Thomas Ridgwell is an entrepreneur at heart. Always looking for the next opportunity to generate passive income, in 2022, he happened upon Evolution Dog Wash. “What a genius idea!” he said.
Once his thoughts started spinning about creating a self-serve dog wash, he instantly knew where he wanted it located–a self-serve car wash near his home, across the street from the city park about half a mile from the local dog park. And as the saying goes, “the rest is history.”
Benji’s Dog Wash opened in the summer of 2022, outside the 24-hour self-serve Route 69 Car Wash in Kuna, ID. The automatic, self-serve pet wash station is located outside, next to the vacuums. Eventually, Ridgwell hopes to build a small building to house his Evolution Dog Wash machine, so it can be operated year-round.
Although it is currently only open seasonally, he says business is great! “It does about $1,200 to $2,500 in washes each month. Maintenance is easy and customers love it and can’t wait for it to be open in every season,” said Ridgwell.
In considering various options for his automatic pet wash station, Ridgwell said “everything pointed to Evolution Dog Wash. Made in the USA, high-quality, automatic soap dispenser, customer support and advertising.” Each day, Ridgwell says he cleans out the drain and runs an end-of-day sanitize to keep the machine clean. “There’s really little other management needed to keep it running.”
He launched his pet wash business with the help of social media. Due to his other entrepreneurial endeavors (as the owner of a firework retail company and a rental company providing jet skis, dump trailers and car haulers), Ridgwell already had a significant following on social media. With a few clever social media marketing posts, a cash giveaway and videos, he began driving traffic to Benji’s Dog Wash.
Every Sunday, he takes his own dogs, Goldendoodles Benji and Vader for a bath in the Evolution Dog Wash.
Ridgwell says he hopes to eventually invest in more Evolution Dog Wash machines for a retail location, to continue increasing his revenue flow. His conversations with Matt Ogden, Evolution Dog Wash owner, about future purchases eventually evolved into Ridgwell joining the Evolution Dog Wash team in December 2022 as Sales Manager.
“Nothing compares” to working full-time for Evolution Dog Wash, he says. “I absolutely love how this company is run and the people behind it. We are all a bunch of business owners looking to grow a company together.”
Next time you’re in the area, be sure to stop by Benji’s Dog Wash located at: 156 W. Main St, Kuna, ID 83634
