Innovation

By utilizing a high foam low water ratio washing style, Spiffy is able to wash an entire car with about 10 gallons of water. To give this more context, a typical car wash can use anywhere from 25-35 gallons a wash and washing at home can use a 100 gallons or more! Combining the low amount of water used with their washing mats, Spiffy is able to wash cars on site without the need for an external water source. At the end of the wash, the Spiffy van's water supply is treated at their in-house facility to separate the cleaning chemicals in the water.

Karl has kept Spiffy expanding since first launching the mobile car wash service. He has now branched the company out to offer on site oil and tire changes. Naturally, Spiffy recycles all of the old oil and has partnered with PRTI who helps recycle the tires in a more sustainable method than combustion or using them on a playground. Spiffy is always trying to help out in the community as well and offers great pay to all employees. When the pandemic first hit, they quickly utilized their fleet to help sanitize office spaces. They are now looking to foster their new partnership with SparkCharge and start their EV Charging services.

Inspiration

Karl Murphy was inspired by his cofounder Scot Wingo, a serial entrepreneur. When Karl lost his job, he was inspired by his friend Scot's businesses and decided he wanted to have an endeavor of his own. Scot had just sold a company, and Scot and Karl decided to see if they could find a car wash to buy after looking through many different options. They noticed that there was a lack of on-demand service for car washes. Customers had to go to a site in order for their car to be cleaned with reliable and safe products, and their car would be kept for a few hours, limiting the customer from being able to go about their daily activities.

Spiffy Green developed through trying to meet the demands of customers wanting their cars to be washed while they were at work. However, the property managers were against having a car washing service come and leave a mess on the property and were worried about the chemicals used during the car wash. Spiffy Green was the answer to these issues. Karl and Scot found a way to clean cars using half the water required by a traditional car wash, featuring products safe for the environment and the customers, reclaiming 100% of water and supplies with proprietary wash mats, recycling every drop of oil (over 50,000 gallons per month), reducing waste and transforming tires into power with the brand PRTI, and delivering on-demand electric vehicle charging with Sparkcharge.

Karl stated in his interview, "The confidence [in running this business] comes from the mission not profit alone”. He emphasized the importance of grit when it comes to entrepreneurship, and that anyone wanting to start a business must go in with the mindset that it will take minimum 10 years for the business to fully develop and become stable. He said that having a mission and value to the work your company is working towards helps with the grunt work as well as during the times when business may not be booming.

Overall impact

So far, Spiffy Green has helped save over 11 million gallons of water. Spiffy does this by collecting their used water and then transporting it back to their water treatment plant. This process allows them to reuse their own water for future washes. Additionally, Spiffy contains, collects, and disposes all of their chemicals responsibly that are used in the wash. This prevents harmful chemicals from reaching surrounding rivers and oceans via the storm drains, especially in urban settings. These actions by Spiffy help achieve Global Goals 6, 11, and 12 of clean water and sanitation, sustainable cities and communities, and responsible consumption and production.

Spiffy also achieves Global Goal number 8 through its pay towards workers. Co-founder Carl Murphy explained that providing workers with adequate pay is an integral part of their business. He pays all car washers a minimum of $15 per hour. Carl explained how the company embodies a culture of how every employee does meaningful work and deserves proper pay. The company's attitude towards pay with their workers contributes to the Global Goal of decent work and economic growth.

Business benefit

Utilizing their water reclamation mats was key in Spiffy becoming successful. Without this innovation, Spiffy would have never been able to wash cars at customers' office spaces, which is how their business started to take off. The environmental benefits also helped Spiffy sign deals with car fleet services such as rental companies.

As Karl explained to us, when they initially started doing on demand car washes and automotive services through their software, they had many customers who would request the job be done at their office building while they were at work. Property Managers would turn away other similar services because they would leave behind a mixture of water and chemicals that would leave the place a mess. Hearing this feedback from property managers, Spiffy Green's utility to reduce water usage and recycle chemicals gave Get Spiffy an "in" with these property managers, as they would allow them to do the car washes and services on their property because of their responsibility with Spiffy Green.

Spiffy Green's environmental impact would also help them beyond their customers seeking service at work. First, they found that customers who valued the environment and their impact on it would prefer their service over some of their competitors. They were also able to sign deals with different rental and trucking companies with large amounts of automobiles that needed service, so they could save a significant amount of water when washing them.

Social and environmental benefit

Spiffy helps to provide well-paying jobs to the community, paying all employees at least double minimum wage as well as providing them with a job path that they can get promoted through. Spiffy also reduces the environmental impact of the car washing industry by reducing the amount of water that is used as well as recycling other car parts like tires and oil.

The use of Spiffy Green in their business reduces a lot of environmental impacts that most services similar to Spiffy have. With their water reclamation feature, they are able to reduce run-off of the water into storm drains, even though the chemicals they use are eco-friendly. Many storm drains go straight to either lakes or the ocean so using water reclamation would help remove any foreign substances or waste from contaminating those areas.

Regarding societal impact, Spiffy's convenience factor makes it a very enticing option, especially for those who don't have the time to bring their car to the conventional car wash or wash it themselves. Spiffy is able to travel to your house or even your workplace in order to save you time. As mentioned before, they reclaim all the water they use which leaves the workplace how it was when they arrived. This gives them an advantage over their competitors as it was mentioned when they talked to property managers that these other companies left a mess, dissuading them to allow other similar services from being allowed to work there.

Interview

Karl Murphy, President, Cofounder