Lance Winslow is the founder and President
of WashGuy.com and the Orderawash.com network, which is nearly complete, and was formerly
President and Founder of Car Wash Guys. He has operated three other mobile washing
businesses. From 1979 until 1984, Lance operated an aircraft washing service at three
different airports under the names Speedy Waxers and Aero Speed Waxing. These companies
were sold to finance Aero-Auto Wash in 1985. From 1981 to 1985 he also sold aircraft under
the name Speedy Aircraft Finders.
Recently Lance's
ancestry was traced all the way back to the Mayflower Voyage. Both Edward Winslow, later a
Governor and Governor Bradford of the Mayflower are direct descendants to Mr. Winslow. Click here for more. Lance's ancestry also
includes Betsy Ross. Lance is a descendent of John Howland who is an
ancestor to Winston Churchill, 14 Presidents of the US and 21 Vice
Presidents.
Lance soloed five different types of aircraft on his
sixteenth birthday, soloed a glider at sixteen, became a private pilot at age seventeen
and started the world's first computerized aircraft multi-listing service before the fax
machine was popular or widespread computer use. During this time, Lance was also the
Western Regional Advertising Representative for The Pacific Flyer, a major general
aviation newspaper.
Lance then operated Aero-Auto Wash until April 1990 and in
June of 1989 Lance Winslow founded The Car Wash Guys. He later decided to capitalize
on his concept and began to franchise. He created Car Wash Guys for this purpose.
It was later determined, after 3 years of franchising, that the market potential of
the washing industry was clearly underestimated. Lance estimates the industry
potential at several hundred billion dollars. To tap into some of this potential,
and in honor of the new millennium, Lance created WashGuy.com.
Lance Winslow and his team, over the past
decade, have washed for many large companies;
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HERE FOR MORE DETAILS
Lance was a
Junior Olympic AAU track and field champion starting at age ten which culminated into a
track scholarship to college. During his youth, Lance posted four consecutive years of no
defeats. He continues running to this day. In addition to track and field Lance was
involved in other team sports, including soccer, which he played for 7 years. Four years
in AYSO- American Youth Soccer Organization, 2 years of Club Soccer and one year in HS.
Lance had early interests in architecture and
the sketching of WWII aircraft. He built many plastic and balsa wood aircraft models.
He also built and airbrushed 100's of army tanks and other military models.
Later he got involved in HO scale railroad models.
Lance is also an accomplished motorcycle street
racer and got into much trouble in his youth when he was not on the race track.
In high school Lance was class president, four year varsity letterman and voted
Most Likely To Succeed. He was President of his high school's Future Business Leaders of
America club and Chess club. Lance was in the Civil Air Patrol and the Boy Scouts
Aviation Explorers while learning to fly as kid. In the years of 1990 to 1995,
Lance personally has assisted non-profit groups
in raising over $500,000 in funds for their organizations. In 1995 he rode his
bicycle from Oregon to Mexico 1360 miles in six days in a pledge drive for the Special
Olympics. He was Deputy Grand Marshall and Honorary Sheriff for the countys largest
parade and largest non-profit fair west of the Mississippi. Lance has been active in the
Optimist Club, International and Kiwanis Clubs. He understands local politics having run
in two consecutive elections for a city council seat. Lance was appointed to the
countys Council on Economic Vitality. He also served on the California Association
of Governments. He later vowed to never be a political figure again. He founded the
Neighborhood Mobile Watch Patrol which involves small businesses, chambers of commerce,
police departments and cities. The entire program is privately funded. He also introduced
a program where local businesses could sell their wares on the Internet, providing jobs,
additional revenue for civic groups and increased sales volumes for many local merchants
just as the Internet was getting started.
During the
aftermath of the Northridge, California earthquake Lance reconstructed a water
purification plant for Unilab, a medical clinical laboratory testing corporation. His
innovation in marketing has propelled The Car Wash Guys to celebrity status in many
cities. Known for this enthusiasm, exuberance and motivation, Lance Winslow is a sought
after speaker for MBA programs at top colleges and universities. However, he says "My
first and foremost responsibility is to The Car Wash Guys team."
