St Helena entrepreneur turns flood relief cash into EcoWash

With $15,000, a flooded home and a business idea, Dareem Jeffrey, 27, created EcoWash. Jeffrey was one of the victims of the 2018 flooding disaster where everything in his St Helena home was destroyed. He had no bed, stove, washing machine or couch, but with the government assistance grant of $15,000, he decided he wanted to create something that would give him a constant income.

“They took a year before they gave me my cheque, so I was pretty much on the ground for that year with nothing in the apartment. And when I got it, I said I can either use this money to buy a bed or I can use it to start a business that may bring recurring income into my pocket,” said Jeffrey during an interview with Business Day on Tuesday.

He described this tragedy as the birth story of EcoWash.

The money, he said, did not go that far, but he was able to get banners and the machine that will be used to wash the cars. These machines, he explained, use two litres of water and a concoction of chemicals, secret to EcoWash, to ensure there is no need to rinse the cars.

As the covid19 virus spread across the world leading countries to put restrictions in place, he said everything had to be put on hold, especially as his contract with the Airports Authority of TT was not renewed.

“I’m there and I asked myself, ‘What am I going to do now? Eight months without a job. I remembered I was praying a day and I had the machine in my living room and I thought, ‘Wow, I have this sitting here, this is a fishing rod, go fishing.’”

At the time, he had to ask his family to donate microfibre towels and while accepting these donations, one his friends gave him a “business gift” which was a bar stool.

“She said to me, ‘I am proud of you for starting your business, I know you have no stool to sit on, take one of my kitchen stools.’”

Aside from accepting the microfibre towels, he added that he also had to borrow money from friends, family and wherever else he can.

Now, EcoWash is estimated to have a value of upwards of $3 million as said by Jeffrey after sitting with a valuator recently.

“It has been a journey. When I now started, just dealing with people, the environment and uncertainty, I went through a serious bout of depression… my hair was falling out and everything. My friend just told me, ‘One day at a time, stick to your ground and wait until tomorrow comes,’ and I’m glad I did.”

In its initial launch, EcoWash’s revenue was over $70,000, but has since quintupled to around $400,000 with the profit margin being around 55 per cent with the intent of making its way to be 100 per cent. This, however, is more on a phased basis and he said the vision right now is not about profit, but to see how much the business can employ through opening different locations in TT.

With this in mind, he said, “Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart.”

So, his goal is to train as much young people as possible and take them “hand-in-hand” to show them the ins and outs of entrepreneurship. One way he is doing so is by trying to get contracts for his workers and those who are coming on board which, he said, is a bit difficult, but not impossible. Jeffrey said it is only difficult because of his water-conserving concept whereby EcoWash’s machines only use two litres of water and people believe that they will scratch the cars. But he assured that not only will the cars be cleaned and reflective – thanks to the wax –, if anything should happen, EcoWash has an insurance contract that covers everyone.

Jeffrey said he is always overstaffed at his C3, San Fernando, Gasparillo Mall, Gasparillo and Gulf City Mall, San Fernando locations, but it does not deter him from hiring people in need.

“The first year of operation, we had this guy who lived in a house of nine – none of who was working – he was the youngest and when someone called us and asked us to hire him. This is because he would go to a friend’s house to ‘lime,’ but it would really be to get a plate of food. So we hired him and because we were so overstaffed, I was just breaking even and that is where we moved into the franchise opportunity.”

Jeffrey offers his employees $150 a day plus bonus and commission on the packages they sell which range from $60-$120 depending on the vehicle and the package taken – the difference in these is the waxes.

“At the age of 17, I was working and I see what a toxic workplace can look like and it is a matter of remembering that and trying to be different. So I love to pay a base salary, so that everyone can live, but I also want to pay you on your performance… you work hard, you see the reward.”

With his franchise concept, he has left some of his staff in charge while he is completing his internship within the Youth Agricultural Homestead Programme under the Youth Development and National Services Ministry.

With EcoWash only using two litres of water for every vehicle washed, companies have reached out to them to offer contracts whereby they will have this agreement while the company fulfils its sustainable development goals. Jeffrey added that he also gave reports to the companies showing how much water was saved as opposed to if each car went to a car wash where they use hoses.

EcoWash has also gotten the recognition it deserves as Jeffrey and his team have been specially invited to the Water Loss Conference in March by the Public Utilities Minister, Marvin Gonzales, to show the region what they can do. Jeffrey added that the Planning and Development Minister Pennelope Beckles has paid special interest in what they have done as well as the British High Commission.

Other accomplishments the company has made are receiving the highest award from the Environmental Management Authority and placing first among the Americas and the Caribbean in the Creative Young Entrepreneur competition in Colombia back in May.

In November, Jeffery will be visiting Switzerland for another competition of the same nature, but he will be the sole delegate for the Americas and he will compete with Asia and Africa.

Jeffrey hopes in the future not to only open more franchises, but to release his own line of detergents that will encapsulate all aspects of the cleaning agent – car detergents to hand soaps.