When you hear “car wash,” you might think of a coin-operated machine behind your local gas station, or a couple of teenagers with sponges, fundraising in front of their school. But when Chris Rivera and his partners were looking for business opportunities in the late 2000s, they decided to put a modern twist on an old-fashioned model.
“Coming from outside of the industry, we wanted to put more of a white-collar spin on a blue-collar business,” says Rivera, co-owner of Canton Car Wash. He and his partners believed that customers would appreciate being able to sip a latte in a stylish lounge, while watching their vehicle receive a high-quality wash.
The first Canton Car Wash opened in 2009, and now 12 years later, there are four locations in the greater Baltimore area, with plans in the works for several more in the coming years. But with growth comes growing pains; keeping up with the security needs of their business as it grew proved to be a challenge.
Simplifying Access Management
Choosing the most efficient business access control system was the largest issue Chris and his partners faced. Car washes need a relatively large number of employees, as well as managers to oversee them, and all of these people need varying degrees of access. At first, they used traditional keys to secure the building, but this quickly proved inefficient. “When we hired a new manager, we would give them that set of keys,” says Rivera, who in addition to being co-owner also manages operations for all four locations. “That becomes very problematic. That person might leave, they might be terminated. In that situation, do you have to change the locks?”
The next move was to try locks with keypads and access codes, but this only offered marginal improvements and added new logistical problems. Adding or removing codes was an inefficient process, making onboarding new employees or terminating old ones a time-consuming task. “If you have to re-key a building or you have to constantly swap out door codes because you lost a code, that becomes expensive,” says Rivera. “If I have to go up to a location because I’m the only person with the master code or maybe someone lost a key, that’s also expensive.”
When they were in the process of opening their fourth location, Rivera decided it was time to upgrade their commercial security systems.
A Familiar Security Solution
Rivera started by contacting a trusted local dealer that he was already using for home security. He’d been impressed by the Alarm.com smart home security system that they’d installed in his house, and especially by the intuitive app that he used to control it. At first, he wasn’t sure if they were up for the challenges of a commercial environment, but it didn’t take long to see that this was a smart choice. “The more I learned about it, the more it became clear that it was just a great solution and great choice because it actually integrates with the stuff that I already had at my house,” says Rivera. “The residential part I was familiar with, but I didn't realize how well they're able to provide a solution for a commercial business like ours.”
Now, rather than having to keep track of who has which key or code, Rivera can quickly assign a key fob to new hires that give them the exact level of access they need. It’s the “next evolution of managing access and security. And it just made it a lot easier,” says Rivera. “When someone leaves or comes, we add them, we delete them, — no changing locks. It's just a much more scalable solution.” On top of that, the key fobs are plastic, which keeps them from scratching the interiors of customers’ cars when they’re hanging from an employee’s belt loop.
Not only has switching to Alarm.com for Business made access control more manageable, but it’s also streamlined the business in unanticipated ways. Automatically generated reports help Rivera ensure that each location is opening and closing on time, and that employee timesheets are accurate. The Enterprise Dashboard and mobile app let him manage all four locations from one unified platform, saving time and money. Even his managers appreciate the new system. “They don’t have to come in at 12:00 a.m. when someone’s done,” says Rivera. “They can just lock up and arm the alarm. That’s been a huge advantage.”
A Security System That Grows with You
Rivera set out to find a better business access control system, but he ended up finding so much more. Alarm.com for Business has the technology to help people like Rivera secure their business and maximize efficiency, no matter how many locations they open.
“One of the struggles of growing is that I have less time to be in each location. The Alarm.com app allows me to have visibility into all of those locations in one single app,” says Rivera. “With Alarm.com, I have peace of mind knowing all my businesses and employees are secure.”