Lance worked with the County of Ventura to
design a NPDES permit for the Regional Water Quality Control Board in California to comply
with the EPA federal Clean Water Act. He wrote many of the Best Management Practices
for surface cleaners, a category in which mobile carwash and detailers fall into for storm
water non-point source discharges. These same BMPs are now used all over the United
States to help preserve our fresh water supply. Lance was recognized by the City of
Los Angeles for their storm water discharge program. Lance wrote a manual for the
cities program which allowed continued car wash fundraising efforts to exist even though
at the time they were in conflict with the California Water Codes 13260-13280.
Wash Guys BMPs are also available online through many governmental
informational web sites. Many government agencies have linked to their web site to WashGuys procedures as a way to help others comply with real environmental concerns.
Following exhaustive research and comprehensive
comparisons of franchise case law, legislative updates and hundreds of other
franchisor documents, Lance wrote his own Uniform Franchise Offering Circular (UFOC),
Franchisee Agreement with all exhibits. The ninety plus page legal document was approved
by the California Department of Corporations in an unusually short timeframe. Lance became
a franchisor at age thirty-two.
WashGuys now has over 20 franchise agreements
for various WashGuy systems and modifications of those to make the total over 200
different documents each over 130 pages for use in various jurisdictions and countries all
written by Mr. Winslow. Lance hates bureaucracy and excess governmental controls,
which he knows stifle free enterprise, innovation and consumer choice. It is
estimated that this work done by Mr. Winslow has saved the company over half a million
dollars in legal fees over the past 3 years alone.
Lance was
previously elected to The Board of Directors of the American Association of Franchises and
Dealers (AAFD). He also served on the Fair Franchising Standards Committee. This
committee, advises the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and various Senate sub-committees on
law changes necessary to protect franchisees.
Later Lance battled with the
FTC, Federal Trade Commission over complaints and false declarations coming
from competitors. After a year of legal maneuvering from both sides, he
settled out of court with no fine and no penalty. Refusing to sign the
settlement order drafted by the FTC, he re-wrote it with his attorney and
got the FTC to sign his version having shown intent to file a countersuit
against the FTC. Later in a letter to the FTC he pledged to keep a continual
eye on their activities so they never falsely accuse another franchisor. He
rifled off a 45 page letter citing their many unwarranted attacks on
American Business. Mr. Winslow believes in the Friedman Economic Model, that
government and business need to work together to provide a seamless free
market system where Entrepreneurs can provide innovation, jobs and capital
so consumers can have more choices, better pricing and can vote with their
dollars. Mr. Winslow will never back down to those who challenge the spirit
of free enterprise or any government agency which attempts to ruin all we
are and all we have built..
Car Wash Guys was also a member of the
International Franchise Association (IFA), but left due to a difference in beliefs
regarding the Internet and modern day franchising, the IFA later changed their views and
are now in line with Lance's original concerns 3 years ago. Lance also consulted with
Susan Kezios, President of the (AFA) American Franchisee Association and Founder of Women
In Franchising, but later found that organization to be too much of a political football
to be of any value to his efforts to reform franchising. Lance's dedication to the
franchising industry has also attracted other franchise leaders, such as Lou Gurnick.
Lou was Lance's mentor and sole franchise consultant. Lou helped found Midas
Muffler, was a consultant to Ray Kroc and assisted Tom Monahan in taking Dominos Pizza to
Europe. Lou has over 50 years experience in franchising.
Lance also belongs to the American Bar
Association's (ABA) forum on franchising and participates in the online listserve, where
franchise attorneys from all over the World try and work out real live issues with the
franchising format for the continued success of the Industry.
Lance has also
co-authored the book "Franchising 101" published by Upstart Publications a
subsidiary of Dearborn. This book is co-sponsored and distributed by the Association of
Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC). Over one million copies were sold and
distributed to individuals attending government run seminars and who are interested in
starting a business or buying a franchise. Lance Winslow also authored a book "How To
Run A Successful Car Wash Fundraiser" which is geared towards helping non-profit
groups raise money. The Car Wash Fundraiser Book has been referenced
on the EPA web site, as well as State of Washington, City of Los Angeles and
many academic papers on the environment and other social issues. It will be on the shelves of most large retail bookstores soon, as
well as an abridged version available on The Car Wash Guys web site. We are also
negotiating with Iuniverse.com to make this book available to the world. Lance with
the help of his expert web team has developed the premier franchising web site on the
Internet; www.franchising.org
Lance led Car Wash Guys through the rigorous
screening of the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) to become an approved
franchisor eligible for franchisee funding. A task that fewer than eight percent (Less
than 250) of all franchisors have accomplished at the time. There are approximately
2040 active franchisors in America today, we are one of them.
