How One Namibian Business is Being Part of the Water Solution
Offering a service that can give car owners a cleaner car along with a clearer conscience is what Eco Car Wash Namibia is doing. A service that was born out the current drought facing Windhoek, “A friend of mine introduced me to the concept and it was around the same time as people were starting to talk about the drought,” says the owner of Eco Car Wash Namibia Quintin Els. 99FM’s MYD Smart sat down with Quintin to talk business that looks to provide solutions to local needs in a time of water restrictions.
“I thought it was a good idea and so I started up the concept as a business at the beginning of this year. This is how Eco Wash Namibia was born. It was a business born out looking for a solution for services in a time of drought.” notes Quintin who adds that he was unsure when the business started if it would work, “There was a point where I thought it wasn’t going to work. Everyone knew about our water issues but people didn’t seem to want the waterless car wash. It has only been in the last two months that the business has really started to grow.”
“At first, I thought people just don’t care because even after water restrictions were announced people were still supporting car washes that use water.”
When the business began, it was a process of testing to find out how to position this new service being brought to market, “We were more expensive initially as we were beginning and testing out the market but now we are pretty similar to other car washes. The price is right now, we can offer a better price because the volume of business has started to increase.”
“I think people are now aware that there is a water issue and they are responding to it. We are running off our feet all of a sudden. Now larger corporations are even using our products for their fleets.”
When asked how this product is an eco-car wash, Quintin explains that “The main ingredient we use is a wax that comes from a palm tree. It is an extract of wax from a palm tree that gets diluted with a little water. So it’s completely natural. This gets sprayed onto the car and being waxy, it does not scratch the car. Dirt gets trapped in a bubble in this waxy substance so when you wipe it off, all the dirt is removed. Here we use a wet cloth to wipe the wax off. After this a dry cloth is used to buff the car and this gives it a nice shine that also leaves a UV protection layer on the car.”
“We also have different products for wheels and rims, which are also plant based and so environmentally friendly. In fact the minimal water that we do use to clean our wet cloths, can be used to water gardens as it has no chemicals in it.”
“Being mobile, we can go anywhere. It is literally a guy with a rucksack and so we can bring our car washing services to you wherever you are. We are in the process of setting up a static car wash where people can also come to us but we are available to come to you. We can come to your office; house or event. We do large fleets and individual cars and because we have a team of guys we can do many cars at once.”
When asked about his drive to grow this business, Quintin explains that “This business has the opportunity to grow and it is also an opportunity to give unemployed people work. This type of business needs a large workforce, especially as we grow it. This means even more people we can support and provide meals for. I personally feel we need to give back and my wife and I have often spoken about doing feeding programs for people who have no food. With this business, I feed my employees well, all my staff get two meals a day, breakfast and lunch every day.”
Proud of his product offering, Quintin notes that, “As far as a wash goes, I’d use Eco Wash every time because it just comes out better, cleaner and shinier.”
A product that is driven by the need to provide solutions for Namibians who want a clean car and a clear conscience, Eco Car Wash Nam uses less than one litre of water per car washed and their mobility is fast making them a force to be reckoned with. As Quintin explains, “If people want to book they can call, sms or send a message to us on Facebook. And from the message we’ll take the instruction you need as to where you want your car washed. We can also book out Saturdays and Sundays for events where we set up gazeebos with car washing teams.”
Local musician took his “Shaggon Wagon” to Eco Wash to clean up the beautiful sand artwork on its windows from the #Don’tWashMeNam campaign; take a look as EES takes us through the process: EES Using Eco Wash Namibia
Get in touch with Eco Wash Namibia by clicking on their Facebook page here : Eco Wash Namibia, or by calling +264 (0) 81 314 5679.