Flush with success

"Initially I thought it would be possible to work on this project with the government, but I soon hit a wall," he says. "That's when I turned to the private sector and began brainstorming new ways to make this idea work."

Mutual friends introduced him to Rousseaux and together they co-founded Good Media Shanghai. Their first, and to date only, project has run 30 advertising campaigns. Most run for a month.

They plan to offer different packages as they expand, stratifying into bars, restaurants or KTVs depending on the client's desired demographic. Because their network is still small, most clients use the whole thing.

They install the urinals for free and help with maintenance costs if needed.

"We've only had one piping problem so far. The good thing about waterless urinals is they don't tend to leak," quips Borschberg.

He follows three golden rules to foster long-term relationships with his "partners": Respect Chinese advertizing laws, don't advertize the partner's direct competitors, and extend the same courtesy to its contracted suppliers.

After the company has conquered China's financial capital it plans to target Beijing next year and other tier-one cities.

"It's like a happy wheel," says Borschberg. "More urinals means more advertizing space to sell, which means we can afford to buy more urinals, which saves more water."

Contact the writer at matthewhodges@chinadaily.com.cn.