By Cooper Pierce
Ding dong!
With mail in hand, he waits for Barb, one of his elderly clients, to answer the door. Despite it being Christmas Eve, he knows he still has a responsibility to uphold.
Finally making her way to the door, Barb reaches out, takes her mail, and in return, hands the man his payment and a big batch of cookies.
These interactions are what senior Gavin Case looks forward to the most while he’s out working.
“I love it because I can really tell how much she appreciates what I do for her,” Gavin said.
For about two years, Gavin, like a handful of other students at Delta, has been growing his own business, gathering clients from around Muncie and Delaware County.
Gavin mows lawns all year, taking a break only in the fall. When it begins to snow, he’s out again, making sure his clients’ driveways are clear.
Broke and in need of money, Gavin knew he would need to find a job. He decided that starting his own business was the best option for him.
“In landscaping, I can make about $150 in two hours. But in a regular 9-5, you could maybe make only $15 an hour,” Gavin said.
By running the business and doing the jobs himself, Gavin is able to work for himself. He likes this because it allows him to set his own prices, work by his own schedule, and take off whatever days he wants.
After hearing that Gavin needed some equipment to get started, an old friend of his mom, who no longer mows for herself, offered her John Deere mower to him. As for the rest of the equipment, Gavin claims that all he needs “is a lawn mower, baby.”
Gavin’s mom has been a big part in helping Gavin grow his business. Whenever he is looking for new customers, Gavin asks his mom to reach out to some of her retired co-workers from Albany Elementary School.
Gavin says he advertises through word of mouth and other methods, such as handing out flyers with his contact information.
Gavin says the best thing he has learned from running a business is how to socialize with his clients and strangers.
“You learn to deal with different people in different situations,” Gavin said. “You’re more out there and you’re not scared to go up and approach someone.”
Like Gavin, sophomore Colten Cruea is another student who has big plans for running his own business.
Colten’s business will be based around mobile car detailing. With his supplies from Amazon and Autozone, he will go around to his clientele’s homes to work on the interior and exterior of their cars.
Colten hasn’t been able to start his yet as it’s harder to work with his liquid chemicals without them freezing. But, he plans to gather 5-7 clients to service full-time as soon as the temperature stays above freezing.
Similar to Gavin, Colten’s motivation is just to make money or, as he says, “pull that dollar.” The more money he makes, the more he can put toward upgrading the engine in his 2006 Ford F-350 truck.
While he’s not sure yet how long he wants to keep his business running, Colten knows that as long as he’s getting customers, he’ll still be detailing cars.
To ensure that he keeps getting more clients, Colten is doing all he can to advertise. Right now, he just has his own business cards, but he plans to start a Google business page and run ads on Facebook.
Colten says that one of the hardest parts about running a business is deciding to spend money before you even have any customers.
“You have to spend money to make money,” he said. “It’s a risky investment.”
So far, Colten has invested almost $1,000 into supplies, which was hard for him to do as he knows he’s not guaranteed to make that money back.
Despite the risk, Colten still thinks owning a business is a positive thing to do at a young age. It teaches you the different financial aspects of a business and helps you build a work ethic.
“If you own your own business, then you’ll work way harder than if you worked for someone else,” Colten said.
Every business owner has his own reason to make money. Senior Marcus Bright started his business as a way to raise money for his mission trip to Liberia.
Marcus needed to raise about $4,000. But he knew there was no way he would apply for a job with an hourly wage, so he decided to begin a lawn care business.
Starting in March 2024, Marcus has earned his money by doing various services such as mowing lawns in the summer, removing leaves in the fall, and shoveling driveways in the winter.
Starting a business has worked out well for Marcus as he enjoys learning how to build it. This also helps Marcus because he plans to study marketing at Ball State to become a real estate agent.
Besides using his profits to fund his first mission trip in July of 2024, Marcus has decided to save the money for his future or reinvest it into his equipment. With another mission trip to Liberia in mind, Marcus also has to put some money aside for that.
Until he becomes a real estate agent, Marcus will need a stable source of income to pay for his college tuition and rent.
Despite already having seven weekly customers, Marcus is always looking to grow his business. He markets his business in multiple ways, from running Instagram and Facebook pages to distributing door flyers and yard signs.
However, word of mouth works best for Marcus.
“It works really well, especially in the lawn care business,” Marcus said. “If you do good work for someone they’ll tell their friends.”
When Marcus goes on his jobs, he’s usually alone. This forces him to talk to his clients one-on-one.
Now, Marcus says he feels more extroverted and comfortable talking to strangers. Learning these skills early will help him market to different people as a real estate agent.
