Dorothy Mazur bought a quick lube business with her husband, Carl, 33 years ago in Uncasville, Connecticut, naming it Uncasville Quick Lube and Touch Free Car Wash. Then she rolled up her sleeves in the pit to work on cars, perform administrative tasks, train employees, and serve in any other area the business required.

“I was here at 6 o’clock this morning, and I cleaned the car wash (which is open 24 hours). Whatever needs to be done,” as she puts it.

The same day, Mazur put her passion for landscaping to work to keep the business’s curb appeal on course. “My son and two employees are working on the wood chips out front right now,” she says. “When everything is neat, clean, and pristine on the outside it shows the quality of work you’re going to do on the inside.”

DIY Formula

Before the quick lube business, Mazur’s husband was a commercial fisherman and she owned a pet store. Then he had a heart attack and she was diagnosed with MS, so they switched gears.

“We bought (the business) and decided to run it and do it all ourselves,” she describes.

The pair knew that hiring good people to work alongside the family would be critical to their success. But how do you hire people who will get on board with your personal vision for excellence inside and out?

“You don’t get lucky with employees,” Mazur states. “You have to talk every single day and train and correct, and train and correct some more. And that goes for everything, including the upkeep of the building’s exterior. ”

This correction must also be handled fairly and swiftly, so that employees respect the effort and want to be a part of it. For Mazur, a straightforward approach is vital because her employees have many other work options in the area.

“We’re next to the Coast Guard, a sub base, and two casinos, so our area has way too many jobs for the amount of people here,” she notes. So, she tells them like it is.

For Mazur, the ideal DIY formula also involves deciding what’s most important and non-negotiable in keeping up the curb appeal—like the landscaping, flowers, and wood chips—and deciding what to let go.

“I used to decorate outside for Christmas and I used to plant annuals, but I don’t do that anymore. It’s just too much work,” she says.

Clean Signage Helps Pull People In

For Mazur, well maintained signage outside is a must when it comes to curb appeal.

Uncasville Quick Lube and Touch Free Car Wash sits directly on the corner of two roads (Route 32 and Fort Shantok Road), so everyone in Uncasville who passes by sees the business. And like its website touts, “No appointment necessary,” the family is hoping people who spot it will be compelled to drive right in.

“We’re up a little bit on a knoll, and that’s the way we designed it. We built the building ourselves,” Mazur says.

Naturally, she makes sure the exterior signage never shows wear and tear.

“We just redid all new signage, and this is something we’ve kept up on all throughout the years,” she says.

Signage can also be a business’s most visible marketing driver, it turns out – even today when many quick lube owners are laser-focused on online marketing above all else.

For Mazur, her best marketing is word-of-mouth about the service they offer. And a clean look from the curb helps set up the business for success all the way down the line, she finds.

Looks Really Do Matter

What customers see on the outside influences how they’ll perceive the inside.

“You have to keep up the maintenance so that the business doesn’t look old and shabby,” Mazur says. “We just had all the exterior lights redone, too. And the guys are resealing the driveway next week.”

This is Mazur’s basic philosophy: “It depends on what you want your image to be. Some (owners) don’t care. They’re just a sloppy, dirty garage on the inside and the outside.”

That dirt, unfortunately, probably carries over to some businesses’ bathrooms, as well.

At Uncasville Quick Lube and Touch Free Car Wash, however, customers can expect to find the same thing inside that they do outside. “The guys and I check the bathrooms at least three times a day to make sure they’re clean,” as Mazur puts it.

At the end of the day, she notes, “Customers can buy oil anywhere. But they can’t get good service just anywhere. You’ve got to do what you say you’re going to do. All the way around, we do whatever needs to be done.”

Excellent curb appeal helps set up the expectation that Mazur’s business is top of the line in everything it offers.