Grease Monkey® Franchisee spotlight: Tyson Daniels of Idaho Falls

From Jiffy Lube Oil Change Tech to Multi-Unit Grease Monkey Owner

Tyson Daniels has been in the quick lube industry since he was 16 years old, when he took a job as an oil change tech at a defunct brand called Q-Lube. That brand was purchased by Jiffy Lube, and Tyson worked his way up to assistant manager. He eventually decided he was ready to purchase his own oil change business. Eight years later, he now owns four Grease Monkey locations and serves as the president of the Franchise Advisory Council that works with Grease Monkey to develop new systems and marketing plans. He’s a great person to learn from, so we asked him to share his perspective:

How did you find out about the Grease Monkey brand?
When I first looked to start my business, I started by trying to open a Jiffy Lube in another city, but the available territories didn’t work out. Fortunately, I got to know a Grease Monkey owner in my dad’s neighborhood. He asked if I was interested in the business, and we put a deal together.

What makes the oil change business a good opportunity?
Grease Monkey is a needed service. We survived COVID because people need what we do. There is a decent margin in the service, and we can quickly train people to become a lube tech. While our employees are skilled, I don’t have to find people with years of education or training. If they are good, hard workers, we can quickly train just about anybody.

What It Takes to Succeed

What makes the business stand out for your customers?
We are the only oil change business that guarantees the oil change will be completed in a certain amount of time. Our locations are convenient, our Pit Crew is well trained, and we have clean stores. A lot of customers also like the oil brand we use. Since we’re not owned by an oil company, we’re not tied to a specific brand and we can always stock the best available products. Our managers have been here a long time, and customers know them, so there’s trust.

What does it take to succeed in this business?
Keep your energy high, maintain a positive environment, and let other people excel in the areas you don’t like doing or where you are less successful. If you’re great at operations, but not at sales, have someone else handle the sales.

You should also help your employees grow with you. Grease Monkey University has a ton of training opportunities. If an employee wants to grow, there are ASE (Automotive Service Excellence) prep courses and business management courses. It depends on the direction the employee wants to go. Grease Monkey also does regional training meetings where a group of franchisees and employees will train together.

One of my goals is to help three of my employees open stores outside of my area so they can grow without competing against us.

Home Office Support

Are there any key relationships or systems that help boost revenue potential or simplify running the business?
Grease Monkey has great vendor partners—trustworthy vendors who can fulfill the needs of the company and give us the best pricing possible. I like that the company sources multiple vendors. It forces vendors to be competitive with pricing and to keep service levels up.

Brian Michel is the Senior Director of Operations at Grease Monkey, and I feel like he is a partner in my business. Grease Monkey has hired great people who are knowledgeable, and they always help. I also work closely with the marketing department, and I get to see the time and effort they put in.

I get the impression that a lot of people are looking at Grease Monkey as a passive investment—people who are in the later stages of their careers and want passive income. The business can get there, but it takes time. It takes work to build and train your team and build your customer base.

Learn more

To find out more about the business opportunity with Grease Monkey, fill out the form on this page to download our free franchise report.