Have you ever seen the movie Shaw Shank Redemption? In one scene, two inmates are talking about one’s plans to live out his life in Mexico running a hotel and taking his guests out deep sea fishing. When the other reminds him that Mexico is far away and that he is currently locked up in prison, he says, he has to either, “Get busy living, or get busy dying”

Which are you doing?

At the recently concluded ICA show in Nashville, I saw a bunch of folks who are getting busy living! What do I mean by that? That they are taking advantage of all the industry has to offer them right now. They are using the latest technologies to keep them informed of what is happening at their locations while they are elsewhere. They are utilizing the latest in equipment technology to upgrade the customer experience and to produce cleaner, dryer, shinier cars, in less time, with lower chemistry costs. They are taking advantage of social media platforms to engage their customers in ways never dreamed of even 10 years ago.

These are the folks that “get it.” In some instances, these are long time operators that continually look for ways to improve their businesses. Recently, however, more and more of these folks are new entrants to the industry. Folks that have made money elsewhere and now want to apply what they’ve learned in other industries to ours.

I also saw folks on the other side of the spectrum; old school operators who refuse to change. When presented with new ways to do things they counter, “that wouldn’t work in my part of the country” or “I’ve always done it this way, no reason to change now”. We all know the definition of insanity, right? Doing things over and over the same way and expecting a different result.

Are you getting busy living?

In the CarWash College newly formed Multi-Site Management class we cover a session on technology and consistency. Contrary to what you may be thinking, this isn’t about car wash technology per se, but an overview of technological tools and controls that can be used by your company for intra-office communications, file storage, work assignments, etc. By taking advantage of today’s technology, you can more easily manage multiple sites than ever before.

The Nashville Expo showed that our industry is truly evolving from our humble beginnings of Mom and Pop, single location, operators to that of one being dominated by multi- store groups that are assembling professional management teams. If you plan to compete, you must level the playing field. If you want your “unfair share”, you have to be at the top of your game.

Are you embracing all of the tools available; software, hardware, cloud, etc., that allow you to get busy living?

Or, are you denying that change is necessary which allows you to, well, you know the rest…

Bob Fox has over 30 years industry experience and is an instructor at CarWash College™. Bob can be reached at BFox@sonnysdirect.com. For more information about CarWash College™ certification programs, visit www.carwashcollege.com or call the registrar’s office at 1-866-492-7422.