Skip to main content
My IU
/ Alumni News, Pride & Tradition

Startup CEO Washes Cars, Waxes Conservation

Graphic contains an illustration of a sparkling clean red car set against a turquoise background. Above the car are oversized water drops, some containing an illustration of Earth.

As car washes go, the business model has remained largely unchanged: wash, rinse, and repeat.

But Alex Bajzatt, BS’18, the 22-year-old CEO of startup Smart Wash, LLC, is changing that formula by emphasizing sustainability.

“We like to call it a … waterless car wash,” Bajzatt explains. “We use a little water to wash every car, but it’s far less than any other car wash around.”

Smart Wash’s efficient use of water—about 10 ounces per wash—conserves nearly 40 gallons on a single wash, estimates Bajzatt.

Alex Bajzatt sits outside on a campus bench, smiling at the camera while wearing a Kelley School of Business sweatshirt.
“Smart Wash conserves fresh water while delivering a superior clean to your automobile, says Alex Bajzatt,” BS’18. Photo courtesy of IU Kelley School of Business.

Beyond the environmental benefit, Smart Wash is a come-to-you service that will wash a vehicle anywhere, from driveway to curb to parking lot. Customers keep more of their valuable time and get peace of mind knowing that their wash won’t come at the expense of the environment.

Less than a year after joining Smart Wash as an intern in 2017, Bajzatt was offered the opportunity to purchase the company. Shortly thereafter, he became another in a long line of Kelley School of Business-educated CEOs. Bajzatt credits his hard work and Kelley education for the opportunity.

“All of the classes that I’ve taken and the organizations I’ve been in throughout my four years [at IU] have really helped me build my foundation,” says Bajzatt.

With such a passion for conservation—and such strong preparation from IU—it’s only fitting that Bajzatt’s business of saving water would be overflowing with opportunity.

This article was originally published in the fall 2018 issue of Imagine magazine.

Tags from the story

Written By

A. Price

A resident of the Hoosier state since grade school, Alex forged a friendship with “tried and true” IU upon becoming a writer at the IU Foundation.

Related stories

Tim Scales, wearing a suit and blue tie while seated behind his desk, overlaps a chalkboard illustration of a business plan that features the words "marketing," "strategy," "plan," "product," "success," and "idea."
Back to Campus, Business, Research & Innovation

Educating Entrepreneurs Like Nobody’s Business

Start a new business without a business plan? That often spells disaster. The Business Opportunities for Self-Starters program at IU East (BOSS for short) imparts this fundamental lesson to local…

An illustration of planet Earth seen from space, surrounded by the innumerable satellites in its orbit.
Business, Research & Innovation

Our Cosmic Cleanup Problem—And Its IU-Led Solution

Here’s an unnerving thought: Floating miles above your head at this very moment are more than 34,000 pieces of space debris. That’s more than the undergraduate population at IU Bloomington—and…

Pride & Tradition

Father Kappa

In 1916, Elder Watson Diggs, founder of Kappa Alpha Psi, became the first Black graduate of the IU School of Education.

Stephen Hofer standing in front of the Indiana Memorial Union
Pride & Tradition

Alum Stephen Hofer: More than an ‘Aviation Attorney to the Stars’

Game show contestant. Genealogical curator of Dunn Cemetery. Aviation attorney. Stephen Hofer, BA'76, walks readers through his life.