Juan Tambolini is the owner of a South Florida car wash called Sample Road Auto Spa. The business was established about 6 years ago and since then Juan has built the company into one of the most successful car washes in the region. Today Sample Road Auto Spa becomes the first company on our Smart Vendor List because they put the time and effort into winning a contract that at least 103 other companies were eligible for but weren’t smart enough to bid on. The result is that Juan won his first government contract which has the potential of adding 10% more volume to his annual business.
I caught up with Juan earlier this week and he explained how an employee of his mentioned to him that the local county (Broward) had issued a bid for car washing services. Like many vendors he had never considered that he could provide his service to local government but as soon as he found out about the bid it made sense. Local government owns a whole variety of vehicles from police cars and fire engines to public works trucks. Broward County actually has an entire Fleet Services Division which is dedicated to maintaining the County’s vehicles.
In the bid, the County estimated that they would need about 4,500 car washes each year. With the contract potentially lasting 3 years he figured that could add a good deal of stable revenue and so he jumped at the opportunity to bid on this lucrative contract even though he had no experience working with government.
In order to bid, a Vendor needed to be certified as a small business enterprise and have a physical address within the County. According to the 2006 County Business Patterns Census there are 107 establishments in Broward County that provide car wash services and were likely eligible for this contract. However only 4 companies actually bid and as Juan submitted the lowest price and was the most responsive and responsible bidder he was the clear victor.
While the benefits are obvious – an increase in volume, marketing within the community and ultimately revenue – I was interested in understanding Juan’s experience in submitting the bid and whether he had faced any major difficulties. From an administrative perspective he said that submitting the bid and gathering the paperwork was a lot of work. Also, he needed to extend his insurance so that it was in line with County policy. This took time. However his main challenge had not been evident at the outset. The volume of business estimated in the bid had not immediately emerged. Many within the County were unaware that they now had somewhere to get their car washed. Juan realized that even though he had won the contract he still needed to market internally within the County and make sure that employees know that Sample Road Auto Spa is available to clean their County vehicles.
Juan is now beginning to reap the rewards of putting in the time and effort to bid on the contract. He hopes to win many more local government contracts in the future.
You can visit Sample Road Auto Spa at 2501 W. Sample Road, Pompano Beach, FL 33073. Check out their website for coupons and promotions.
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Friendly people, friendly price and great service. I’m glad I found you. I
couldn’t find any coupons but you still have made a new customer. I’ll be back tomorrow with my wife’s car