| | OFF THE WALL: MULTI-SEAL INC.
To some, it�s art. To others, it�s a way to mark territorial boundaries. It can be graphic, spectacularly colorful, crude, cryptic, or just plain indecipherable.
It�s called grafitti, derived from the Latin meaning �to scribble upon.� It dates back eons with sometimes thoughtful and sometimes smirking toga-clad or gang-accoutered practitioners venting their angst on the walls of Roman catacombs, the Pyramids of Giza, and, today, just about everything from cars to fences to walls and railroad rolling stock.
The world may be the a �taggers� canvas, but, as with so many activities, someone else usually has to clean up the mess after all is�shall we say, expressed, because to most it�s an expensive and annoying nuisance.
Extremely expensive as governments and companies around the world pay hundreds of millions of dollars to clean up grafitti of every manner and form.
One company that helps them do that is Multi-Seal Inc., a manufacturer of water-based solvents used to remove grafitti from stone, brick, concrete, tile, metal, wood and plastic surfaces. The company also produces and markets sealants to make porous surfaces like granite and marble easier to clean, as well as grafitti-resistant protective barriers.
The company has been around for more than 45 years, but only found its niche in the anti-grafitti wars about eight years ago when it received a request to bid on a project to remove grafitti from the walls of the Los Angeles City Hall.
The company had made its mark manufacturing specialty cleaners, but �the only chemical solvents available to do the job weren�t up to the task,� says Tim Winesburg, president of the Alhambra-based company. �That motivated us to develop a water-based solvent that would effectively clean off the grafitti with a low-pressure garden hose, rather than leech it out of the granite.�
Winesburg took over the company 15 years ago after chucking the corporate life as manager of First Interstate Bank�s credit card portfolio. He was responsible for taking Multi-Seal global with its Southern California-based combination headquarters and manufacturing facility supplying its solvents to suppliers and distributors in Canada, as well as eight other countries in the European Union, Latin America, and the Far East.
Last year, he says, the international share of the privately-held company�s annual revenue amounted to about 30% of its total annual sales.
According to Winesburg, who holds an undergraduate degree in physics from California State University, Northridge, and an MBA from Carnegie-Mellon in Pittsburgh, Multi-Seal�s business is as much based on the global political picture as much as the anti-establishment whims of street gangs and underground Picasso-wannabes.
�You can almost look at a calendar of international political events like elections and actually see spikes in our business,� he says. �Overseas, we see more politically motivated grafitti around the time of elections, some paint work but mainly political posters stuck up with wheat paste glue that�s very difficult to remove. In the US there�s more non-political spray paint activity.�
The company�s international strategy is to sell its solvents and protective anti-grafitti barrier products to companies that not only do the grafitti removal, but act as distributors, as well. �We pick our distributors very carefully, because they can either make you or break you,� he says. �They not only use our products, but they sell them as well to government agencies, schools, and other end-users.�
�It took us a long time to break into the international market,� says Winesburg. �There weren�t many places to go to for help. We visited trade shows and advertised in �Commercial USA� magazine, and slowly learned the subtle and not-so-subtle lessons about doing business overseas.�
What were some of those lessons?
�First, make sure you have something that works,� he says. Develop a niche product and perfect it so that it does exactly what you say it will. Make it user-friendly. Next, be receptive to the different ways of doing business in different target markets; and, cultivate long-term relationships with your customers by being there for them with technical support and help when they need it.�
It�s quite a leap from banking to grafitti removal, but it�s one that Winesburg was more than willing to take.
�I really love what I do,� he says. �We�re looking to significantly grow the international share of our business over the next several years as it�s become a key component of our overall business strategy. It�s hard to get into at first, but over time, it�s well worth the effort.�
Tim Winesburg, President
Multi-Seal Inc.
POB 3457
Alhambra, CA 91803
T: 626-282-5659
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.multi-sealcorp.com
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