My husband and I bought our first car wash in 1998. We were looking for a business that we could eventually retire on and liked the idea that this was something we could do together with no employees. My great uncle, a 16 year veteran of the car wash business, made a good living off of his wash and was very encouraging.

He helped us find a busy 5-bay self-serve that was for sale on a bank repo. We got a pre-approved loan and began calling the broker almost every day for 3 months trying to make an offer. Finally in December, the bank was ready to get it off their books and sold it to us at $25,000 less than the asking price. So now we’re in la-la land. As soon as we signed the papers and got the keys, we drove straight over to the wash.

The place was packed and we were excited. A customer comes over and tells us that her foamy brush isn’t working and of course I assure her that we will get her fixed right up. Meanwhile inside the engine room, motors are motoring, pumps are pumping and we don’t have the slightest idea what we are looking at. (Funny how we never thought about that before we bought the place.)

So now I'm in a panic. Hubby says "I know how to fix it" and grabs a wrench. He starts banging on the wall and making all kinds of noises. I run outside and ask the customer if the foam is any better. She gives me a high-five and says everything's great. We learned from that moment on that as long as you are there, visible, and trying, customers will forgive just about anything.

One year later we sold that wash to my brother and his family. He got a good price and we made a handsome profit. We bought another self-serve in a nearby town. Now we back each other up when it comes to cleaning, repairs, and parts, etc. It’s nice to have a day off every once in awhile. And I have to admit - when my brother called this morning to tell us that he found deer guts lying in the middle of one of our bays, I was really really glad it was his weekend for cleanup duty.