Carwash Family Businesses Offer a Unique Education

My father, Vic Odermat, has been in the carwash business since 1957. He established the Brown Bear Car Wash chain in Seattle and still actively serves as its president to this day. He started with one tunnel carwash location and over the years grew Brown Bear’s parent company, Car Wash Enterprises Inc., to be one of the 100 largest privately owned corporations in the state of Washington. While the company has expanded into other businesses, such as fuel and convenience stores, as well as commercial real estate, carwashing remains its central focus.

I am 37 years old now and admittedly (as well as regretfully) have not had to endure the pain and sacrifice it takes to build a large company in the carwash industry. Rather, my dad and a host of other key long-term Brown Bear employees have carried those burdens. While I grew up around the company and frequently accompanied my dad to work ever since I could walk, it was not until much later in life that I took an active role in the company as its vice president and general counsel.

Upon graduating from college in 1993, I briefly worked for Brown Bear. However, in 1995 my dad signed a long-term lease that turned all of the Brown Bear assets over to the company that is now ConocoPhillips. For a time, it seemed that our family’s involvement in the carwash industry had come to an end. I went off to law school and anticipated that I would work the rest of my life as an attorney.

After underestimating the complexities of the carwash business and coming to the conclusion that the operation of retail assets was not an area it wanted to focus in, ConocoPhillips approached my father in 2003 for an early termination of the lease. Eager to get back into the business full time and revitalize the Brown Bear brand, my father jumped at the opportunity to regain control.

The timing could not have been better for me personally. In 2002, I had left private practice to work for my dad and Car Wash Enterprises, which at the time was essentially a commercial real estate and development company, except for four self-serve carwashes.

What I had come to appreciate during my law school years and resulting time in private practice was just how special, yet complex, the carwash business is. On a personal level, I also came to regret more and more that I had not maximized previous opportunities to learn about the business from my dad. Simply put, I regretted that I had chosen law over carwashing and had not asked my dad to forego the leasing out of Brown Bear in 1995.

Taking Brown Bear back from ConocoPhillips on Sept. 30, 2003, provided me the second chance I thought I would never have. The time period since then also has reinforced to me just how critical family ties can be in this business.

The carwash business, unlike many other businesses and professions, is not one where you can go to Harvard, Yale or any other school to get the skill set you need to be successful. It is far too complex. It makes practicing law even in the most complicated of areas seem relatively easy by comparison.

At the same time, these complexities are often grossly underestimated. I believe this is why so many well-heeled individuals and corporations have failed to succeed in the industry over the years on any meaningful scale. Simply stated, it is obvious to me that the knowledge base required to be truly successful in carwashing on a multi-site level is one that can only be acquired through years of experience.

The specialized and unique nature of the carwash business makes the role of family so critical. Certainly, in most second-generation (and beyond) family businesses there will be sacrifices that are spared on those family members who inherit management responsibilities from the founders. My case is no exception. Moreover, it is inevitable that some amount of important knowledge will be lost during generational transitions.

However, a critical amount of knowledge can be passed on, and hopefully aid subsequent generations in improving and refining the business. That is certainly what I am striving to accomplish as I look at the road ahead.

There are many aspects of this business that I still do not believe I have a firm or even comfortable grasp on. There are still frequent conversations that occur where I feel five steps behind others in our company when it comes to understanding various equipment or other technical issues. However, slowly but surely, I am getting my carwash education — an education I never would have received were it not for the fact that Brown Bear Car Wash is a family business.

I will be forever grateful that I have had the opportunity to learn from my dad. I also hope that one day I can give my two boys the same type of head start in this great industry that my dad has given me.

Lance V. Odermat is vice president, general counsel, for Car Wash Enterprises Inc. For more information about the Brown Bear Car Wash chain, please visit www.brownbear.com.