Setting the Strategy

For many quick lube operators—from those who recently arrived in the industry to seasoned veterans—a new year brings renewed energy and visions of growth and business development.

But how do successful operators determine their biggest goals, and how do they build strategies to achieve them?

For a husband and wife who took over a SpeeDee Oil Change & Auto Service franchise in Hollister, California, last spring, strategy development has been based on principles that drove their decades of success in the corporate world. For the CEO of Costa Oil 10 Minute Oil Change, the road map has been drawn with a combination of insights built upon years in the quick lube industry and input from his top lieutenants.

NOLN recently caught up with SpeeDee franchisees Michael and Panadda Lynch and Costa Oil CEO Costa Kapothanasis to learn more about how they are strategizing for 2026 and beyond.

The Newcomers

Prior to embarking on his role as a SpeeDee franchisee with his wife, Panadda, Michael Lynch spent more than 30 years in corporate leadership roles, most recently serving as vice president of operations for Fiji Water. His career has spanned from window and door hardware to fresh produce to the development of RFID technology used in sports applications such as running and cycling.

“I have sort of a five- to seven-year cycle where I go in, I'm a change manager and innovator, see opportunities, put them in place, change cultures, get that in place, get it all embedded,” Michael Lynch says. “And then it's handed over to a new set of fresh eyes as I go and tackle the same sort of opportunities elsewhere.”

Panadda’s career path has been similarly eclectic. Early on, she partnered with friends to open an automotive repair and body shop, while doing some racing on the side. She later transitioned into roles in manufacturing and transportation, as well as hardware, home décor, and the beverage industry. Like Michael, she has relied upon lean and Six Sigma principles to improve operational efficiencies along the way.

Together, combining Michael’s experience in operations and financial business strategic acumen with Panadda’s automotive experience and skills in logistics and supply chain management, the Lynches have applied their corporate knowledge toward goal setting and strategy building for their SpeeDee franchise.

The Lynches start by identifying the organization’s north star—its main, overarching priority that informs all other decisions. For the SpeeDee franchise, that north star is revenue. The focus of the Lynches’ strategy, in turn, is funneled into five areas: people, customers, community, continuous improvement, and health and safety.

“Those become our driving categories,” Michael Lynch says. “We’re going to have probably one to three—no more than that—major initiatives that are going to come out of there next year.”

As an example, Michael Lynch points to customer satisfaction. When the Lynches took over their SpeeDee franchise, the shop’s online reviews hovered around 2.7 on a 5-point scale. In their first eight months of franchise ownership, the average ranking climbed to 3.8, but Michael says he wants to see it hit 4.5.

“That would be one of our first customer initiatives,” Michael says. “How do we back up the honesty and integrity that we’ve been bringing to the business so that everyone knows about it, not just those people who have benefited from it?”

The road to improving customer reviews starts with improving the customer experience. For the Lynches, that has meant facilitating faster service times by hiring 50% more staff—especially employees who are skilled and experienced.

“We want to align with our corporate vision to provide the best customer experience,” says Panadda Lynch. “So, we are looking into different angles to see what we can do to make our customers satisfied and want to come back to us. … We want to rebuild the (shop’s) relationship with our customers because we live in a small town. … We want to build brand awareness so people know about us. We want to build integrity. We want them to know that we are here to support them.”

In 2026, the Lynches are aiming to add another senior mechanic or master technician and also invest in training for current staff to improve their flexibility.

“We need to have anyone available to do anything at any time,” Michael says. “That’s the ultimate goal. If I need to do brakes, I don’t have to wait for someone else to do a brake job. I’ve got four people I can choose from. … If I need to do an oil change, anyone can do the oil change, and that way, when the work comes in, I’ve got someone I can give it to.”

The Industry Veteran

Looking back, Costa Kapothanasis, CEO of Costa Oil 10 Minute Oil Change, describes 2025 as “a stabilizing year.” After a period of aggressive growth that saw Costa Oil reach 70 locations, the company’s priority for 2025 was “grounding the business and getting our core values and our core mission back integrated into every single store, including the corporate stores,” Kapothanasis says. That has been accomplished by the company’s leaders making more store visits and getting back to giving more attention to early franchise locations that had become self-sufficient and required less oversight over time.

“We have stores that are maturing, and sometimes what franchise systems will do is once someone is out of that ramp-up period, your tendency is to say, ‘OK, they're out of their ramp-up period. They've now ordered from their vendors for over a year. They have dealt with customers. … We don't have to give them as much attention.

“And I think what we wanted to be very cognizant of is making sure they don't feel left behind even though they've been open for three or four years. And so, 2025 was a lot about touching those folks again, seeing their stores, and making sure that we're all on the same page in regard to the model that we're trying to run.”

With the ship now steadied, Kapothanasis is ready for Costa Oil to embark on another period of strategic growth. With costs for new construction rising, Kapothanasis sees an opportunity to acquire existing shops from owners who are ready to exit the industry.

“As the quick lube industry turns essentially 45 years old, a lot of these folks have made a lot of money back when the intervals were shorter in those 2,000-mile (oil change) interval days,” he says. “A lot of them have kids that are out of college, and they've accomplished all the things that they want to accomplish.

“And so, we're hoping that a lot of these facilities start to become available and the consolidation that has happened in our space already has essentially made the playing field what it's going to be. If you haven't been acquired by Take 5, Jiffy Lube, or Valvoline at this point, basically, the playing field is set. So, everybody that's out there right now, we can go out and acquire an eight-unit store or a three-unit store and probably not have as much competition for (them).”

Independent shop acquisitions are also appealing for Costa Oil because many prime targets come with healthy car counts, community support, and an established infrastructure that plays well with the Costa Oil business model, Kapothanasis says.

Setting Priorities

For even the most ambitious quick lube owners, trying to tackle multiple large-scale business goals can be a challenge. Once goals are identified, it becomes imperative to prioritize them and determine the order in which they’ll be addressed.

“We intuitively know now because we’ve been in the corporate game for so long what’s going to make the biggest difference,” Michael Lynch says. “And so, for us, it’s how do we get there as quickly possible?”

At SpeeDee, it starts with fostering the aforementioned flexibility among team members, as well as creating a professional, trustworthy environment for customers—keeping the shop clean and organized and making sure staff members who interact with guests don’t come across as pushy or overly aggressive with sales pitches.

For Kapothanasis, setting priorities and building out a strategic vision begins with making sure his leadership team is aligned and believes in the company’s mission. Kapothanasis will present potential acquisitions to the team to determine whether the deal makes sense for the company. He also aims to ensure his team is well positioned to support the needs of corporate-owned and franchise locations alike.

Recently, Kapothanasis hosted a meeting with his leadership team to lay out a game plan for 2026. As the meeting adjourned, he says, his team members walked away with their spirits high and their visions aligned.

“At the end of it, there was a lot of excitement about our plans for execution,” he says. “I think as long as everyone’s on board, we’re going to be able to do the things we set out to do.”