Peter Esposito built his four-bay quick lube and car wash business from a weeded lot nearly 22 years ago. As the owner of Mountain Lakes Autowash and Quaker State Express Oil Change in Hewitt, New Jersey, Esposito employs seven full-time and two part-time workers.
His team members’ key strengths? “They’re all competent, they like what they do, and they have a great relationship with our customers,” Esposito says. “One thing leads to another.”
About a 16.5-hour drive to the west sits another small and steadily profitable operation, Ken’s Fast Lube in Mexico, Missouri. The shop is run by owner Kevin Shaw, who employs four people in the two-bay operation he bought 21 years ago from its founder, Kenny Dowell, with Valvoline Oil as its main franchise.
When asked how he runs such a tight ship year after year successfully, Shaw says, “Everybody can do everything. My employees know the customers by name, and my son and one other person can handle the office so I can get a Saturday off.”
Right Place, Right Time
For Esposito, geography is on his side and keeps the competition at bay—because there’s simply no place to build in the immediate vicinity.
“Our shop (in Hewitt, population just under 7,500) is in the Highland Region of North Jersey, and it’s a very sensitive area in terms of forestry and reservoirs. We’re surrounded by an 11-mile lake and huge mountains, and it limits the type of development you’ll get in the area. It’s very rustic and rural,” he describes of the locale.
“The closest quick lube is 15 miles in any direction, if not more,” he adds.
Although the area is compact, Esposito has seen traffic increase over the past 20 years. Even since the COVID-19 pandemic, the demographic has shifted in a way that ended up being advantageous for his business.
“It forced the city dwellers out of the cities and brought them out here, out of Manhattan, looking for safety,” Esposito describes. “It was something good that came out of something bad.”
For Shaw in Mexico, Missouri, location is also his friend. Even though the town’s population is relatively small at just over 11,500, Ken’s Fast Lube also pulls traffic from a number of neighboring rural townships that are practically a stone’s throw away.
He finds that his business’s longevity and reputation for service are a magnet to these neighbors, even when times are tight.
As Shaw describes, “Even though the market is down because of oil prices, it’s still above normal because we get business from surrounding areas in Audrain County (Missouri)—Paris, Moberly, and also Columbia,” a city 40 minutes away with a population of nearly 130,000 that’s home to the University of Missouri.
In Mexico alone, Shaw’s business has a leg up on the local competition. “We have what we need right here,” he says.
A Tighter Turning Radius
In terms of the customer experience, a quick lube should be … quick. Shaw and Esposito both note that small operations like theirs can oftentimes master the art of such service.
“It’s just a matter of everybody working harder, stepping up, and getting the customer in and out in a timely manner -- and making sure they leave happy,” Esposito says. “These are the keys to success.”
He adds, “It’s hard work and common sense. We’re efficient and organized, and we look like the day we opened 22 years ago. I’m a neat freak.”
For Shaw, a shining attitude goes the distance, as well. He shares the cautionary tale of a larger quick lube franchise in nearby Moberly that, despite all its resources, dried up and had to shut down. “When you’d walk in, the customer was not treated politely and the price was not right,” he says.
At Ken’s Fast Lube, Shaw and his small team work diligently to ensure that each customer is personally seen and heard, in addition to getting top-notch service. People talk, and he uses that to his advantage and saves on marketing dollars in the process.
As Shaw simply sums up, “Word-of-mouth and repeats.” These are his quick lube’s consistent drivers for business success.
For Esposito’s combination quick lube/car wash, he finds that offering both services works to his advantage, where getting one service can save a customer money on the other. And surprisingly, even though his small crew must work especially hard to offer both services with equal excellence, he finds that this nuance works in the business’s favor.
“I think the variety helps keep us from getting bored,” Esposito says. “Because every day there’s variety in what can be kind of a monotonous business.”
He adds, “Between the car wash and the oil change, we’re able to alternate who works where, switch it around, and again, everybody knows how to do everything.”
