Business & Tech
Young Entrepreneurs Start Growing Business
F & F Landscaping has sprouted over 40 new clients in the last two years.
- Business: F&F Lanscaping
- Services: Lawn service, maintenance, snow removal, and more
- Employees: Two
- Business opened: November 2010
- Website: FandFLandscapingllc.com
Two college-aged entrepreneurs started a landscaping business that has blossomed from just 10 clients to 47 since November 2010.
“We wanted to start something that had low start-up costs and big gains,” said 21-year-old Justin Faint.
Faint, of Manassas and his friend, Scott Fitzsimmons, 24, of Fairfax Station had both mowed area lawns to make some pocket money growing up.
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After graduating high school, Fitzsimmons attended the University of Virginia where he studies Health and Physical Education. He graduated and was working at Jason’s Deli when he heard from Faint about possibly starting a landscaping business. Faint is currently attending Strayer University where he is working toward a degree in homeland security.
“I put in my notice and moved down here,” Fitzsimmons said.
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They're not alone. The number of people between the ages of 20 and 64 who became self-employed each month on average rose from 300 per thousand people in 2007 to 340 per thousand in 2009, according to the U.S. Census.
The two slowly built up their inventory of equipment, paying for each piece with the money they earned from mowing lawns. They called their business F&F Landscaping, based out of Manassas.
“My mom said that I was crazy to start a business in this economy,” Fitzsimmons said.
They work long hours, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and additional hours on the weekend as needed. They hope to hire employees to help and an office to store their equipment as their client list grows.
”My mom said that I was crazy to start a business in this economy."
They now serve clients from Manassas to Fairfax. How do they keep adding to their roster?
“The clients themselves,” Fitzsimmons said. “People talk and you just have to let them know that you’re ambitious.”
You can find more articles from this ongoing series, “Dispatches: The Changing American Dream” from across the country at The Huffington Post.
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