What a Day at Subway!

I had the amazing privilege of presenting two motivational/educational speeches at the Subway Worldwide Franchisee Convention this past Friday and Saturday. What a day at Subway!! There were 4500 people in attendance, from all around the world, including about 900 vendors to the Subway system. Subway currently has just over 33,000 stores in 90 countries!! Can you believe that? It's hard for me to even wrap my mind around! I learned a lot of interesting stuff through this opportunity (some "deep" things about me personally included), but one neat statistic was in regards to the frequency of people in North America eating out at QSR's or Quick Serve Restaurants. Did you know, that 31% of North American's are considered "heavy QSR users," meaning they eat at a QSR more than 12 times a month - TWELVE TIMES A MONTH!! But if you think about it, many who eat lunch out during the work week quickly fall into this category. Additionally about 34% are considerate "moderate" user (4-11 times per month) and 34% are considered "non/low" users in that they eat at QSR's 0-3 times per month. Which category do you fall in to? Depends on the month for me - if it is a busy travel month, I could easily be somewhere between a moderate and a heavy user. Thank you Subway for your subs under 6 grams of fat!!

The Subway system is made up of many family's, so they seemed to really relate to the family business side of Super Wash. I had a number of people approach me after the Saturday session, in particular, to tell me about their family business experience. For me, that's when we really start having fun!

And it certainly is a small world. After Friday's session, a Subway franchisee came up to me and said, "My mom and dad are franchisees of yours and I wanted to introduce myself." I had no idea who should could have been talking about because her last name did not look familiar (she's married). When she told me who her parents are, I just lit up! She has two super parents who have been a part of the Super Wash family since 1985 and we just adore them. It was a special treat to meet her at the Subway Convention.

Until next time, have a super week!
Susan

Next Generation of Talent

I had the pleasure of meeting two young guys this week who, like me and my sister, grew up in the car wash industry. Both Ryan and Kyle are doing some cool and innovative stuff to bring more awareness, via newer technology, to the car wash industry. What I especially liked about these guys is how both of them seem to have a real sense of need to give back to the industry in which they were raised. As you can probably imagine, car washing is very much a family business venture. It was that way when we started in the 70's and it's still that way today. What we are experiencing now though is the next generation coming into their 20's, 30's and 40's and really putting their mark on this industry.

Ryan and I had a chance to work together yesterday on a podcast focused on community involvement and fundraising, and he did a really nice job as the host. The podcast will likely be posted either today or early next week at www.washideas.com. It is also available as a podcast through itunes. Ryan produces this podcast as basically a hobby and his day job company, Wash Card Systems, allows him to do so on company time. Now that's thinking outside the box!! I applaud both Ryan and Wash Card Systems for their efforts to make this industry more inclusive. Thank you!

Kyle is creating "behind the scenes" looks at different companies in the car wash industry. He is posting those looks on his website www.carwashtv.com. Another great and innovative offering by some of the car wash industries next generation of talent.

Who's next up in your industry? What are they bringing to the table? Are you listening to what they are saying? How can you mentor them into being the next generation of leaders? All good things to be thinking about...

Until next time, be SUPER!!
Susan