9 minute read

SETTING THE GOLD STANDARD

Despite some key differences, like size, Clark says the most important aspect of light- and heavy-duty maintenance facilities is the same: customer service. Placing an emphasis on the customer experience is crucial to successfully running a quick lube shop.

“What other services can you offer in your business plan?” Clark says. “(Offer) service that fits in that quick time frame (of an oil change).”

That level of service is only possible with a good team, though. Surrounding yourself with talent and learning to let go of some responsibilities can help boost your shop’s productivity and elevate your leadership.

“When you’re smaller and just starting out, you wear all the hats,” Clark says. “As we grew and got bigger, I learned to delegate and trust my teammates to get their jobs done.”

That trust in his teammates has helped Clark quickly build Epika Fleet Services into a company known for its quality services and highperforming teams. It also allows Clark to start looking for new ways to help serve his customers, such as rolling out mobile oil change services later this year.

All of that, Barr says, helps make Clark the gold standard in the industry and someone that any oil change professional, either light or heavy duty, can look to as an example.

“His care for customers and employees is second to none,” Barr says. “No one is be er at presenting customer care in the quick lube industry.”

Programs And Franchises Represent

a huge part of the quick maintenance industry. They can be efficient ways for new operators to hit the ground running or for seasoned operators to grow a strong network.

In this year’s special guide, you’ll find many major brands, including their advantages and support offered to franchisees. All listings also include crucial information about royalties, startup costs and more.

Use the color-coded key to take a closer look at the additional support offered by franchises. The sections have been broken up into the following categories: advertising, building considerations, business support, equipment & products, financial considerations, and other. We recommend deciding which of these factors is the most important to you, and then using the checkboxes next to the support listings, marking them as you go.

Key of Support Offered

On the following pages, use these categories to determine who offers support that is most beneficial to you.

Advertising

Building Considerations

Business Support

Equipment & Products

Financial Considerations

Other

CHEVRON XPRESS LUBE®

Bill Beyerle | 866.354.4476

BillBeyerle@chevron.com | chevronxpresslube.com

SPECS

Program option: Sales and license agreement

Territory: U.S. only

Franchise Fee: None

Royalty percentage required: None

Average start-up cost: $25,000–$50,000 to re-image, site dependent Individual qualifications: Business financial and credit reviews required

SUPPORT OFFERED

 Advertising: Cooperative advertising funds available to help offset the cost of local site advertising.

 Promotion: National consumer promotions designed to reward loyalty to the site and grow premium product sales.

 Building design: Prototype drawings, site selection, design and construction resources are available.

 Business support: Product line, sales process and marketing consultation.

 Training: Online training and in-person training available. Training is focused on lubrication fundamentals, customer service, vehicle education, and market insights.

 Equipment: Access to equipment providers through preferred partner program.

 Customer warranty: All Havoline®, Techron® and Delo® products are backed by Chevron’s limited product warranty.

 Financial assistance: Cash advance provided to cover the cost of facility re-imaging (signage, paint, electrical, facility/ site improvements).

 Other: The Xpress lube® shopper™ program is a system designed to promote high levels of customer satisfaction, including how the brand is represented, to improve customer retention, acquire more new customers, and ultimately grow sales.

COSTA OIL™ - 10 MINUTE OIL CHANGE

Brandon Cornelius | 717.698.3260 brandon@costaoils.com partner@costaoils.com | franchise.costaoils.com

SPECS

Program option: Franchise

Territory: United States Approved: CA, IL, IN, MI, MN, ND, NY, VA, WI.

International Franchises: No

Cash Investment: $60,000

Total Investment: Single- $131,750 to $212,900 Multi- $174,250 to $321,900

Minimum Net Worth: $150,000

Franchise Fee: $54,900

Royalty: 6.50%

Ad: 2.5% Local Spend

Item 19: Yes

Visa Candidates: Yes

Passive Ownership: Yes

Master Franchise Opportunities: No

Veteran Discount: Yes

SUPPORT OFFERED

 Advertising: The Lube Shop manual serves as a resource for information on special promotions, direct mail options, collateral materials and media advertising. We offer in-house social media management and customer reputation management solutions as well.

 Signage: Independent operators have access to the OILU.ORG image database. A custom sign package is available.

 Business Construction: Complete prototype plans are available through participating architects. Our one and two bay plan includes a set of reproducible plans with supporting AutoCAD drawings.

 Site selection: We can put you in contact with our program partners who can provide detailed demographic, market profile and automotive expenditure reports.

 Training: In HQ training for classroom training, plus training in facility. Our proprietary website oilu.org offers online training. Custom workshops and on-site consultations are also available.

