JetSplash – Celebrating 15 Years!
Clean Your Ride at JetSplash!
Celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2018, JetSplash continues to be a fixture in the Lincoln community as the city’s premier, top-of-the-line car wash!
Give me a brief synopsis of what your company does.
JetSplash (jetsplash.com) currently operates 5 express car washes in Lincoln. Vehicles are hand-prepped and hand-dried by dedicated employees and we offer free vacuums to all customers. Our most popular service is our memberships. Memberships allow customers unlimited washes each month for one vehicle at one set price. There is no reason to drive a dirty car!
How long have you been in Lincoln?
JetSplash was founded in Lincoln in 2003.
Who are the owners/important executives?
JetSplash is owned by Matt Toombs and Ty Prucha. The owners are hands-on and work at each location on a daily basis.
Do you have a business philosophy or mission statement?
Create passionate customers by providing a clean, fast, friendly experience through committed and respected employees.
What do you like about doing business in Lincoln?
We have found that if you provide good service at a good value, customers are very loyal to your business. Lincoln has its fair share of national chains, but Lincolnites do an exceptional job of supporting locally owned and operated businesses.
What kind of community organizations/groups are you involved with?
JetSplash thrives on reaching out and helping the Lincoln community by providing a great opportunity for organizations to meet their financial goals for activities with our fundraising program. Rather than a traditional car wash fundraiser, we allow organizations to sell JetSplash coupons that can be used at any of our 5 locations. For every package they sell, the organization will profit a certain percentage. To date we have had over 100 organizations take advantage of this program to raise money for their initiatives.
What do you think makes you different from other companies similar to yours?
Years back, we actually brought the membership model of car washing to Lincoln. Our sole focus is washing cars, and we do the most thorough job of cleaning and drying our customer’s vehicles. JetSplash has a dedicated team of 120+ managers, maintenance technicians, greeters and wash employees manning our sites daily. We feel our people are vital to the success of our business–a car wash is not something you can leave unattended. We also invest in the latest technology and are constantly upgrading our facilities to provide the best finished product and enhance the customer experience.
What changes have you seen in the industry and your company in the past few years?
The car wash industry is experiencing explosive growth around the nation. Most of the growth is a result of venture capitalist groups buying up car washes with the idea of maximizing efficiency through volume. We haven’t seen that in Lincoln, but we continue to grow with the addition of our 5th site at 84th and Eiger Dr. just north of Highway 2, which we just opened in late December. It features our longest conveyor at just over 160’ and 17 free vacuum stalls.
What was the biggest turning point in your business?
The introduction of the membership model of washing to Lincoln. Prior to memberships, consumers always had an eye on the weather. In the winter, customers may have been waiting weeks for the snow and ice to melt before washing, making their cars much harder to get fully clean. That is no longer the case. With the convenience of being able to wash an unlimited number of times at 5 locations, it’s much easier for our customers to keep their vehicles clean. This has also made our jobs easier as the cars we wash are cleaner coming into JetSplash. Overall it makes the entire process more efficient.
What is one of the biggest challenges that your company has faced?
Maintaining the level of service we provide while being sensitive to the price. We have seen cost increases in utilities, labor, chemical and other supplies on an annual basis. In turn, we work very hard to find efficiencies in our process to combat these increases to provide our level of service at the lowest price to our customers. During our 15 years in business, we have been able to keep price increases to a minimum.
What has been your most important achievement as a business?
We are proud of our growth in Lincoln in 15 years. The expansion to 5 locations was always a goal, but it wasn’t accomplished without a lot of hard work by our dedicated team. We strive to be a car wash industry leader by embracing innovation and providing opportunities for our employees to reach their full potential.
What is the most unique or interesting thing about your business that most people don’t know?
We have been asked countless times if we are a franchise, which is not the case. We founded JetSplash in Lincoln in 2003. Every car wash is unique and there is no “right way” to wash a car. The industry does not lend itself to a franchise model.
What do you see happening with the business in the next five years?
We see more consolidation not only for the end user, but the equipment manufacturers and chemical providers too. We look to continue to grow strategically as opportunities present themselves. One of the biggest factors for our customers is convenience, so we would like to ensure we have locations to meet the demand.