At One Car Detailer, the Next Generation Is Awash With Promise

Do you know how few family businesses are successfully managed by a founder's heirs?

A few come to mind. The Watsons at IBM. Ford, sort of. The Graham family has guided my employer, The Washington Post, for decades. You could make an argument for some others, such as Koch Industries in the energy and chemical sector, cosmetics giant Estée Lauder, the Newhouse family's Advance Publications.

It's not easy. An ill-equipped heir can run a great business into the ground. Entrepreneur-founders are uniquely driven, and they don't often pass on the gene and the energy that is needed to build a good business, big or small.

But sometimes they do.

Take tiny VIP Auto Appearance, a $500,000-a-year father-son operation in Prince George's County where Charles Mack Jr. is trying to build on the work ethic and customer service he has learned while watching his father, Charles Sr., detail automobiles for the last three decades.

Mack Sr. built a culture of customer service, attention to detail and hard work that propelled the Mack family to a household income that is twice the average for Prince George's County.

He started in the early 1980s out of the trunk of his blue Chevrolet Camaro. The first customers were friends and some colleagues at Greater Southeast Community Hospital, where Mack Sr. worked part-time as a nurse. Mack Sr. spent several days a week cleaning cars in Waldorf and Capitol Heights, charging anywhere from $20 for a basic cleaning to $100 for a full detailing.

Word of mouth spread, and Mack Sr. was grossing nearly $1,000 a week by the end of the first year. This year, the business may gross around $450,000, with an estimated profit of around $110,000.

Mack Jr. has been learning the business since he was 12. His father taught by example: show up for work every day, know every customer on a first-name basis, give each client great auto detailing.

"The best thing I learned from Dad was just to work hard," said Mack Jr., who studied business at the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore. "When you have somebody who started the company from the ground up while working another job, you just do whatever you have to do."

The Macks don't always agree. When business slowed dramatically last year, Mack Sr. wanted to trim the budget for VIP's Internet site. Mack Jr. argued against the cuts, saying the Web site was responsible for around half of the revenue. They kept the site.

"He's old-school," Mack Jr. said. "But we share the same dream."