 Equipment: A complete equipment list that includes everything for the operation of a quick lube is available upon request. Preferred pricing with pre negotiated pre vetted vendors.

 Financial assistance: We recommend working with your local lending institution.

EXPRESS OIL CHANGE & TIRE ENGINEERS

Don Larose | 781.635.5502 dlarose@expressoil.com | expressoil.com

SPECS

Program option: Franchise

States: VA, PA, OH, IN, IL, WI, MO, KS, IA, ID, UT and AZ

Franchise Fee: $35,000

Royalty percentage required: 5%

Average start-up cost: $1,7500,000 to $2,500,000 includes land and building

Individual qualifications: $350,000 liquid capital and $500,000+ net worth

Support Offered

 Advertising: Express Oil Change has a marketing staff that provides franchisees with marketing tools, systems and guidance.

 Signage: Provides logos and materials to order signage.

 Building design and construction: Express provides architectural plans, guidance in the design and permitting process and with construction bids to GCs.

 Site selection: Express is actively involved in helping to find the best site for the franchisee’s store.

 Training: Eight weeks of training on how to manage the overall business.

 Equipment: Express identifies all needed equipment and helps plan its order and installation.

 Customer warranty: Warranty provided on customers cars.

 Credit cards: Express helps franchisees get access to all needed credit cards, including its own branded card.

 Financial assistance: Express introduces franchisees to lenders who can help provide SBA loans.

 Other: Express can also help franchisees get access to oil, tires and auto parts through national vendors at negotiated prices. Franchisees do not buy any supplies from Express.

Grease Monkey Franchising

Ronn Cordova | 435.773.8548 rcordova@fullspeedautomotive.com | greasemonkeyfranchise.com

SPECS

Program option: Franchise

Territory: International, national

Franchise Fee: $39,900 license fee, 15-year agreement; $29,900 for veterans with valid DD214

Royalty percentage required: 6%

Average start-up cost: $187,316 - $688,452

Individual qualifications: Minimum of $150,000 in liquid assets; $450,000 minimum net worth; 680 or higher credit score

SUPPORT OFFERED

 Advertising: 4.5%

 Signage: Complete national sign program including sourcing, design and permitting.

 Building design and construction: Several prototype options available.

 Site selection: Dedicated real estate department to assist in the site selection process.

 Training: Required training includes new franchisee on-site training, classroom training at the corporate and initial handson training. Ongoing training is available through FullSpeed Automotive University.

 Equipment: Grease Monkey identifies all needed equipment, provides complete equipment package offerings, and helps with ordering and installation process.

 Customer warranty: Nationwide service warranty provided.

 Credit cards: National credit card processing program.

 Financing: Grease Monkey does not provide financing itself; however, there are several banks and financial institutions we have preferred relationships with. These banks have both SBA and conventional financing available for those with good credit.

Specs

Jiffy Lube

Program option: Franchise

Territory: U.S.

Franchise Fee: $35,000 for new development, or $17,500 for conversions

Royalty percentage required: 4% of sales (reduced to 3% with prompt pay discount)

Average start-up cost: Ranges from $207,000 - $500,000 (excluding real estate)

Individual qualifications: $250,000 liquid and $500,000 net worth

Support Offered

 Advertising: To connect with consumers and maintain a strong brand presence from coast to coast, Jiff y Lube activates a robust multi-million dollar national advertising campaign. Additionally, Franchisees receive strategic counsel from dedicated Area Marketing Managers to help maximize local store marketing.

 Site selection: Jiff y Lube business development managers have access to numerous resources to assist with the site selection process. Jiff y Lube works with real estate development companies to provide turnkey solutions for its Build To Suit Program.

 Building design and construction: The Jiffy Lube construction team is available to assist with recommendations and to provide building designs, equipment options, and consulting for new store development.

 Training: Jiff y Lube offers an award-winning training program, Jiff y Lube University. Jiff y Lube University is accredited by the ASE Training Managers Council (ATMC) and the American Council on Education (ACE).

 Other: Jiff y Lube provides field operations, marketing and business development support as well as a proprietary point-of-sale system. The strength of the Jiff y Lube brand is complemented by Pennzoil, America’s most trusted motor oil, and Shell, one of the most innovative energy companies.

MOBIL 1 LUBE EXPRESS & MOBIL 1 CAR CARE

Matthew Jones | 832.624.7985

Mobil1LubeExpress@exxonmobil.com poweredbymobil.com or Mobil.com/CarCareProgram

SPECS

Program term: 5 years

Territory: North American (U.S. and Canada)

Franchise Fee: None

Royalty percentage required: None

Average start-up cost: $15,000-$25,000

Individual qualifications: Current operator and/or business management background; business financial and credit reviews required

Support Offered

 Promotion: National promotion focused on engaging consumers to trial more profitable products while supporting customer retention.

