Scott’s Cheap Flights is exactly what it sounds like: a company run by a guy named Scott who wants to find people the cheapest flights possible. At a young age, Scott Keyes discovered that he had a love for travelling the world, however he could never see himself being wealthy. His business idea was sparked after a trip he took to Milan, a round-trip flight ticket he got for only $130. He told all of his friends and they all became interested in how he got a flight so cheap. Scott saw their interest in finding cheap flights, and made a business out of it. It started as a hobby that he did just for his friends, but then expanded beyond that. Now, Scott has over 1,000,000 subscribers, and continually brings cheap flights to people who are interested in travelling for low cost.

Mike Brown, an avid coffee enthusiast, started the iconic Death Wish Coffee company to supply coffee drinkers with a drastic increase in caffeine and boldness in each cup. Although Death Wish is currently a very widespread and influential coffee company now, it had a tricky beginning. Mike started off by owning his own coffee shop, which failed initially. He sought to discover what was causing his lack of good business. He experimented with selling various products, all of which never really took off.

It was when Mike started listening to the desires of his customers that he started experiencing success. His customers were seeking the strongest cup of coffee he offered, so he started experimenting and came up with a blend that has twice the amount of caffeine as a regular cup of coffee. He called came up with the name and the logo that Death Wish currently has, and his business began growing. In 2015, Death Wish won a small business competition in which they were able to have a 30-second commercial for the Super Bowl, which spiked their publicity and profits.

In mid-2017, Mike Brown was voted the Entrepreneur of the Year for his extremely successful business.

After getting sick of his sister only selling “girly” scented candles at a school fundraiser, 14-year-old Hart Main came up with the idea of selling only “manly” scented candles with hopes of changing up the candle industry. He succeeded after receiving an initial investment of $300, and started developing candle scents aimed toward a more masculine consumer. These scents include campfire, sawdust, freshly cut grass, pipe smoke, and more. His business took off, and ManCans are currently being sold in over 60 stores across the country. He has sold over 9000 candles so far, and will continue to innovate and change the candle industry.

WordPress, the blogging interface you’re currently using, was started by Matthew Mullenburg in 2003 at the age of 19. Starting off with a single bit of code in order to enhance the typography of everyday writing, WordPress blossomed into an enormous blogging platform that millions of people across the world now use. Actually based on preexisting blogging software that was discontinued, Matt revamped it using a new platform. It immediately took off, and has since greatly increased its functionality. WordPress is now a very powerful content management system that powers 22% of all websites, which was all sparked from a millennial who innovated an old blogging system.

Philip Kimmey just finished his junior year of college when he decided to quit college and start his own business. Kimmey was never allowed to have a dog growing up, yet he has always had a deep love for them. His dream was to start his own company revolving around the idea of dog-walking/dog-sitting. So instead of getting a full-time job during the summer after his junior year, he started pursuing his dream of starting up this company. Rover.com became his website, which currently has around 200 employees working for it, and is worth almost $300 million. Kimmey recently acquired a big competitor, DogVacay, which has allowed massive company expansion for Rover. Currently, Rover.com is a website that you can enter in your information (location, dog type, what service you need), and it will supply you with what you need for your dog. Rover currently offers dog boarding, house sitting, drop-in visit, doggy day care, and dog walking services. 

Many new or growing small businesses struggle with broadcasting their products or services. Many methods exist to get the word out, however Guavabox does this in a more relevant way. Guavabox adopted a strategy called “inbound marketing,” which essentially targets potential customers and attracts them via online education of the products or services. Started by a couple of Grove City graduates, Andrew Dymski and Gray MacKenzie, Guavabox is a unique business that has acknowledged the shift from other marketing strategies to online strategies, and helps businessed get connected with their potential customers. This business takes a new approach to marketing by partnering with businesses in order to increase marketing effectiveness.