ENTREPRENEUR WATCH

John Regan, CEO of Parcxmart, a Hampton Falls company.. Photo:  Rich Beauchesne

Since 2003, a Hampton Falls company has been leading a quiet revolution to transform the common parking meter. Parcxmart specializes in smart card payment plans and it has targeted the coin-consuming parking meter industry — there are as many as 5 million meters in the country that generate an estimated $7 billion annually — as an avenue for consumers to pay not only for parking, but also for meals, coffee and newspapers. “When I took a look, I thought there’s a ton of money to be made,” said John Regan, Parcxmart’s founder and CEO.

This is a pivotal year for the company, as more cities around the country pay attention to what’s happen-ing in New Haven and Bridgeport, Conn., where the Parcxmart system will be fully implemented. Regan said as many 10 cities — including Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; San Jose, Berkeley and Oakland in California; Portland, Ore., and Newark, N.J. — could be launching the system within the next year.

Parcxmart system is a fee-based transaction service that will be successful, Regan said, because “both the city and businesses profit from the exchange.” In particular, municipalities can gain more of a per-centage of parking meter revenues from the system — an attractive selling point for local officials looking to increase budgets while not raising taxes.

The company has used more than $2 million in early stage, or angel, investor funding to bring it to its current critical point of expansion — and some of those investing are from the Seacoast region. Seacoast Ventures: What’s the best part of being an entrepreneur?

John Regan:  The ability to build whatever creative vision you have. I’m very proud to see it realized and to see how we are going to change the way that people use parking meters.

SV:  What have been your toughest challenges?

JR:  The main obstacle has been the small meter manufacturers. They haven’t been as enthusiastic as the city officials who see the potential. It’s cost us a lot more and taken longer to get (the product) to mar-ket ... we are also in a capital gap between early and later stage investors and if we can’t raise more money, we could be a dinosaur.

SV:  Have your investors been as patient as you?

JR:  You have reasonable and unreasonable investors. Some are never happy and not pleased with the cash flow. Some are very supportive and they are the ones who are pragmatic and understand what it takes.

SV:  What’s the best advice you can give an aspiring entrepreneur?

JR:  The day the business goes into play, you can throw out the business plan.

SV:  How will parking meters change?

JR:  The streetscape will change as (meters) will be much smarter and closer to electronic terminals. We are leading an effort to take cash and coin out of the system.

SV:  Do you have an exit strategy?

JR:  All options are open ... five years from now, I believe we will have a 30 percent share of street pay-ment transactions and I’m being fairly conservative in my estimates.