Their Own Franchise

Dan was new at "Pro Touch" . He had to stick close to George to keep his job. This meant putting up with his cheap talk, his sarcasm, and his sick sense of humor. He could imagine times that were more difficult for people, and he appreciated being hired as a manager. "Think about it", he smiled as he thought," an associate's degree in business from "Gateway" and I get to manage my own stall at a car wash." He would be classified as "underemployed" on most national statistic surveys, but, truthfully, he considered himself well off compared to many of his classmates that had not been hired yet at all.

George came back and threw a wrapped sandwich at him. "What's this?". "A bonus. You did a good job on the Chevy."  George was already eating his own sandwich. Tuna fish, lettuce and tomato, on rye with little packets of mayonnaise and mustard would work for lunch. One dollar ninety nine cents and you got a little sticker that told you everything that was on it as well as the date you should eat it by. "You want some potato chips?" George came over and handed him a little bag of "cheddar chips".

Dan wondered about the change in "hard hearted" George. Maybe he needed a loan. Maybe he wanted to rob the place. "Thanks George, I didn't think you cared." George looked at him and laughed. "You're alright Dan. You work hard and you do a good job. You mind your own business and you're trying to get ahead and you haven't got the slightest idea of how to do it." George laughed and Dan Smiled at the truth of it. He'd been over this with his dad a hundred times. "I can understand supply and demand - that's easy. I can even understand the Lucas critque of economic models and Cambell's Law and all that. Changing economies and changing methods to measure economic strengths and weaknesses are not that difficult to see. But, what I can't understand is why something as important as the right way to make a lot of money is such a big secret. You'd expect a business college to know that, wouldn't you? His dad always come back with the same thing. "Hard work, that's all it is Dan. You have to work hard. Ask anybody. I sure did." Well he already knew the importance of hard work. Most people did. Most people worked about as hard as they could anyway. But not so many actually became very wealthy. Some did. Most didn't.

George went on. "You know where Harvey got the money to buy this franchise? His father in law signed for the loan. Two hundred thousand dollars! That's a lot of potato chips! For what? For rags and water? No. For rotating brushes that clean a car really good and don't scratch even after a hundred washes. For the right wash mix. For the dryers. For the pumps. For a million years of experience on how not to get sued. The right insurance and good safe operation. Remember when I showed you "Tire Magic"? You know how long it took me to learn that? All that stuff is worth a mint. It makes the job. Twenty cars an hour through the wash. Ten hours a day. Seven days a week. A million dollars a year". And here it came. Just what Dan expected. "Me and you Dan. We can do the same thing!"  "Yeah, Dan smiled. All we need is a rich co-signer. Maybe the blonde in the Lexus that you chased away." They both laughed.