 Signage: Program provides your location an individualized mockup, consultations, as well as additional branding support for the internal store.

 Site selection: Full customer demographic assessments specific to your exact location.

 Business support: Mobil Pulse™—get to know your customers behaviors. Mobil Amplify™—the power to make decisions on how to tweak operations at your site through annual business reviews built around your data and goals. Mobil Maximize™—Mobil-branded portal designed to recognize and reward installers based off their store’s performance (e.g. employee spiffs).

 Training: Online training focused on vehicle education, customer service, market insights, education of Mobil branded products and sales approach.

 Equipment: Access to equipment providers through ExxonMobil’s preferred partner relationships.

 Customer warranty: All Mobil branded products have a limited warranty.

PHILLIPS® 66 LUBRICANTS

Lubricants@P66.com | Phillips66Lubricants.com, KendallMotorOil.com

SPECS

Program option: Supply agreement, signage agreement

Territory: National

Individual qualifications: All opportunities are accessed by Phillips 66 Lubricants Business Development Team

SUPPORT OFFERED

 Advertising: Phillips 66 offers in-store marketing support along with customizable customer retention tools.

 Signage: Phillips 66 Lubricants offers exterior and interior signage solutions.

 Training: Training modules are available via Phillips 66 Lubricants Academy. Phillips 66 also offers tools to help gain a better understanding of the full automotive line.

 Equipment: Phillips 66 has relationships with equipment and signage vendors.

 Product: Reduce expenses with the Phillips 66 and Kendall High Mileage Boosters The booster is the industry’s first pour-in oil supplement to meet current API and ILSAC performance standards when added to Phillips 66 Shield and Kendall GT-1 motor oils. The booster saves inventory space and provides upsell opportunities.

 Customer warranty: All Phillips 66 and Kendall products meet or exceed specifications stated by Phillips 66 for each product. Phillips 66 and Kendall products are backed by Phillips 66 Lubricants Limited Warranty.

Strickland Brothers

1.833.787.2767 development@sboilchange.com | stricklandbrothersfranchise.com

SPECS

Program option: Franchise

Territory: National

Franchise Fee: $54,900

Royalty percentage required: 6% of gross sales

Average start-up cost: $277,900–$372,400 (with franchise fee included)

Individual qualifications: $500k liquid, $1.5mm net worth— no bankruptcies

Support Offered

 Advertising: Marketing: Local ad 2.25% (managed by franchisee through third party services with SBO approved guidelines and content.) Brand fund: 2% Total: 4.25%

 Signage: National Level signage partnerships including design, permitting and installation.

 Site selection: Dedicated real estate teams nationally for site selection, market presentations, construction and development of the SB location.

 Training: Required Strickland Brothers University Training and 90 hours pre-opening training on the job.

 Equipment: Tool/equipment list fully set up with required vendors on exactly what is needed to be operational.

 Financial assistance: Third-party vendors to assist franchise owners with lending.

Valvoline Express Care

Gayle McMillin | 859.357.7303 lgmcmillin@valvoline.com | expresscare.com

SPECS

Program option: Sales agreement

Territory: International, U.S. and Canada

Franchise Fee: None

Royalty percentage required: None

Average start-up cost: Valvoline Express Care is an independent quick lube conversion program

Individual qualifications: Current quick lube operator and/or retail business background. Business financial and credit reviews are required.

Valvoline Instant Oil Change

Gayle McMillin | 859.357.7303 lgmcmillin@valvoline.com | viocfranchise.com

Victory Lane Quick Oil Change

Jim Harrington | 734.667.4304 ext. 104 jharrington@victorylane.net | victorylane.net

SPECS

Program option: Franchise

Territory: National

Franchise Fee: $30,000

Royalty percentage required: 4-6% on a graduated scale

Average start-up cost: $178,000–$1,273,500, depending on whether real estate property and equipment are purchased or leased

Individual qualifications: Net worth $1,000,000; $600,000 liquid; the ideal franchise candidate is a successful businessperson, already a multi-unit operator or independent quick lube operator

SPECS

Program option: Franchise

Territory: National

Franchise Fee: $49,500 for one unit

Royalty percentage required: 6%

Average start-up cost: $200,000–$250,000 depending on location

Individual qualifications: Net worth $250,000. Prefer business or management experience. Auto experience is not required.

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