Ready for the national spotlight

“Franchising can be an excellent avenue for expansion when the concept suits itself to franchising,” said Jeff Haas, co-founder of Team Blue Hand Car Wash. He ought to know. The entrepreneurial Haas has made a career of establishing businesses and franchising at least one of them.

Father-son team Jeff and Jason Haas are marketing the Team Blue concept.

Haas and son Jason came up with the business model for Team Blue and founded the company in State College in 2008. Team Blue offers a complete hand washing of cars – both exteriors and interiors – with attention to detail and none of the risk of damage to the vehicle from typical tunnel and automated car washes.

“Sometimes technology isn’t the way to go,” said Jeff Haas.  “Our advantage is a better quality wash and superior service.  No machine can do what we can do by hand.”

The Team Blue facility in State College employs about 40 people, full- and part-time, and can put 150 cars through the system on a busy day.

Jason Haas developed the concept for Team Blue, after his father challenged him – upon graduation from Stanford University – to come up with a business model that could be successful and successfully franchised. The younger Haas appears to have met the challenge.

The current recession had no impact on the new business. “None whatsoever,” said Jeff Haas. “We have been very, very successful through it all.”

The Haas are expecting to launch 35 new Team Blue operations in the next two years

The franchise fee will be $25,000, which is in addition to the investment that will need to be made in the basic infrastructure of the facility. The total startup costs will hover around $425,000. There will also be a royalty due, based upon sales.

In exchange for the franchise fees, owners will receive a strong package of benefits, according to the Haas. “We will give them a proven system of operations, training, and marketing support. We planned to franchise Team Blue from the very beginning. Look at our brand and our experience. There will be freshness in the marketplace. No one is doing what we’re doing. Our service is better for comparable prices.”

“We’re finally going to give customers a choice in the marketplace because they haven’t had a choice until now,” Jeff Haas said. “The total brand experience that we provide customers is our advantage.”

Jeff and Jason Haas plan to help franchise operators a piece of the $23 billion professional car wash industry.

“A lot of franchise concepts are already in crowded markets,” Jeff Haas stated. “Everything seems to be a ‘me-too’ concept. If you open a Team Blue in your city, you’ll be the only franchised concept of your kind. While our initial investment is substantially less than a traditional tunnel wash, it still requires a greater investment than the average small-business opportunity, so that helps keep competition out of the marketplace. It’s not like going into the restaurant business where you have dozens of other competitors the first day you open.”

While their vehicles are being washed, customers wait in the Relaxation Area where they enjoy wireless Internet, computer workstations, HD plasma screen TV’s PS3 games and complimentary coffee and tea.

A basic exterior car wash is priced at $18.95