Business Spotlight: Clean and Green

Despite its ease of access in the United States, water is a pressing global issue.

According to the World Health Organization, 200 million hours are spent each day collecting water for domestic use – the labor equivalent of rebuilding the Empire State Building 28 times.

As the co-founder of Global Assist Network, Alex Scott knows this firsthand. His Nixa-based nonprofit has been involved with digging water wells, as well as agriculture and disaster relief projects in some of the poorest corners of the world. As the owner of Metro Shine Co. LLC, Scott also is responsible for saving hundreds of thousands of gallons of water each year that would otherwise trickle down the drain.

The company – which he founded in late 2011 with partner Kevin Montgomery – provides waterless car wash services in 10 major travel hubs that include Springfield/Branson, the mid-Atlantic region, Florida and Colorado.

“The typical client is a business traveler who wants their car clean when they come back from a two- to three-day trip,” Scott says, noting typical on-site washes run between $20 and $30, with up-charges for oversized vehicles and interior detailing.

The market has responded well. Metro Shine posted 30 to 40 percent annual revenue gains in its first two full years of operating, and last year’s sales exceeded $400,000.

No water wash?
The waterless process revolves around a nonproprietary blend of polymer-based cleaners. When first exploring the idea and developing his cleaning compounds, Scott found most components were available commercially through Ecolab Inc. Today, from his Springfield home, he arranges purchasing and shipping of the cleaner and other supplies, which are provided by an undisclosed local company.

The product is misted onto vehicles with standard janitorial spray bottles, rubbed in with a microfiber towel and then hand-buffed with a separate cloth. For bugs and other debris, a prep compound is first applied using the same process. The only water used in the entire operation is for laundering the towels, and even that volume is minimal, since the cleaning polymers easily separate dirt from the towels.

In addition to saving a natural resource, it means the process is exempt from expected scrutiny by the Environmental Protection Agency or local government regulatory agencies in Metro Shine’s markets.

“If it doesn’t touch the ground, they don’t care,” he says, noting forms called Material Safety Data Sheets back up his claims. “There are no issues because we don’t have anything coming off the car or going into any drains.”

Still, many of the airport parking entities and shuttle companies Metro Shine works with are skeptical – until they see the process.

“Oh, they always doubt us,” Scott says. “But we’ve found that if we can do a demo, we’ll close the contract 95 percent of the time.”

For Scott, time is in incredibly short supply. In addition to the long-distance logistics of Metro Shine’s 10 locations, he balances the demands of running his other business: Springfield Parking Co., which provides local valet services, and parking lot management and consulting. Originally, the parking company was Scott’s expected niche for Metro Shine, but the idea gave way to partnerships with external parking and valet operations in busy travel hubs.

The airport segment now comprises nearly 55 percent of car washing revenue. Another 20 to 30 percent of sales are generated by businesses offering the service as an employee perk, with participating entities including BKD LLP, Battlefield Office Park and Plaza Towers. The remainder comes from individuals, who schedule and purchase washes online, a function Scott considers a key growth opportunity.

In the past, Metro Shine has partnered with Highland Springs Country Club to clean member vehicles. General Manager Mark Stahlman says the companyís work generated repeat service requests from some patrons.

“They showed up when they were supposed to and took care of business,” he says, noting the service was an easy fit with the club’s operations. “We had never washed cars before, but they don’t use any water, so we didn’t have any of the mess.”

Retail potential
The only organized competition Scott has identified is ProntoWash, which currently operates at only a handful of U.S. locations. According to its website, the Argentina-based company has operated since 2001, with 350 franchisees in 23 Central and South American countries, as well as minor footholds in parts of southern Europe and Asia.

Scott says the franchise model for Metro Shine is a frequent suggestion, but he shies away from the idea – at least for the moment.

“The airport locations are all stationary, but with very little capital investment,” he says. “And we don’t do any selling. That’s all done by the valet attendants, who get a cut.”

The company’s staff fluctuates between five and six workers at each site in Florida, between Tampa, Jacksonville and Orlando; metropolitan New York/New Jersey, covering Brooklyn, Long Island, New York City, Newark and Jersey City; and Denver. Scott says each contract employee receives $12 on average to clean each vehicle, which takes 25-30 minutes.

“We pay by the piece. Whatever the job – exterior only or full detail, a shuttle van or Toyota Prius – the staff know exactly how long it should take to get that done,” Scott says, noting the rare dissatisfied customer usually receives a refund. “If for some reason they don’t do a good job, they realize that if we don’t get paid, they don’t get paid either.”

While Metro Shine explores possible expansion models, branded packaging of spot-cleaning kits – including free touch-up wipes for between-wash spots and splotches – holds promise.

“The touch-up kit is obviously the baby step into the retail market,” Scott says. “You’ve bought into our process, and then you get this little extra, which would have the address of an online store where to buy more of our product. Because not only does our prep product work on cars, it’s also a great household cleaner that doesn’t require rinsing and is also very green. It’s all one step.”[[In-content Ad]]