Bergen Team Dreams Globally with Potentially Life-Saving Business

[Editor's Note: Innovative ideas from our neighboring towns]

So often it seems that where new mobile technology intersects with driving, only distractions can occur. 

But one local company's mission is to change that paradigm, creating an iPhone and Android app that could save lives by putting a designated driver in every smartphone user's pocket.

StearClear, the brainchild of an innovative team led by CEO and Wyckoff resident Craig Sher, links 2-man driving teams with individuals who need to get themselves and their cars home safely after a night of drinking. The service is coming to Washington Township starting this weekend.

Sher first began brainstorming the idea last summer when a friend visiting from his home country of South Africa mentioned a designated driver service that had become pretty ubiquitous there.

"They have incredibly stringent drunk driving laws and no public transportation system at all," Sher, 38, said before asking himself the inevitable question: Why not here?

The statistics for nationwide drunk driving deaths here are staggering: In 2008, 11,773 people were killed, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

"There are a couple of designated driver services around, but none of them have been able to achieve any type of scale," Sher said.

He admitted that developing a plan for profitability for such a business could be difficult, but was adamant that his experience consulting in the technology and banking fields might just give him the edge to succeed.

Sher said that good service, reliability and a focus on community-based franchises would be key to seeing StearClear move from a local hit to a national or even global phenomenon.

To make that a reality Sher would have to find franchisees that shared his vision.

"The people that we're looking to effectively run these businesses on a local level are local businessmen who have a bit of a community service background," Sher said. "They're not just about making money, but also helping the community."  

StearClear's first franchise operator was George Schluger, a Wyckoff resident who was tasked with hiring and managing drivers for the company's initial region: Wyckoff, Ridgewood, Midland Park and Franklin Lakes.

"Craig and I are old friends," Schluger said. "We cross paths very often."

Schluger said in such an early stage of StearClear's development marketing to clients is mostly word of mouth. 

Finding drivers is another story.

Sher and Schluger stressed that StearClear checks their drivers' backgrounds extensively, both on a state and national level. 

"We started looking for drivers on Craigslist and found too many applicants that weren't quite qualified," Schluger said. He then posted ads in local newspapers and found much better applicants.

"One of our drivers is the vice principal of a high school in Jersey City, another of our drivers is a manager of a regional distribution center for Starbucks," Schluger said. "I guess it's a sign of the times that everyone is trying to make a little extra money."

With 3 full teams of 6 drivers already in place and another 8 drivers likely to be on the road by April, StearClear — which is still looking for more drivers and franchisees — is moving along at highway speeds.

"We came up with the idea in September, we started designing the software in October, started coding in November and we started beta testing on the first of March," Sher said.

Sher expects to spend a couple of weeks "ironing the kinks out of the software" with his developer Ken Schwartz, and fine tuning the business model.

"After a month of beta testing we're looking to launch it formally in the area and legally start selling franchises in April or May," Sher said, adding that the business would expand across New Jersey — from Bergen to Sussex to Passaic — and eventually nationwide.

Sher also hired Chris Capra with Emerging Media to help market StearClear, aggressively campaigning on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

Potential StearClear users can download the app on the Android Market or the iPhone App Store and then access two different levels of service. There's a free basic membership that costs $20 per pick-up plus $2.50 per mile. The premium membership costs $5 per month, charges $15 per pick-up and $2.25 per mile, but also allows users to arrange pick-ups in advance and order drivers by the hour.

The upcoming bar holiday seems like an apt time to market a service like StearClear.

"StearClear is going to be operating this weekend for St. Patrick's Day in Washington Township, Ridgewood, Ho-Ho-Kus, Wyckoff, Midland Park and Franklin Lakes," Capra said Tuesday. "We will have signage up in several bars and restaurants but certainly if people want to download and try out the service they can go to www.stearclear.com to register and do so."

While Sher, Schluger and the rest of the StearClear team plan for profitability and expansion, they're building the business step-by-step with an important goal in mind.

"If we can keep people who are inebriated off the roads we can save lives," Schluger said.