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Jermain Garcia will be the first to admit he might never get rich working at the car wash. But at the tender age of 22, Garcia isn't just an employee washing cars for a living he owns the company.

I remember trying to figure out a good business to have, one where there would be little or no competition, said Garcia. And I somehow thought of a car wash, and how there is always a line when you go to the car wash, and how they never do as a good a

job as you would do yourself. It just seemed like a good idea.

A few months later, At Your Door Car Wash, a residential and commercial mobile car washing and detail service, was launched. Serving over 100 clients throughout East County, Garcia and his brother Armando, brother-in-law Gary Alsobrook and cousin Jason Cardona have created a successful family-run business, and the young relatives concede they're more than a little surprised.

It's really taken off like wildfire, said Armando, 25. We knew that people always like to have clean cars, but I don't think we realized how popular the mobile side of the business would be. It's been a lot of fun.

At Your Door Car Wash uses only the highest-quality products and offers full-service on-site detailing on all vehicles, including motorcycles, boats and trucks size is no object.

We had a funny experience a while ago with a truck we were going to detail, said Armando. Jermain told me it was a diesel truck, so I was thinking a regular-size truck that takes diesel. But when we got there, it was a huge semi truck. That job took us a long time to finish.

The Garcia brothers started their business with little more than a bucket of rags and some soap, relying primarily on their clients for hoses and water access. But they soon discovered the advantages of being self contained, and quickly invested in a 100-gallon water tank and an assortment of hoses and vacuums.

We got wise pretty quickly and realized we would be faster and could go to a lot more places with our own stuff, said Jermain. We've learned a lot.

And one of the most important business lessons they've learned so far is the value of family.

Working with family is really great, said Jermain. You know that that person cares about the business as much as you do, and you always have someone watching your back. You can give them the keys to the truck and tell them to go take care of something and you don't have to worry or wonder if they'll come back.

Alsobrook, 35, works full-time with his brothers-in-law, while cousin Cardona, a senior at Liberty High School, keeps his schedule to weekday afternoons and weekends. But with the business continuing to grow, they'll soon be looking for additional help.

Will they need to hire outside the family to fill a position? Oh no, laughed Jermain. We have plenty more relatives; that's not a problem. We're not going to run out anytime soon.

For more information on At Your Door Car Wash, call 925-783-4958 or visit www.aydautowash.com.