We all know the many challenges facing those who work in the carwash industry: higher gas prices, lower discretionary spending by consumers, higher interest rates, tighter availability of capital and, for many of us, combating fluctuating weather conditions.
These are daunting times, and human nature is to flee or fight. In the context of the carwash industry, we can flee by choosing to sell or, worse, run and put our heads in the sand. We can choose to fight by finding ways to cut expenses, enhance our marketing programs or change our business models.
My message, and that of the International Carwash Association, is to fight. We are an army of 18,000 member companies, and together we can combat these challenges and not just survive, but thrive.
Challenging times call for creative responses. Many solutions don’t cost a lot of money, but they require us to think differently. The most successful operators use these times to re-evaluate their businesses from top to bottom, particularly their expenses.
Successful operators also seek out new opportunities, such as finding a wash for sale in their market that was poorly managed. Another opportunity may be an investment in your equipment to make sure you are putting out cars cleaner and faster than your competition. Yet another opportunity may be taking on partners for capital or intellectual investment.
In challenging times, it is comforting to be able to rely on colleagues in this industry, or better yet, on partners. The most valuable partnerships I’ve found for my business are professional associations. All successful associations do at least one thing — they help their members be more successful.
Membership in the International Carwash Association is more of an investment in your business than it is in the association. Membership is your opportunity to take on a partner. All of us chose to go into the carwash business so that we would be in business for ourselves, but we don’t have to be in business by ourselves.
The ICA is your partner for success and is evolving to meet the needs of today’s industry professionals. We’ve just completed the 2008 Study of Consumer Attitudes and Habits, which is the industry’s most reliable and authoritative source of information on carwash customers. Some of the best news from this most recent report is that only 34 percent of consumers report that they usually wash their cars in their driveway, down from 58 percent in 1996 and a 12 percent decline over the past three years.
Every day we are working to make sure you have the tools you need to succeed. We’ve expanded the size and scope of the world’s largest library of carwash video content. We’ve expanded our new investor programs to ensure the success rates increase for those entering our industry. We are also continuing the Petroleum Retailer’s Seminar at Car Care World Expo 2009 in recognition that the petroleum market is responsible for 40 percent of the retail carwash locations in the United States.
Car Care World Expo 2009 also will help prepare your business to survive these challenging economic times. At this year’s event, you will see more carwash products, discover more new technologies, and learn more proven ways to grow your business than at any other carwash event in the world.
We also understand that investing in your business means investing in your knowledge and the knowledge of your employees. To that end, we have devised what we believe is the most comprehensive and relevant carwash education program in the industry.
It would have been easy for us to just keep doing what we’ve always done, but we believe that the ICA must be a leader and a strong partner for our members. Challenging times require creative responses, and that’s what the International Carwash Association is doing.
You have a choice in these challenging economic times to either fight or to flee. When living in an unstable economy and working in an ever-changing industry, remember that you don’t have to go it alone. There is help out there and for many of us, it is with carwash associations and our members.
By working together, we will weather this storm. By leaning on each other, we will strengthen the fabric of the professional carwash industry. When we emerge from this challenging period, we will be poised, unified and ready to reap the benefits of our investments.
Lisa Lyons is president of the International Carwash Association. She is a second-generation carwash owner and operator, and an advocate for the interests of small business and the self-service segment of the professional carwash industry.