After more than 30 years of carrying the flag for Jiffy Lube working for different franchises, Bill Seidmeyer in 2024 determined that he was ready to become a franchisee himself.

It was a career move that required a life move, but Seidmeyer was ready.

With roots in the business that trace back to a part-time job with a Jiffy Lube service center in Texas as a 16-year-old high school student in 1993 and a career path that led to him becoming a store manager by the age of 18 and going on to leadership roles with multiple Jiffy Lube franchise organizations, Seidmeyer possessed the drive and business acumen that quick lube brands seek as they look to grow their franchise networks.

“After speaking with Luke Byerly, the president of Jiffy Lube at the time (in the fall of 2024), on my five-year plan, I told him that I would eventually like to own my own stores,” Seidmeyer recalls. “The Jiffy Lube team was fantastic at helping me navigate (the process) and find the right market for me, find somewhere that I felt at home, and then help walk me through the entire process and become a franchisee.”

Seidmeyer moved from Magnolia, Texas, to Tupelo, Mississippi, and, in June 2025, launched Inspired Performance Auto, taking on seven Jiffy Lube franchise locations that were divested from his previous employer, Premium Velocity Auto.

While Seidmeyer has spent his entire career in the quick lube industry, leading brands in the sector have welcomed new franchisees with plenty of different backgrounds. National Oil and Lube News recently caught up with leaders from Jiffy Lube and FullSpeed Automotive to find out more about the road to becoming a successful new quick lube franchise operator.

Finding Prospects

Based out of Houston, Texas, Jiffy Lube International has a network of more than 2,000 franchisee-owned service centers across the United States. Alan Voss, the organization’s vice president of network development, tells NOLN that the company has been aggressive in its attempts to accelerate its growth and expand its footprint by attracting new multi-unit franchisees.

Engagement with prospective franchisees comes through targeted marketing initiatives and inquiries. Candidates can submit an inquiry through a form on the company’s website at franchise.jiffylube.com.

“Many of our inquiries are organic, based on the strength of the Jiffy Lube brand, as well as recommendations from current Jiffy Lube franchisees,” Voss says. “We’ve received inquiries from a variety of prospects. In terms of our proactive approach, we execute strategic marketing campaigns to attract prospective franchisees from outside the network.”

The approach has led to single- and multi-unit independent operators becoming Jiffy Lube franchisees. The conversion from being an independent quick lube to a Jiffy Lube location can be fairly quick, depending on current operations, ownership, and execution of branding. For applicants who wish to build new, the process can take longer, Voss says.

Meanwhile, FullSpeed Automotive, the Greenwood Village, Colorado-based automotive aftermarket services platform, offers franchise opportunities with its flagship Grease Monkey and SpeeDee Oil Change brands.

In its efforts to attract new franchisees, FullSpeed engages in digital marketing and national campaigns, but also conducts hyper-localized recruitment through market-specific public relations and events, says Kelly Tope, FullSpeed’s vice president of franchise development.

“If we know there’s a market we really want to grow in, that we have some stores or presence in, but want to get stronger in, we’ll go into that market and really try to do things locally so we can get people in that region,” Tope says.

Evaluation Process

For Jiffy Lube, ideal candidates to become franchisees are multi-unit operators who are committed to growing the company’s network with significant capital investment, Voss says.

“The most successful franchises demonstrate a passion for Jiffy Lube customers, deliver an outstanding customer experience, represent the values and attributes of the Jiffy Lube brand, and have a solid operational acumen,” Voss says. “Jiffy Lube is built on franchisee ownership. This includes all aspects of daily operations, employment engagement, representation of the Jiffy Lube brand, and most importantly, the customer experience. These are the aspects we look for when growing our network.”

To evaluate candidates’ potential fit, Jiffy Lube begins with a background check, followed by interviews with its operations personnel to discuss goals and expectations. Candidates are also granted access to current franchisees so they can ask direct, candid questions to gain insight into the business through the eyes of an operator.

This is followed by a “discovery day” in which candidates are brought to JLI’s Houston headquarters to meet the company’s leadership team and various subject matter experts to discuss marketing, fleet services, technology, products, operations, and other topics.

“Throughout the process, we want to understand why the prospect wants to become a Jiffy Lube franchisee and join the network,” Voss says. “This process allows us to dive in and gain insight into how we can best support each other and provide immediate results.”

