On October 18th, 25 investors joined HRA Management and PassiveInvesting.com for the Hurricane Car Express Wash Investor Experience in Columbia, South Carolina. The day was filled with two site tours, training videos from Hurricane University, car wash strategy and vision updates, a question-and-answer session, and a valiant attempt by one of our investors to sell memberships. The day was led by the managing partner of HRA management, Cameron Broom, and his management team: Jamie Etheredge, Susie Balda, Alex Felder, and Mitch Craps.
The day started with Cameron going through the business plan of the converted Hurricane Express Wash at 1010 Kinley Road, PIC Car Wash 2. Cameron led investors through the site requirements when selecting a location/site, the capital requirements when converting from a legacy car wash brand to Hurricane Express Wash, the revenue model and how essential memberships are to revenue growth, and the cost reduction items that are being targeted in the 40k40 Expense Reduction Plan that has a goal of reducing each car wash to be below $40,000 in expenses per month. This plan has already reduced expenses across the portfolio by 17% from Q2 to Q3.
We then set off to tour the Kinley Road car wash site to see the business plan in action. Investors were split into four groups and spent the morning touring the four different areas of the Express Wash (pay station, tunnel, landscaping and site cleanliness, and vacuum and self-detail center) to discuss what the site looked like when we originally bought it and what it was today. As investors toured the site and interacted with the HRA management team, you could see their deep appreciation for the planning, work, and vision it takes to fulfill Hurricane’s mission, ‘To Exceed the Expectation of Every Customer. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.’ One investor commented, “Cameron’s drive, passion, grit, and vision of the Hurricane Express Wash brand was on display. I also enjoyed visiting the physical car wash locations to see the team in action. They were first class!”
After the Kinley Road site visit, it was time for lunch and a trip to Hurricane University. Not many of our investors were aware of the depth of Hurricane University, but it is the key success factor to scale Hurricane Express Wash and keep a consistent and quality experience for all our customers. With over 80 documents and videos encompassing specific job training, policies, procedures, benefits, and tests, Hurricane University is the lifeblood of HRA Management. It was at this time that one of our gracious investors volunteered to learn our membership pitch and try his hand at selling memberships. As you may know, memberships are the major driver of our revenue model (see figure 1), and the updated membership pitch has provided a 95% Membership growth YTD across all sites. Then, it was off to our second site visit.
The second site is located at 7718 Broad River Road and is a brand new site in the PIC Car Wash 6 Fund. Investors were able to experience what it is like during one of our open houses to drive memberships and improve the brand’s visibility. The site has windows to view the tunnel from outside. Cameron and the team were able to show how we use radar to map the exact length and size of a car to calibrate the exact amount of chemicals and water used for each wash, reducing wasted resources. This technology and specific plumbing configuration of the tunnels have already provided a 33% reduction in our freshwater usage across the entire portfolio and have us well on our way to achieving industry-leading gallons/car targets. Lastly, our investor-turned-salesperson put his membership pitch training into action. He was outstanding in his delivery, humble in his approach, and tenacious in his execution, but he was unable to convert the four single-wash sales into memberships. He has already asked Cameron for another shot at the next Hurricane Car Wash Experience.
We finished the day back at the office with a Q&A session covering the state of the car wash industry, our strategy moving forward, and our thoughts on car wash development vs. conversions. After a quick raid on the Hurricane Express Wash t-shirt and hat storage locker, we said our goodbyes. We are truly thankful to those investors who made the trip to Columbia to see the plans in action. And at the same time, the HRA management team was energized by meeting the investors who make Hurricane Express Wash possible.
If you are interested in joining us for our next Hurricane Express Wash Experience, we are already planning one for early March 2024. If you are still on the fence, I leave you with this comment by one of our investors who attended, “I originally wasn’t sure if I was going to learn more than what you already communicate. You exceeded my expectations, and I would for sure recommend this experience to any investor who wants to learn more about your operations, plan, and performance.
