Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 26, 1992 TAG: 9201280349
SECTION: ECONOMY PAGE: 13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHARLYNE H. McWILLIAMS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
HYGIENE SERVICE CLEANING UP DESPITE ECONOMY
U.S. Health and Hygiene Service Inc. provides a service that even the recession can't wipe out.Sanitation.
Owner Bill White said five years ago he was looking for a business that was resistant to shifts in the economy. He was the marketing district manager for Minolta Camera Co. Ltd. for seven years but research convinced him the trend for the 1990s was in service firms. So, he decided to take a chance. It worked.
Now, after four years, White said his venture is making money.
The company cleans restrooms for small businesses. White claims his crew can do the job for 5 percent to 75 percent cheaper than a business would spend on labor and cleaning supplies to do the same itself. The size of the savings depends on how much and what kind of products are used.
Although the company has lost a few accounts because of the economy's downturn, it's been able to pick up others. Billy Bova, sales manager for the Roanoke operation of the Virginia Beach-based company, said growth has come largely from word of mouth and telemarketing.
The company, with other offices in Virginia Beach and Newport News, has 25 employees. There are six full-time technicians that handle the nearly 600 customers in the Roanoke area, which includes Bedford and Franklin counties and Lynchburg. David Tharrington owns the Virginia Beach office and co-owns the Newport News office with White.
Bova stressed the company is not a janitorial service.
"We do things janitorial services can't do in restrooms," he said. "We make them look better, smell better and safer to use."
Instead of simply cleaning, the company's workers claim to sanitize bathroom commodes and basins. They use a germicide that Bova said prevents bacteria growth for seven to nine days. Cleansing the average public restroom, with four plumbing fixtures, takes about 20 to 25 minutes, according to Anthony Woods, U.S. Health and Hygiene's Roanoke service manager. An initial treatment, however, could take as long as two hours.
Cost of the service is $7 to $100 a week, depending on the number of fixtures to be cleaned, Bova said.
Bova said some customers have cut back on employees' hours in order to maintain the service. He said the customers they have lost completely were outfits at the end of their rope financially.
On the other hand, the company has not had much turnover itself. Woods said most of the technicians have worked there a year or more.
The technicians work on commission, which has helped the company keep a steady customer base, Woods explained. And because they keep their own schedules, they're basically their own bosses.
Most work 40-hour weeks, Monday through Thursday, allowing an extra day for rescheduling during holidays. Most of the work is done between 5 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Wood said their customers include child-care centers, auto repair shops, private offices and fast-food and regular restaurants.