About five years ago, a young man named Robbie Robinson called my office wanting to make an appointment to discuss opportunities in the cleaning industry. When he came into my office, I was quite stunned. He looked about 17 years old; he was blonde-haired and blue-eyed with a baby face. As it turned out, Robbie was 27 years old and had been running his own cleaning business since finishing school.

During our initial meeting, I found out that the young entrepreneur’s business was doing a little under $1 million per year in business. Despite working in one of the toughest markets in the business — hard-floor care in major retail settings — Robbie’s business was solid and he was making good money. He had become concerned because he was starting to compete with national floor-care companies. Robbie wondered if he should sell his business or try to compete. I gave him a reality check — he was 27 and he was doing better than nearly everyone his age.

We looked at his business and the only thing I saw that needed alteration was his corporate identity. Robbie gave his company what I like to call an “alphabet soup” name — a name with a bunch of initials. The heart of his business was making floors shine. Robbie decided to re-name his company to reflect this very aspect. Thus, The Shine Company was born. An award-winning graphic artist designed a very bold logo, which eventually won a prestigious ADDY award for outstanding design.

Over the next couple of years, Robbie’s company grew exponentially. He became a strong force in the local floor-care market; Robbie’s company was servicing most major retail stores in our area. In fact, a local business magazine ran a story about top young entrepreneurs in Utah and Robbie was not only younger than most of the business people mentioned, but more profitable by a considerable margin.

As the years passed, we developed a nice professional relationship with Robbie. I respected his insight on hard-floor care and his focus on delivering the best product to his customers. Robbie ambitiously decided to test the benefits of battery-powered, high-speed burnishers over propane in terms of worker safety, indoor environment, ergonomics and cost. His research proved to be quite powerful and was the basis for one of my previous columns in this magazine.

Recently, I returned from two weeks worth of business travel. As I went through my “first day back” routine, I received a call from a local colleague. He had terrible news. Robbie had passed away suddenly the previous weekend. He was only 32 years old. This is not only a tremendous loss for me personally, but a tremendous loss for the cleaning industry. Robbie was a young man dedicated to furthering the practice of our trade. He was the consummate professional, a cunning entrepreneur, and a shining example for young people in this industry. Above all, he was a good friend and his contributions to the industry will be felt for years to come.




POSTED ON: 10/1/2004