Meet the UNC duo who created a waterless car wash
They were runners-up in the 2015 Carolina Challenge
Most of us are pretty proud of getting into UNC. And quite a few of us are proud of the things we’ve accomplished since we’ve been here. But very few students can say they founded their own LLC during their junior year.
Austin Helms and Randy Short co-founded Waterless Buddy’s in August 2014. Buddy’s is a car-washing company that uses a waterless method to clean clients’ cars.
Austin, a 21-year-old Business major told The Tab UNC the product used to clean the cars is a combined wash and wax product. No chemicals end up on the ground, and it is 100 percent eco-friendly.
Randy, left, and Austin, right, appeared on WNCN in January 2016.
He said: “It’s on-demand Uber for car-washing, where students can become a ‘buddy,’ they can wash cars and they are paid 50 percent of each car wash.”
At age 12, Austin started his own car wash company in his hometown of Valdese, NC, and ran it through high school. He decided not to continue it through college because he wanted to find a more sustainable way of living.
But while studying abroad in the UK at the end of his sophomore year, he saw a car washing service that cleaned cars while their drivers were shopping. He realized there was nothing like this in the US, so he decided to start his own business.
After pitching the idea to his current business partner, Randy, the two created what is now Waterless Buddy’s in August 2014.
Buddy’s won second Place in Carolina Challenge, a competition for innovators at UNC.
“This stuff is the best – waterless car washing is the next thing.”
Austin didn’t know Randy that well during their sophomore year, but now the senior unhesitatingly calls him a lifelong friend.
“We really had no idea. It literally started out of Morrison dorm. Our goal was to start a business and we started a lifelong friendship. We embraced the fun of it.”
Austin even recalled a time he and his friends danced to Fetty Wap’s “Trap Queen,” jumping from table to table in the Business School. His education at UNC has taught him valuable skills, like how to pitch a business and write a write a business plan.
“My ultimate goal is to take a company from the East to the West Coast. My entrepreneurial-type goal is to create something where, when you think of an industry, you think of that product or that service I helped create.”
The four original “Buddies” at a business competition. Austin is pictured second from right and Randy, far left.
“Try anything and everything. This is the best time of your life to do so. Most people at this age don’t have anything to hold them back. The sky is the limit. If you’re going to do something, go all in. One of the reasons we had some success is because of the passion that we poured into it.”
To learn more about Waterless Buddy’s, visit their site or Facebook page.