The qualification process to become a Grease Monkey or SpeeDee franchisee takes about 30 to 60 days on average. The time from signing a franchise agreement to opening a location can range from 12 to 16 months, depending on the time needed to find a property (which FullSpeed can assist with) and obtaining local permits, says Tope.

FullSpeed will evaluate between 1,500 and 2,000 leads per year. In 2025, the company signed franchise agreements for 36 locations, including single- and multi-location franchisees, Tope says. About 80% of new franchisees start as single-unit operators, but the company is open to operators taking on multiple locations from the start if candidates can meet higher financial qualifications and demonstrate an elevated level of business savvy.

When evaluating prospective franchisees, Tope says FullSpeed looks for candidates with a strong business acumen. Experience in the automotive sector is great, she says, but prospects with business skills in other verticals who maybe also have a passion for cars can be a solid fit as well. Tope recognizes that many prospective franchisees approach FullSpeed looking to be semi-absentee shop owners. Ultimately, though, the company aims to work with franchisees who want to be present.

“We’re looking for … someone who's involved in their business—they’re there three to four days a week,” Tope says. “It doesn't mean that they're under the hood changing the oil. It just means that they know about their business. They're connected to their employees. Customers that come in know who they are, or at least if they ask for them, they could get connected to them. I always tell people there's nothing worse than (a customer asking), ‘Oh, can I speak with the owner?’ and (an employee) saying, ‘Well, I don't even know who that is. I've never met them before.’”

The qualifications for prospective franchisees are the same for both Grease Monkey and SpeeDee: $400,000 in liquid assets and a net worth of $600,000. The process for becoming a franchisee is the same for both brands as well, Tope says. Interested parties can apply through either greasemonkeyfranchise.com, speedeefranchise.com, or oilchangefranchise.com.

At the outset of the process, FullSpeed talks with candidates to learn about what they are looking to achieve in their market, which can help to determine which brand is a better fit.

“What are their wants, needs, desires?” Tope says. “Are they looking for just quick lube, or do they want to have the ability to do some repairs? Although you can do that in both brands, some people who have a Grease Monkey have maybe one bay that is for repair. SpeeDee is more the one that has the heavier repair services.”

There are some exceptions, Tope adds, noting a quick lube-only SpeeDee store in Minnesota.

Regardless of brand, FullSpeed franchisees must possess a passion for what they’re going to do with a level of commitment that perhaps wasn’t as necessary in past generations.

“It used to be back in the day that people would get into franchising because they didn’t really know how to do business and wanted somebody to tell them how to run the business. That’s not the case today,” Tope says. “Today, it is absolutely people who probably could go out and do something on their own. It might also be people that do need that help and that assistance, but it could be people that are 100% entrepreneurs doing other businesses and they want and understand the value of having that support behind them. … It truly is about the support, and that comes from that partnership.”

Warning Signs

As Tope and her team evaluate franchise candidates, there are red flags that, if observed, could suggest a less-than-ideal fit. Applicants who drag their feet when completing forms or become non-responsive during the application process spark concerns that they will not follow system standards should they receive approval to become a franchisee.

And rogue franchisees can create problems systemwide, says Tope.

“The reason that we protect that and make sure that we do have people that are going to follow the process and the system is because you're representing that brand for everyone else that's a franchisee in your system,” Tope says.

“So, if one franchisee is out there doing their own thing and somebody sees that, or they go in and then don't see that same service or don't see that coupon, or the price is really slashed and super low at this location, and then someone else is trying to charge the normal price that you'd see for a market—those are things that do damage to the entire system, not just that location.”

Getting Started

Once approved, Jiffy Lube prospects sign a franchise agreement and then begin in-store training, which JLI calls “boot camp,” so that new franchisees can understand every role of the business.

Voss says the number of candidates evaluated per year varies based on several factors, including economic conditions, geographical interests, new builds vs. existing location purchases, and conversion opportunities. Approval or denial does not necessarily reflect the qualifications of the prospect.

“With that said, in any given year, we will typically have hundreds of inquiries, but the number of folks who go all the way through the process of becoming an approved franchisee is significantly smaller,” Voss says.

For independent shops being converted, Jiffy Lube aims to make service centers as brand-centric as possible within JLI’s standards.

“There are challenges with every store design,” Voss says. “We don't typically ask somebody to completely knock down their building and build new. We will work with them to bring a consistency from our brand perspective to the store and give that brand presence.”