Business: Brightside Car Wash
Address: 1095 E. 75th St. and 5008 Ace Lane, Naperville
Phone/website: 331-472-2389; www.brightsidecarwash.com
Owner: Jonathan Roldan, 38, of Bloomingdale
Years in business: 1
What does your business do? “We offer pretty much a white glove service when it comes to car washing. We have membership packages with unlimited plans. We do detailing. Extensive interior and exterior work on cars. We buff, polish, wax. We’ll make your car look like it came straight off the lot. … And we do ceramic coating. It’s like Rain-X.”
Two car washes? “We took that one over on Ace Lane (in April). Running before you walk.”
Why did you invest in this business? “I used to invest in real estate. I offloaded some properties. I started looking around, found this place and I reached out to a good friend, Jonathan Quinn, an experienced investor in businesses. And we started this joint venure.”
What have you learned? “The customer service aspect of it. And managing a team. It’s a whole lot different. You want to make sure the customer is happy within reason. You don’t want to over-promise to them but you want to provide the best service possible. … We’ve got the coffee. Kids can play games. We host photos with Santa and the Easter Bunny. All on the house. … There’s a car wash on every corner so what separates you? You have to know the trips and tricks of the trade. You want to make sure you are efficient. A process I’m still learning.”
How do you get the word out? “We’re starting to do more with mailers. Scream a little more from the rooftops. Our one-year anniversary the first week of July, we were out waving at cars to get people’s attention. … You have to lead by example. You have to convey the message that you believe in what we are doing here.”
Rainy days are not your friend? “They hurt us but we can still accept detail jobs. On a rainy day we can always do interior cleanings indoors.”
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How many employees do you have? “High turnover rate. We have eight here. About 20 at the other place. But then I do float people back and forth.”
What are the hours here? “8 a.m.to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. And 8 to 5 on Sundays. Weekends are our bread and butter. … We get the lunchtime rush. Sometimes we get the early birds before church.”
What do customers say? “They do good work. I live in (Chicago). I come here when I visit my folks,” Gabe Siracusino, 24, said.
“I love it here,” Dolores Hendrix, 81, of Naperville, said. “They clean the car. Immaculate. The workers are hardworking and so friendly.”
What happens when a filthy car comes in? “We assess what we can get done. We set the expectation of what they can expect. If they need something more extensive, we recommend what they may need, a detail.”
What is a detail? “A detail is when you give it a thorough cleaning. When you get into every crevice. We do extractions on seats, carpets. We clean your mats. Use a leather conditioner. If you go a long time without anything, the leather starts to fade and crack. That happens to rubber mats,too. It’s kind of like skin care. You have to groom your car. You spend a lot of money on a vehicle and you want to keep up with it. … What makes us stand out, 75% of the car washes is half do-it-yourself. I’m not saying anything bad, but if you want something more thorough and extensive, that’s why people come to us.”
What about winter? “Everything gets full of salt. … I have a new appreciation for winter here in Illinois. Everyone grows up hating it. When get that mild weather in the winter, I know we are going to have a rush. We’re doing over 100 cars a day. … We had 70-degree weather in February. We had lines up the street. It was great.”
Why do you offer deals to veterans? “I was in the Army. Four years. I was stationed in Fort Bliss in Texas. I did a tour, 11 months in Iraq. When I came back, I was in the Texas National Guard for a while. I was a specialist. … I want to show support. Not just veterans. It’s for any police officer, firefighter, first responder. We are a veteran-owned, family-owned business.”
Why did you serve? “I was 20 and confused about what I wanted to do with my life. … When I got out, I drove a truck for a while.”
How many gallons of water do you go through in a day? “I’m not sure but we get a pretty good deal from Naperville.”
Is it good being on 75th Street? “It is. The only thing is that median.You can’t turn left heading east. I guess I could petition the city.”
What should people know? “Car Wash Magazine did a story about us.”
What does an employee say? “(Roldan’s) amazing. I was given the opportunity to learn. They took me under their wing. And here I am,” said manager Gabriel Gonzalez, 51, of Elmwood Park. “I enjoy my job.”
What’s your advice for someone starting a business? “You always want to do your homework,” Roldan said. “Make sure you know almost every single aspect of the business you are thinking of getting into. There’s always going to be stuff in the fine print you will miss and overlook. Things no one is going to tell you about. … You want to know your target demographic. … Always have someone to lean on for advice.”
Steve Metsch is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun. If you know of a business you’d like to see profiled in Down to Business, contact him at [email protected].