Wire walker at Kings Island
Annual hot dog eating contest
Beavercreek 4th of July Parade
Young entrepreneurs: UD senior is part owner of Piqua car wash
Sunday, August 26, 2007
"Ever since I was a little kid, I always wanted to run my own business," said Lee Lochtefeld, an incoming senior at the University of Dayton.
He didn't have to wait long to achieve that dream. At age 21, he is part owner of Soak-n-Suds, a new car wash in Piqua.
University of Dayton senior Lee Lochtefeld holds a high-pressure wand at his car wash in Piqua.Like many entrepreneurs, Lochtefeld started his first business venture young, selling and installing magnet-powered desk alarms at his school in sixth grade. "(The school) banned those," he said, "because everyone was opening their desks in class and (the alarms) were going off. There was no way to stop it."
Lochtefeld and his partners — his father, godfather and neighbor — started working to get this car wash opened more than two years ago.
Lochtefeld said each investor is independently responsible for the bank loans for Soak-n-Suds. "At 21 years old, I'm taking on a considerable amount of risk," he said. "But it's calculated risk."
"What I didn't know going into it was just how sophisticated the car wash industry is," Lochtefeld said. Soak-n-Suds features the most up-to-date technology, he added, citing the washing equipment; heated floors and pipes; and credit card machines, "value cards," which customers can load and use at Soak-n-Suds like a debit card.
"I think it would be great one day to have nationwide Soak-n-Suds," Lochtefeld said.
"One of my biggest fears is getting into the corporate world and getting comfortable," he said. "Some people go to work every day and clock in and clock out, and that works fine for them. (Entrepreneurship) fascinates me."
Venture: Car wash
Founders: Lee Lochtefeld, 21, and his partners Joe Lochtefeld, Mark Poeppelman and Walt Minch
Founded: June 28, 2007
Initial Investment: Would not disclose
Web site: www.soaknsuds.com