Lance was 100% owner of Car Wash Guys up until
the day it was closed to form the new company. He is also 100% owner of all concepts
co-brands and WashGuy.com the holding company.
Lance has added modules to WashGuy.com.
These modules include:
Lance has established with the help of his elite
franchisee team and master mind group; fixed site car washes, 8-bay detailing super
centers, truck detailing shops, fixed site truck washes and pontoon boat washing units.
Lance and his team are conducting test markets
of the following additions to the team: mobile oil change trucks, mobile bed-liners and
other coatings and chemical snow removal units.
He is engineering an electric powered
hydro-cushioned car wash truck. This year Lance has traveled to all 50 US states, 48 of
them in his corporate command center and lobbied for his company and the mobile washing
Industry. Discussing environmental concerns, energy issues, water shortages, crime,
employment, and children's issues. He has traveled to 90 Indian Reservations,
100 museums, visited 500 Chambers of Commerce and Economic Development Associations to
discuss the possible role for The Car Wash Guys in those communities.
Mr. Winslow believes it is
necessary to understand the local dynamics of an area before he enters the
market. Mr. Winslow has also visited every city with over 40,000 in
population in the 48 continental US states. Lance has visited every city
over 15,000 population in AZ, AL, AR, CA, CO, GA, FL, ID, KS, LA, NM, NC,
NH, NE, ND, NV, ME, MS, MT, OR, RO, SD, SC, TN, TX, UT, VT, and WA. Nearly
300,000 miles so far. See some of the places we have been;
click here. Lance
has also been to every state capital in the United States; click
here.
In the next two years he plans
to visit every city with over 10,000 in the entire nation. Lance has also
visited over 3000 coin-op car washes, 700 full service car washes, 3800
roll-over car washes, and had his rig washed at over 100 different truck
washes. He has visited 600 of the Nations largest corporation head
quarters. He has viewed the units of over 1000 plus mobile washing
units and visited every other major manufacturer of washing equipment.
WashGuy.com and its predecessor company have
forced an estimated 380 competing companies to exit the marketplace. Mr. Winslow
takes nothing for granted and does not believe in luck, believing business is a three
dimensional chess game whose rules change every minute and every move effects every other
and that there are new undiscovered moves awaiting those who study the theory of the game,
he loves it.
Mr. Winslow
constantly stays abreast of information in all of WashGuy's 22 industry market sectors and
reads over 160 periodicals per month. Lance after leaving college has been
self-educated taking his 3000 plus title business library with him on the road. He reads
three to five new books per week in his quest for knowledge, he is running out of space
for all the books. Lance is the only franchisor in the history of franchising to
have a corporate office on wheels. Lance has been literally living in the
Blitz Mobile Command Center for the past 2 years.
Lance is also a truck driver, driving the
Command Center around the country and is testing special oil additives, and later plans to
test bio fuels and alternative fuels in the truck over the next five years. The
Command Center is scheduled for the installation of solar panels to run all
electronics housed within and replace the two large fossil fuel generators on board. Lance
offers his expertise to those companies and individuals who he believes are on the leading
edge for modest fees as an outside consultant or board member.
Lance is in the process of forming his own
foundation to help the World www.lancewinslow.org
and hopes to have it fully formed and funded sometime in 2002. The
Foundation is an extension of Mr. Winslow's commitment for the betterment of all
mankind, a lifetime pursuit. Lance has developed over the past three years, a
special sleep schedule stating; "I have more I want to accomplish in lifetime than
the number of days allotted allows" So, Lance skips sleeping every third night
putting in 36 hour marathon days so he can finish projects and he does this every other
week. The other days he puts in 14-17 hour days taking no days off. When asked
how long he will continue this schedule; "For as long as it takes."
Mr. Winslow is a "Futurist" and member
of the World Future Society. He is also a member of the Federation of American Scientists.
Being a Capitalist by nature he is also a member of The Ayn Rand Institute. Mr. Winslow
wrote the franchise agreements for The WTT- World Think Tank to help network the most
brilliant minds of the Planet.
In addition to being a guest writer for Detailer
Digest Magazine, Lance and his team are working on three books:
1) "The Power of Presence - Brand Name
Marketing Warfare"
2) "Perseverance x1010 - One Man's Vision,
an Entire Team's Destiny"
3) Franchising: The Answer to a United and
Global World.
To learn more about Lance's background,
click here.