Three entrepreneurs are hoping to mop up the competition with a new company called Finish Line Floors, whose product replaces wax as a way to preserve and care for hard floors.

Dozens of businesses in Central Iowa alone, from hospitals to grocery stores to office buildings, currently use wax to care for their floors. The process is labor-intensive, requiring hours of buffing and near constant reapplication of the wax to keep floors shiny and clean looking. Finish Line Floors’ process uses chemicals in an application process that’s more akin to painting layers of protection on a floor.

The company’s three founders are betting their products and process, which cost less than wax when labor and maintenance costs are factored in, will persuade companies to switch from traditional floor-care methods, which cost about $3 per square foot in materials and maintenance per year, according to Chris Beall, the company’s chief executive. By contrast, Finish Line Floor’s owners have priced their process at $2.25 per square foot.

“What really sells is the shine,” Beall said. “When they see it next to wax, it becomes irresistible. A lot of people would say that keeping floors clean is their biggest headache. This makes life easier for them.”

The company is run by Beall, a Denver-based former executive at a software company; Vice President for Market Development Ruma Bose, who was a Boston-based consultant who worked in Calcutta for Mother Teresa; and Vice President of Operations Tammy Rogers, who ran a Des Moines consulting firm called Strategies to Achieve.

Chemists at St. Cloud, Minn.-based Negaard Enterprises, which is owned by Roger and Gail Negaard, who also own one of the nation’s largest ServiceMaster franchises, developed the technology. Beall, Rogers and Bose bought the technology from them, and decided to form a company around the product in Des Moines. The product was first used at the Mall of America’s Camp Snoopy, Beall said.

Finish Line Floors’ products have been used at the Hotel Fort Des Moines, where managers were fearful that the hotel’s century-old wooden ballroom floor would need to be completely replaced. The surface had been sanded down so many times that it was too thin to be sanded again. An application of Finish Line Floor’s product about two months ago restored the floor’s luster and added as many as three years to its life, Beall said.

That experience led Hotel Fort Des Moines managers to experiment with the product in other areas of the hotel.   They removed an aging piece of carpet, thereby revealing the original terra-cotta floor that had been covered by a previous owner who didn’t like the pattern. Today, large sections of that terra-cotta floor have been exposed and are shining after Finish Line’s treatment. The hotel’s managers are looking for other areas to pull up carpeting.

Central Iowa customers include Principal Financial Group Inc., Allied Insurance, AmerUs Group Co., Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., Mercy Medical Center, the Iowa Clinic and the Temple for Performing Arts. FBL Financial Group Inc. hired Finish Line Floors to maintain the floor of its hangar at the Des Moines International Airport, Beall said.

In addition to the Des Moines operations, Finish Line Floors’ owners are creating franchises in several medium-sized Midwestern cities. It has nearly 30 workers now and franchise locations in Cedar Rapids, the Quad Cities and Omaha, as well as Des Moines.

In the next few months, the company plans to have franchises operational in Peoria, Springfield and Rockford, Ill. They prefer smaller cities because it’s easier to find chief executives who are well connected in a community and can use those relationships to build sales quickly, Beall said.

Finish Line Floors provides initial financing for its franchisees, giving them $50,000 cash and another $50,000 in the form of a line of credit. In addition, top managers, including Beall, will help scout out a location and help with renovation.

“We’re bringing in a complete business,” Beall said. “It’s beyond turn-key. The key is turned. We’re turning it.”

The company has about $1,600,000 in financing from local investors, enough money to fund 14 new offices. It’s seeking another $900,000.