HOW A CAR
WASH BUSINESS
WENT FROM
LOSING MONEY TO
TRIPLING REVENUE
IN 90 DAYS

Ronalds Vîtols (back) and Ivars Le (front) crop

Ronalds Vîtols (right) and Ivars Le at Divi Vienā’s car wash site in Latvia.
Photo: Ivars Le

A car wash can have modern equipment, a good location and steady customer traffic, yet still struggle to make money. That was the situation for Latvian entrepreneur Ronalds Vîtols. Through his company Divi Vienā, Vîtols had already built several rollover and self-service car wash locations, also known as jet wash sites, in Latvia. Customers came in, paid and washed their cars. On paper, the business looked healthy. In practice, however, the numbers told a different story.

❝

I couldn’t even get my investment back. After all costs, I was operating at a loss,❞ Vîtols says.

The problem was not the wash quality. It was not the location. And it was not even the payment methods. The real issue was that customers simply did not return often enough. Many car wash operators face the same situation. Single washes create an unpredictable business. Revenue depends heavily on weather, seasons and how often individual customers decide to visit. Even if a site has a good number of users, low visit frequency can make profitability difficult.

For Divi Vienā, traditional payment methods such as card and cash payments were not enough to create a stable business.

“The main problem was frequency of washing and customer loyalty,” says Vîtols. Customers would wash their cars occasionally, but there was no reason for them to come back regularly. The relationship ended after each transaction. Vîtols knew there had to be another way.

Before entering the car wash business, he had spent 24 years building one of Latvia’s largest coffee vending businesses. That experience shaped the way he looked at the industry. “To me, a car wash is a big vending machine,” he says. But unlike a vending machine business with repeat purchases, the car wash lacked something essential: recurring revenue, predictable cash flow and long-term customer loyalty.

Looking for a different model At first, Vîtols considered creating his own digital platform and app. The idea was simple: if customers could subscribe to a monthly plan, they would wash their cars more often and return regularly. In reality, building such a system from scratch proved difficult.

“It was almost impossible to build what I wanted,” he says.

That changed when he discovered EasyWash. Euro Car Wash’s EasyWash is a digital payment and subscription system developed specifically for car wash operators. Customers can purchase washes through an app or payment terminal, and monthly subscriptions are linked directly to the vehicle’s license plate. When the customer arrives at the wash, the system recognizes the car automatically. No cards, tags or separate membership identifiers are needed.

“I saw the product. I saw the team. We had chemistry,” says Vîtols.

Divi Vienā introduced
EasyWash at its rollover car
wash stations in late 2025.

Photos: Elvis Tenisons

Instead of testing the idea slowly at one site, Divi Vienā decided to move quickly. The company introduced EasyWash across three rollover car wash stations in late 2025. In early 2026, the system was also expanded to selfservice locations.

At the same time, Divi Vienā launched a monthly subscription model, renewed its car wash branding and invested in social media and local marketing. The company shifted its business focus away from single transactions and toward long-term customer relationships.

The technical implementation itself was straightforward. Each rollover station was equipped with the EasyWash system in only three to four hours, and the system was ready to use immediately. “It just works. Plug and play,” says Vîtols.

Revenue tripled in three months “Starting from the first month, I felt it. The turnover started growing.”
Within three months, Divi Vienā’s turnover had increased to more than three times its previous level. “Before EasyWash, I was not even making profit. Now it’s a completely different situation.”

The increase did not come from higher prices. In fact, subscription customers often paid less per individual wash than before. At first glance, that might seem like a bad deal for the operator. But the opposite happened.

 

 

EasyWash wash expanded to
DiviVienā’s self-service sites in
early 2026, bringing monthly
subscriptions and automatic
license plate recognition to
self-service washing.

Photo: Valters Pelns

Stronger customer
loyalty, recurring
monthly revenue,
better predictability
and less dependence
on weather and
seasonal variation.

“With subscriptions, profit per wash is lower, but there are many more washes. At the end, the total profit is much higher.”

The explanation is simple. When customers subscribe, they wash their cars more frequently. They no longer think about whether today is the right day to buy another wash. The service becomes part of their routine.

As wash frequency increased, so did total revenue. At the same time, Divi Vienā saw a larger customer base, significantly stronger customer loyalty, more predictable monthly income and improved cash flow through advance payments.

Interestingly, subscriptions did not reduce the number of single washes.

“We increased subscriptions and also saw a small increase in single washes,” says Vîtols. This meant the new model expanded the overall business instead of replacing existing revenue.

The same trend has now started to appear at Divi Vienā’s self-service sites. According to Vîtols, the numbers from the first EasyWash equipped locations are developing just as positively.

For him, this is particularly significant because subscription-based self-service washing with automatic license plate recognition is still almost unheard of in the market. Vîtols believes the same logic applies equally well to these sites: when customers subscribe, they return more often, use the service more regularly and remain loyal.

Perhaps the most unexpected result came later. Divi Vienā noticed that even customers who cancelled their monthly subscription did not disappear. Instead, they continued using the car wash through the EasyWash app and purchased single washes when needed. This changed the way Vîtols viewed the business.

The subscription model was not simply a tool for selling more washes. It created an ongoing relationship between the customer and the car wash. Once customers became used to using the app and the license plate recognition system, they kept returning.

A broader shift in the industry Divi Vienā’s experience reflects a larger change taking place across the car wash industry. Operators are increasingly moving away from onetime transactions and toward recurring services.

The same development has already transformed other industries. Streaming services replaced individual movie rentals. Music subscriptions replaced buying single albums. Vîtols believes car washing is moving in the same direction. “It’s like Netflix or Spotify. Everyone will use it.”

For operators, the benefits are clear: stronger customer loyalty, recurring monthly revenue, better predictability and less dependence on weather and seasonal variation. For customers, the model is equally attractive. The experience is simple, fast and automatic. The driver arrives, the system recognizes the vehicle and the wash begins. No cash. No separate cards. No unnecessary steps.


The next challenge: growth

Ironically, Divi Vienā’s success created a new problem: queues. 40 to 60 minutes waiting time. The solution is no longer to attract more customers. The solution is to build more capacity. That is a challenge most operators would gladly accept.


For other car wash businesses still wondering whether subscriptions are worth considering, Vîtols has a direct message: “You are losing money every month you wait.”

 

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