Perhaps
the first time I was truly exposed to entrepreneurship was when I started a car
detailing business with my best friend in my senior year of high school. This
had been inspired by both my love for cars as well as my passion for cleaning
them and being a perfectionist in doing so. I had been cleaning my car (as well
as my family and friend’s cars) for almost an entire year prior on a weekly
basis. After washing over 100 cars, I started to realize that I had a talent
for it and that I truly enjoyed it. In addition, I lived in an upscale
neighborhood that lacked a good nearby detail shop. People had to take their
cars 30-45+ minutes one way just to get them washed, which was very
inconvenient and put their cars at risk of getting dirty in transit. This was
especially a risk for people with cars that were rare, historic, or very
expensive.
As a
result, I realized how much money I was missing out on by not marketing my
services to the wider audience in the entire neighborhood. I had been doing
good family-style business, but I had room to scale. Thus, my friend and I made
some business cards, gathered our supplies, and set up a low cost but high
impact marketing plan by using our networks. I had connections with the owner
and staff of the neighborhood country club, and so I worked with them in order
to promote my service to the members of the club (the majority of whom were
residents in the large, upscale neighborhood). Within days, we had a plethora
of customers, and we really had to ramp up our schedules to wash more and more
cars.
Looking
back, it’s something I was very proud of. At the age of 17, I was able to
identify an unmet need (one which those having it were conscious of), evaluate
my barriers to entry and my target market, and create a low cost, short
time-to-revenue business plan to start making revenues (and profit!). It will
forever be one of my favorite memories, and it’s something that taught me a lot
about just how valuable it is to always be aware of problems those around me
are having and how I can potentially solve them while making money.
I chose
to enroll in ENT 3003 because I wanted to delve deeper into the world of
entrepreneurship on a more theoretical and factual level. It has always been an
interest of mine, but it’s all been through what I’ve learned from myself and
those around me. I’m a computer science major, but I’ve always had a love for
business and being one’s own boss, making an impact on society, etc. Having a
great deal of technical and problem-solving knowledge is a great advantage but
knowing how to properly leverage it is next level. That is what I seek to gain
from this class and my studies of entrepreneurship.
This story is awesome and sounds like the classic entrepreneurship story too. That is awesome that you met a need and was successful at that young of an age. It sounds like you have a lot of potential and I am sure I will see you on Shark Tank or something one day!
ReplyDeleteHey John!
ReplyDeleteI thought your post was really cool, it was really interesting to hear about your entrepreneurship experience in high school, most people can't say they've grown a business from scratch at 17 years old. I also had some business ventures I did when I was younger, but none as involved as yours. I'd love to hear more about your business in a future post, especially if you thought the business was profitable and worth further investment maybe. Perhaps a mobile component to the business would help drum up sales from people wanting to get their car cleaned without have to leave their house? Awesome post man!