The 2010 Automotive Services Entrepreneurial Award goes to ... a man, who, when he turned 16, received a used car from his father for his birthday. A man who spent endless hours each and every day keeping it looking good.

A man who, when in college, had to make a decision between staying in school, or sticking with the job that had become something just short of an obsession—washing cars.

That man is Mark Sprinkel, president of Showroom Shine, Inc. in East Lansing.

The journey that brought Sprinkel to the stage at the Radisson Hotel before a packed room to receive his award is a remarkably refreshing story, told by a man as humble as his acceptance speech would suggest. In his remarks, he says, “I didn’t think I could get up here from scrubbing cars my whole life,” then went on to thank a long list of people, topped by his father. “He helped me out from day one and there’s been some rough roads along the way,” Sprinkel told the audience, his voice choking with emotion as he added, “I owe everything to my dad. I love you and can’t thank you enough.”

Now, let’s rewind the clock to 1984; sit back and enjoy Sprinkel’s story.

“[My dad] bought me my first car when I was 16. And really, that car is what got me into this business. I was out every day keeping that thing waxed and shined. It was a 1979 Cutlass and this was in 1984. [I] kept it clean and shiny,” he says. “And I have to say that the location, location, location [adage learned] in business school was what accounted for much of [my] early success.” Sprinkel’s parents’ house was in old Whitehills [subdivision] at the corner of Fox Trot and Pebblebrook and, “Everyone would see me out there in the driveway washing my car all the time, and everyone had to funnel in and funnel out by our house, so curiosity [built throughout] the neighborhood and they said, ‘take care of mine.’”

He smiled, remembering the major milestone that occurred relatively early in his life. “Everyone comes to a crossroads, and mine was when I had a paper route, I mowed lawns, I played sports in high school and [then] got the car.” As he started washing it and eventually others, “The sports started to taper off .... Then mowing lawns tapered off. I had to stop all of that to concentrate because [my] business kept growing more than I thought.”

So much so that in 1987, realizing the potential in cleaning cars for a living, he registered the name “Showroom Shine” and rented two vacant bays in a car wash—all this while still in high school.

Then came college.

“I went to school to be a stockbroker or an architect,” he reminisces. And although he enjoyed both fields of study, relatively soon he realized that he had to come to a decision: “Do I want to keep making money, or go to school and spend money to try and make money after that? The decision I made was to keep going [in the car wash business]. I was making good money at a young age and I just kept growing thanks to my dad and everyone in that neighborhood.”

His first major expansion came when he earned the business of a couple of car dealerships.  “And it kept moving from there,” he continued. “I just had no idea that it could keep growing. At that point I knew—no looking back, no more trying to be a stockbroker, no more school or being an architect. Where I’m making my money was where I put my heart and soul and passion.”

Although turnover has been as high as 500 percent a year, Sprinkel said that currently, it’s the lowest it’s ever been, something he credits (ironically) to the tough economy.

His advice to would-be entrepreneurs? “Find what you’re passionate about—that’s the easiest way to drive toward something entrepreneurial. Find your niche, your strong points and go with it. There are going to be a lot of down times, when you look yourself in the mirror and go, ‘This is terrible; I don’t want to keep doing this.’” But how and if you answer the bell is “what makes and breaks a lot of entrepreneurs.”