BUTLER TWP— He runs his business with efficiency, quality checks and mandatory employee training — hoping to escape the dismal fate most small businesses face the first year.

So far, he's a success. He's exceeded the profit predictions of the experts, satisfied his customers and has people clamoring for a position in his company.

Michael Herschl of Butler is a 10-year-old alive with the spirit of charity and entrepreneurship. His business, Wishy-Washy, a chalkboard cleaning service, is also alive.

Michael started his business at McQuistion Elementary last month after his fourth grade teacher talked about entrepreneurship. He decided to donate the money to St. Jude's Hospital and one month later was able to send a check for $111.17 to the organization.

He joined with classmates Rennae Wigton as vice president and Elizabeth Bell as secretary to get the business off the ground.

Following procedures he was taught, he did a survey of teachers to assess the demand for his service. Fifteen of the 17 surveyed said they were interested, so Michael and Rennae started the process of getting permission.

They wrote a formal letter to principal Kirk Fox outlining the business plan. Andrea Cygan got signatures from those who wanted to participate. Fox agreed to allow Wishy-Washy to open with one suggestion: Increase the price per board to 50 cents from a quarter.

"Originally,I wanted to stay late to wash boards," Michael said. But, he found recess was a better time to do it. Later, a second time slot before morning classes began was added.

Michael added employees like Amanda Hillard and Andrea to his list and put everyone in teams. Four teams — each named for the color of sponge they use: pink, green, blue and orange — have three to four members each.

The teams are designed to work together. For instance, Amanda is shorter so she is paired with a very tall girl who can reach the top of the boards, she said.

Before the people went to work, Michael put them through a board washing boot camp of sorts. He and Rennae instructed the washers on how much water to put in the bucket, the temperature of the water and proper washing techniques.

"You should swirl five to six times," Rennae said.

Next, washers should wipe the board horizontally. If there are still streaks, the washers should repeat the process, she said.

When the washers are done for the session on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, the officers walk around the school making quality-control checks. Michael said if he finds streaks on the board, he asks the washer to go back to training and doesn't let the washer return to the team until the washer passes a test.

Conversely, he also recently started a rewards system for the accelerated washers.

Andrea said no teachers have complained about the quality of service, and she wants to keep it that way.

"We can't afford to miss a board because that's letting our customers down," Rennae said.

"I thought a good goal was $10 to $20," Elizabeth said.

Wishy-Washy has raised more than $120 so far, Michael said. He hopes to keep expanding.

Recently, the company was able to add 10 more employees, bringing the total to 20. About 30 students wanted to join, so he put the names in a bucket and randomly selected his new hires.

As the business continues to grow, Michael wants to add the remaining blackboards in the school to the rotation and also increase business for Eraser Buddies, an eraser cleaning service owned by Wishy-Washy.

He's designated some staff to advertising to help his business goals.

In two years, though, Michael and his crew will move onto the Junior High School, where Michael admits there are just too many boards for him to manage.