Everyone complains about the predicted shortage of water in the coming years, but no one really gives solutions or takes steps to curb water wastage.
Nadendla Abbas is a Mechanical Engineering student at LPU who made saving water very easy with his venture – EcoTip that offers waterless carwash. I got the chance to interview him and know about how he pursued this brilliant idea.
How did you get this idea of starting a waterless carwash?
Every day while going to the class I used to notice a lot of cars in the parking lot which needed cleaning. Something that always used to make me wonder as to why would the neatly dressed faculty not give their cars the attention they require. Later the answer to that question made me have a profound respect for them, as it’s because they give their best to enrich verto’s university experience that they are spared with little to no time to give to their cars.
It was during the winter semester of my second year that I came up with the idea of waterless car cleaning through a discussion with my dear friend Suyash. The idea revolved around the notion to provide a car cleaning service at the exact place the car is parked without making the surrounding area muddy. I took the idea forward by first conducting a survey which gave me an in-depth insight into the regular car cleaning aspects. Some of the questions I asked were, “How much time does one spent on getting their car cleaned? How much water was allowed to be used for a single wash? How much money did they (faculty) pay for one wash? And how frequently did they get their car cleaned in a month?”.
Did you get any help from the faculty at LPU?
Armed with the knowledge of my survey I proposed my plan to the Head of Division of Student Welfare, Dr. Sourabh Lakanpal, who guided me to Harsh sir from Student Entrepreneurship Cell. There, I submitted all the details required for my venture to start. Later on, I was also interviewed by Sarbinder sir from Vendor department and he asked me to find a solution to reduce the heat accumulated in the car parked under the sun by 20%. After exploring the market for options for a week I found an exhaust system which could reduce the heat by 25%. This not only led to my venture approval but was also received appreciation for the same.
How did you make this venture grow?
I started the venture with the name ‘Go Clean & Safe’ on 18th May 2017 after my second-year end term examinations with 8 cars. I provided them with waterless cleaning and also provided covering for the car every day. I also installed an exhaust system, checked the tire air pressure, cleaned the interiors with vacuum and charged them Rs.1000/- per month. Later on, I introduced another plan of Rs.500/- per month which included outer waterless wash every day and interior vacuum cleaning twice a month. I used to go each and every cabin, explaining the faculty the services I provided and requested them to go for a free demo which I had started to provide to make people know what kind of results I gave through my waterless car cleaning service. After just 2 months, my customers increased from 8 to 50 which made me hire more workers to meet the demand. With time, the number soon increased to 100 and today I am dealing with 150 customers from various departments.
Are there any achievements that you want to share with the readers?
From 18th May 2017 to 18th May 2018, we celebrated the year as ‘Go Clean & Safe’ from which I later got the idea to give my venture the name, “ECOTIP”. My team and I successfully saved 53,69,616 liters of water, 32030 units of Electricity and 63450 hours of customer’s valuable time. I never had any difficulties in managing my academics with the venture as the work I did filled me with motivation and passion to give employment to more people and save more by gaining more customers. In fact, my academics improved a lot after I started this venture as it built confidence and trust in me. Later on, I started working on website and mobile application under the same name which is going to be launched in the coming month of September. Also this year, I have planned to expand my venture in at least 2 states.
Website : www.ecotip.in
Email-id: [email protected]
