8 minute read
Students Venture Into Business
Article by Marcos Membreno Photo Courtesy of John Pallard
In the midst of a pandemic, few students were able to pursue their goals, much less make them a reality. However, those who did were able to come back with newfound knowledge and a lucrative business.
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Tyler Nepple & Carter Katz
“We just want to do the work, and if that “Just do it,” Nepple said. “If you’re means we have to compromise our price, that’s talking about doing something and interfine,” Nepple said. “We are going to work as ested in that something or you want to much as we can while we are here and make make money, then just put your foot in as much money as we can, and if that means the door. It doesn’t matter what happens. I we have to sacrifice our pricing just a little bit, drive around all day with a trailer attached so be it … in the position we are in, it makes to my little Chevy Volt and I don’t care.” more logical sense for us to land every job.” Covering a 50 mile radius in the Orlando area, the strategy has proven useful as they
After months of pushing each other to im- have a 95% conversion rate for every potenprove, staying up late nights, learning about tial customer approached. They believe that advertising and financing, finding new jobs, presenting themselves as highschool entrepreworking every lunch break and every study neurs has been “a good look” for them. hall, seniors Tyler Nepple and Carter Katz have “It’s very sporadic,” Katz said. “Some weeks established themselves as young entrepreneurs you’re going to have 20 jobs and you’re going in the Orlando area. Making around $350-400 to be overflowed and others there’ll be two.” per job, they’ve created a steady cash-flowing Having made $3,000 on their best week, power washing business Nepple hopes to target that will end up lasting them for years — Premi- “We are going to work as much that as their average for this summer. To do um Pressure Services as we can while we are here so, they are increasing “To be honest, I didn’t know this could happen 6 to 7 months ago,” Katz and make as much money as we can, and if that means we their forms of advertising. As of now they use said. “A year ago, I wasn’t have to sacrifice our pricing Facebook marketplace even thinking about any of this.” just a little bit, so be it.” ads, yard signs, Nextdoor, door hangers
Although their cur- and other open marrent focus right now is - Tyler Nepple, Senior ketplaces. The biggest the pressure washing step will be SEO, or company, this adventure began by putting up search engine optimization, for Google which, christmas lights last December. Calling their if done correctly, will allow them to rank highbusiness Carter and Tyler’s Christmas Lights, er on Google search results. they put up 250 flyers in the Winter Park area, In the future, Nepple and Katz plan to open and asked customers to pay whatever they be- branches near their future colleges in Miami lieved was just. With this open fare payment, and Tallahassee respectively. There, they plan they managed to make a few thousand dollars. to study business and finance to get a better However, as sales were seasonal, they used the grasp for their long term goal — real estate. profits to transition onto their next venture — “A lot of this motivation that we have comes one that would be sustainable year-round. from starting a healthy lifestyle,” Nepple said.
After doing some research and deciding they “Once you’re out there working out every day, wanted to stay with manual labor, the duo eating healthy, you’ve already jumped the first landed on power washing. Investing in new hurdle — improving yourself. So why not take equipment with their previous profits, they it to every aspect of your life?” used their previous clients to roll into busi- The duo believes that if anyone wants to ness. They kept their original pricing tactics to start their own business the first obstacle just attract more jobs. taking the first step.
Nathaniel Cohen-Neamie
Toward the end of quarantine, junior Nathaniel Cohen-Neamie stumbled across the “The Florida Project,” a movie about poverty in the Orlando area and its effect on children. The film inspired Cohen to pursue his passion for community outreach and betterment. In no time, he set out to create Nate’s Tutoring, a free tutoring service to help those who don’t have the means of hiring a tutor. However, like many first businesses, it fell short. Undeterred, Cohen continued his efforts in helping the community and, finding success after failure, started a tennis foundation that gives free lessons to players in the community.
To share his experiences and grow his business and financial aspirations with the school community, Cohen then started the Investing and Business club.
