A recent Waterloo High School graduate has started filling a new niche in Monroe County: mobile car detailing.

Jack Schnepel’s company DeeDash offers its customers car detailing services brought straight to their homes. As the company advertises on its website, “Instead of wasting valuable time taking your car to a garage and waiting until the service is completed, we come to you.”

Schnepel’s entrepreneurship in the community started in 2020 when he began 3-D printing mask adapters and donating them to hospitals in St. Louis. He has since developed Schnepel Enterprises LLC, which he hopes to serve as a portfolio for his other businesses.

Schnepel said he’s had an entrepreneurial spirit since he was a kid thanks to his mother’s support and his experiences seeing his father run his own business.

“All my life I’ve really had this business mindset,” Schenep said. “I’ve been really influenced by my parents.”

The inspiration for DeeDash came from Andrew Murtaugh, a friend of Schnepel’s who owns his own car detailing business in Cincinnatti. Schnepel said Murtaugh has been a major help in getting his own company running.

The name for the company, which Schnepel said is a play on words of DoorDash, originates from Jordan Sommers, another friend.

Schnepel said he was able to get his business off the ground thanks to the low upfront costs of a mobile business and personal funding that came from investments in cryptocurrency.

When it comes to running the business, Schnepel said he’s still figuring things out, particularly when it comes to management. He’s come to value customer relations greatly for the help they give in expanding and advertising – even sending his clients a personalized handwritten note after every job.

Schnepel said he often gets people complimenting him for his brains and starting a business at his age, but anyone who’s interested in starting their own business shouldn’t be afraid they’re not smart enough to do it.

“I’m specialized in special areas,” Schnepel said. “I love business, I love tech, but everyone has their own forte.”

Asked if he had any advice for fellow entrepreneurs, Schnepel said persistence is key. Though cliche, he said to never give up.

“Just keep going,” Schnepel said. “It seems like sometimes there’s a really hard barrier that you’ve got to get across. And it’s a lot of stressful nights … But really getting started and feeling that sense of pride and starting your own business, it’s amazing.”

Schnepel plans to attend the University of Illinois, majoring in computer engineering with a minor in business. He also hopes to expand his portfolio in the future, starting a tech company among others.