidence,” she says.