As we study this background story of a developing franchise company, we see how opportunities in the marketplace grow businesses and how entrepreneurial thinkers seize those opportunities to deliver goods and services that match market desires. In this review of the history of Aircraft Washers, we see the company diversify and find other niches to serve, some of which were better than the original plan. This is very common and typical of start-up companies from scratch, yet all too often regulators and government rules do not see how real companies emerge. This study shows similarities to many of the humble beginnings. If you look at Walt Disney starting out in a shed behind the studio or Apple works in the garage or even Bill Gates and his car counting machine, you can see how things grow and build and entrepreneurs find and exploit niches. Now back to our Story of the Plane Wash Boys Story Part III:
Mr. Winslow decided after all the research that it was time to do it; time to launch the franchise company on his own without any venture capital. He planned to build the business the way we’ve always done it, off the bottom line. He went on to build the car and plane wash business and renamed it The Car Wash Guys. He created car washes in 35 units serving 43 cities using independent contractors. In 1996 he decided to become a franchise company and formed Car Wash Guys International, Inc. He was now able to better control consistency, color schemes and quality of service, based on Ray Kroc’s comments in his book “Grinding it Out “.
Coming from aviation to automotive services, I tended to take our business strictly to the letter. In aviation things are more critical than in the automotive sector, but I believed that worrying too much about the small details would actually be a good thing and an advantage over the competition when it comes to automobiles. During the “.Com” craze, he changed the name to WashGuy.com and added websites for different brands. Of course, Aircraft Wash Guys has always been a favorite of Mr. Winslow, as this is where he got his start some 27 years ago. After the successes and difficulties of learning all the other different market segments for Team Wash Guys, it was wonderful to offer Aircraft Wash Guys as a completely separate franchise module for those people involved in aviation who wanted to have their own business.
Wash Guys wash cars, trucks, boats, concrete, and many other things, and as you probably know, aircraft washing requires different training, soaps, equipment, and wastewater reclamation for environmental reasons. The FAA will withhold funds for aircraft upgrades if airports don’t follow strict environmental laws. It is for this reason that Mr. Winslow has been so proactive in assisting the team with environmental compliance and bringing his expertise to government agencies developing BMPs for the aviation industry.
In 1997, Lance Winslow recruited Arthur Dickey, the creator of Tidy Plane, to work on product development. Him trying to improve a product called Dry Wash, using kerosene as an active ingredient. Tidy car tried to market Tidy Plane, but that didn’t work out well without Arthur’s devotion. Arthur helped the company design labels and, with the help of his chemist, design better products that would be safe for the aviation cleaning industry that actually worked out of Lance’s garage. Arthur was one of the original Tidy Car franchisees, his father once owned a small airline in Los Angeles, which flew jet planes and later had one of the best Mail Boxes Etc. Tidy Car franchises made Arthur stop his Tidy Plan Concept, through a clause in the franchise agreement that he felt did not work with his brand. A decade later, Tidy Car sold that brand to Ziebart. Arthur’s brother operated Tidy Car Franchise after that and did many airplane washes for airplane customers in Florida. Arthur was hired by the founder of the Paxton Super Charger and the Paxton Racing Team after developing his brand of super wax to sell at Wal-Mart and Pep Boys, after Arthur left the brand he never reached his full potential. . Arthur with all this knowledge made it easy for us to comply with all the MSDS requirements. Arthur, after developing the company’s product line, went on to explore other opportunities and continued his passion with the dry cleaning concept and, with a friend, convinced Fed Ex to use it exclusively in many markets and established with some associates a network of operators using their new mix.
In 2000, Mr. Winslow gave all Car Wash Guys a notice stating that they were prohibited from washing airplanes due to potential negative PR in the newspapers if they polluted, as well as incorrect insurance and equipment requirements. in case of damages and the UFOC for Car Wash Guys did not cover these issues and those independent contractor contracts were 10 years. This was a big dilemma. So the team came together to make a series of training videos, upgrade equipment so the team could support aviation customers and comply with the laws. Several of the franchisees with Car Wash Guys complied and continued to wash planes. It was determined that the aviation market was not satisfied, so we have expanded to a full franchise system. It was noted that FBOs, flight schools and especially the fractional jet market was really taking off. This allowed Car Wash Guys to sign Aircraft Wash Guys deals or, in some cases where they purchased specialized equipment, made verbal agreements for them to continue.
Then when we started to get going, the FTC hurt a lot of our franchisees by attacking the Car Wash Guys and then the other 9-11 terrorists almost dealt the killing blow to general aviation, but aviation people are lasts as it seems and today the market sector is rebounding. Lance often wondered who was worse, the government’s regulating terrorism lawyers or the current Osama bin Laden and company.
Mr. Winslow has always been passionate about flying and aviation. His father was a decorated naval aviator who flew in the Puerto Rican F-8 Squadron during the Cuban Missile Crisis, 250 combat missions in an A-4, then CO of a Naval Squadron (A-7 Corsair II) , then Captain in the Navy, later and Airline Pilot (737, 727, DC-10, 747, 777, 757), after retiring, currently flies Gulfstream Corporate Aircraft. Mr. Winslow’s father wishes he could be flying F-18s in the Sand Box right now. Mr. Winslow’s grandfather was an FAA chief at Fresno International Airport and flew a B-24, while his step-grandfather flew a B-17 Flying Fortress) and his other grandfather built the first laser ring gyroscope that it is now used as a guidance system throughout the aeronautical, marine and space industries. It’s in my blood. Lance Winslow’s brother is a C-130 pilot in the US Marines stationed in Miramar.
Today the Aircraft Wash Guys team has washed for Millionaire Aviation, Executive Jet etc. And companies like Raytheon, Cessna and others. They have washed jets at Little Rock Arkansas, Scottsdale AZ Airpark, Colorado Springs CO, Bozeman MT, Columbus OH, Van Nuys CA, Palm Springs CA and many other airports across the country. Today’s goals include having 35 Aircraft Wash Guys in 2007 and 50 in 2009 and 100 in 2011. Ambitious, big, and can they do it? Well, they think it’s possible, time will tell. They have some industry competition like any business, not a lot, but they plan to do whatever it takes to be and stay ahead.
If you study any service franchise in the United States or in the aviation sector any large company, you will see that they all come from the humblest of beginnings, they made mistakes along the way; it had to fight with government regulators and competitors and push to succeed. Of all the big names in aviation hanging on the walls of museums across the country, like the Wichita Aviation Museum, the Wright Patterson Aviation Museum, or even the Smithsonian, you see the die-hards who make aviation great. this industry and this country. Burt Rutan recently made such a comment to Congress during his testimony on the birth of the private space industry. America is great, but we have to go out there and take some risks if we want to stay on top.