With 10 members, the club mainly focuses on investing, more specifically with stock market challenges — a way students can learn by simulating trading without risking real money.
“I think it all started from the club and the [movie’s] inspiration,” Cohen said. “This year, after taking time off from tennis, I was given more time to work on these other ventures.”
Cohen was able to develop two unique businesses, the Orlando Tennis Foundation and a social media marketing agency, Stallion Media.
The Orlando Tennis Foundation was launched solely by Cohen. Teaching out of local parks, he quickly established roots within the community. Garnering the attention of friends and other tennis players willing to volunteer, Cohen has given free lessons for the last three months.
“We just want to help and give back,” Co-
INTO BUSINESS
hen said, “Together we’ve been able to pool our resources and equipment to make these lessons possible.”
The second company, Stallion Media, is still under development. Launched with former Trinity student Jacob Aragon, the agency is centered around helping local businesses and restaurants with advertisements. Reaching out through cold calls — a communication tactic of calling local businesses without having prior contact — Cohen has already developed partnerships with local business owners for future advertising. The agency aims to produce ad campaigns and products to increase foot traffic, customers and Google reviews.
“All these projects are sustainable,” Cohen said, “That’s one of our main goals: to be able to hand these off to students who are also looking for business opportunities.”
After graduation, Cohen plans to hand off the tennis foundation to his volunteers and the club to its members. However, he will continue to build Stallion Media as he transitions into college.
Starting these ventures with no previous experience, Cohen has learned valuable skills that will continue to help him in the future: community outreach, social media marketing, website creation, communication tactics, and general organization and planning.
“These ventures have helped me grow as a future entrepreneur and channel my interests in businesses,” Cohen said. “There are so many options that this can bring me in the [business] field.”
John Pallard
The first step was realizing what he wanted. Then came taking action.
“I originally had a job at Publix and was investing a little bit — looking into starting businesses — and I was like, ‘this isn’t cutting it,’” junior John Pallard said. “So I started trading … At first it was rocky, but after finding my way and finding success, that’s when I decided I’d help other people do this.”
After Pallard’s stable success in the stock market, he brought together fellow juniors Leo Joshi, Sam Meads and former Trinity, now Hagardy student Kush Mathow with the intent of achieving their personal goals and helping other students do the same all under one platform.
Mathow is an experienced trader in the stock market. Having grown an initial investment of $25,000 into an astounding $2.5 million in the previous calendar year, he was no novice when it came to knowledge about the industry.
Combining the group’s talents — Mead’s proficiency in recording, editing, and photography and Joshi’s dropshipping ventures — they were able to advertise well credited mentorships and relationships for their community. Then came “The Hustlers.”
“We provide a community, based around people who want to better their mindset and lifestyle,” Pallard said. “A lot of people can’t do what they want because they can’t afford it or don’t know what to do. There are some who can’t afford to start a business so we show them how to make money. Some have fitness goals and they have no idea where to start so we are there to give that boost.”
According to Pallard, any viewer, listener or follower of theirs is a part of “The Hustlers.” The brand is there to help and unify all types of people, ranging from those already making millions in the stock market to those who don’t even know what stocks are.
Having started the process of building their presence across several platforms — Youtube, Instagram, Discord, their personal website and newsletters — they plan to actively teach members and listeners through such mediums.
As of now the team is recording Youtube content, branding through merchandise, and setting up courses consisting of videos and lessons informing viewers about building brands, investing and financial prosperity. These are all sourced through their website.
The next step will be to sell their products and grow their revenue streams, ultimately growing a large community of like-minded entrepreneurs and having all members connecting one-on-one.
Learning the process of starting a business, networking and managing different sources of
revenue, Pallard hopes to build the brand in the most efficient way possible, helping any kids along the way.
“We just want to grow it as big as we can, try to get as many people involved in as we can and teach as many people as we can — that’s our goal,” Pallard said.
