- What is exemplary or unique about these young entrepreneurs? Sean Clifford is the quarterback of the Penn State Nittany Lions. His entrepreneurship is unique because he is not just an entrepreneur, but he’s also a college student and college athlete. The fact that he is able to excel as a student, as a football player, and as an entrepreneur is incredible.
- What drives them? In an article published on ESPN, Clifford was quoted saying, “It’s the agency that I was looking for that I couldn’t find. It’s for the players, by the players. I wanted to do something to leave even more of a legacy than just on the field. And I thought that this was kind of the way that I wanted to go.” In this quote, it’s clear to see what drives Sean’s entrepreneurial efforts: the opportunity for players to help each other in the realm of Name, Image, and Likeness, and the opportunity to cement his legacy.
- What makes their idea or business model interesting? Sean’s business model, Limitless NIL, is interesting because it is the first player-based organization to be created since Name, Image, and Likeness laws were passed. Sean Clifford founded the company on three pillars: talent representation, brand and content creation, and financial literacy. By signing with Limitless NIL, athletes will have access to aide in all three of these categories. Again, something that hasn’t been done in their field.
- What entrepreneurial traits do they demonstrate? He embodies a hunger to solve problems from new angles. Sean embodies conventional wisdom, as he used his own personal experiences with signing NIL deals to organically create his business.
- How are they innovating? On the Limitless NIL website, their message says, “Run by current and former college Athletes, Limitless seeks to help Student-Athletes build cutting-edge brands and business relationships designed for the World of NIL.” By composing their staff of former and current college athletes who have experienced the struggles of the NIL space, Sean and his colleagues are able to relate with these athletes on a level that nobody else can.
- How do they specifically inspire you and help you in your own thinking about entrepreneurship and innovation? Sean and his company inspire me because they identified a massive need in the market and they attacked it. He also inspires me because as busy of a student athlete as he is, he went all-in on something he was passionate about as an entrepreneur. This shows that ANYONE can be an entrepreneur.
- What principles have you learned? Sean is a great example of what happens when you are passionate and fully commit to something. I’ve learned to be brave, to continue to strive to help others and to share your experiences; you’ll never know who you can help!
Archive for Marketing – Page 2
20 year old entrepreneur Jeremy Miller has a story that few can match in inspiration. He began his escapades into the world of business when he was just 16 years old. Miller started a company called Void Long boards. He soon realized that he had an astounding skill for brand building.
After just ten months, miller’s company had received over 100,000,000 impressions across his accounts, all by leveraging the power of social media. Despite the wide reach of his company, Void Long boards ended up failing. But that didn’t stop the young entrepreneur. He had discovered an incredible ability that he possessed for reaching potential customers through the internet. His next undertaking was to begin a social media marketing company by the name of J. R. Miller Group. At J. R. Miller group, Miller put to work everything he had learned from his previous attempt at starting a company. This time, Miller had not only a wide reach, but was extremely successful. 
Shortly after, Miller moved on to an even bigger undertaking when he started Inspired Blue Media. His company took off. In a few short years, Miller has done marketing for the likes of Subaru, SnapShfyt, and NASA, all before his 21st birthday.
Alex chapman is the young entrepreneur who started a car washing business and turned it into a luxury car detailing company. He started this car washing business in his neighborhood. It began with going around to his neighbors houses and asking if their car needed washed. Eventually, Chapman upgraded his equipment and expanded the cleaning capabilities of his company.
I have some knowledge in this industry from personal experience. I have been interested in cars for nearly my entire life. I’ve always dreamed of having a fancy car. This year, I bought a 1992 Mazda Miata on my senior trip in Florida. This is a 30 year old car that sat in the sun for a long time. The clear-coat that protects the white paint was been mostly burned away by the sun and age. I have been a car enthusiast for a long time, but this was the first time I owned a nice car. All my previous vehicles had been beaters or boring. I wanted to protect this car’s paint and preserve it to last as long as possible. My friend offered to help me out by using his electric buffer to shine up my car’s paint. This was a big favor because it costs a lot to pay a professional to buff a car. My friend explained that he had bought the electric buffer about a decade ago because it was cheaper to buy the equipment and do it himself than pay a shop to do it every couple years.
It costs hundreds of dollars to buff an entire car’s paint, and Alex Chapman saw this opportunity when he was looking to expand his car washing company. Chapman pivoted upward and expanded his services to offer more intense automotive cleaning service. Chapman’s company now offers a service called paint protective film and ceramic coating for cars. A ceramic coating is a layer of hard, glossy lacquer that covers all the paint on a car to prevent scratches and improve the shiny of the car. A protective film over the car’s paint is a clear wrap that molds to the cars curves and is attached with adhesive. Sometimes these films are heat-activated, making it an even more tedious job. Protective film is a way to prevent severe scratches that can occur on a racetrack. Luxury and sport car owners want to use their car to the full potential and push them to the max on the track without worrying about damage to the paint. Although paying three grand for a barely noticeable modification might sound asinine to a normal person, it must be taken into account how immensely expensive it is to fix paint damage on expensive cars. Alex Chapman saw this opening in the market and took advantage of it.
England is home to many, many car enthusiasts and luxury car owners. The population density is comparatively high to the United States and Chapman’s clientele will pay for his services. An appealing aspect to Alex Chapman’s business model is the exclusivity and environment in which he treats the cars and meets with clients. This business is very interesting and has extensive material for discussion and exemplifies a great strategy to build a business from the ground up.
Sources:
https://www.ladbible.com/news/uk-teen-entrepreneur-has-own-business-polishing-luxury-cars-for-4000-20190320
https://www.ladbible.com/news/uk-teen-entrepreneur-has-own-business-polishing-luxury-cars-for-4000-20190320
https://awccardetailing.co.uk/about-awc-car-detailing/
Jacob Landis-Eigsti is the founder of Jacob LE Video Production which helps companies gain new marketing and video production clients. He has run his own business for 10 yea
rs now and is very successful. Jacob says he started this business because he saw many businesses struggling to tell their story and connect with others online. He wanted to use his marketing and video production skills to help other businesses.
Jacob’s business is very innovative because he uses the internet to communicate with people on how to grow their business through video. I found it unique that his goal is to teach people how to market their businesses better, instead of only trying to make his business the best. He is very selfless in this sense.
Jacob says he starts off each day by making a to-do list with three things he wants to get accomplished for the day. He also turns his phone off for 90-minute blocks in order to get tasks done without getting distracted. Techniques like these demonstrate a focused business person. He also said a success strategy of his is to always follow up with a client or business partner you’ve been talking to. This allows for closure or further conversation with peers.
Facebook, Instagram, and online video advertising are some of the things Jacob focuses on helping people with in his business. We are becoming more and more dependent on social media every day, so I think it was very innovative of Jacob to incorporate this into his business. If people are unsure how to market themselves online, it could be the downfall to their business. Jacob LE Video Production is an easy solution to help small/medium businesses with these advertising techniques.
Being a marketing major, Jacob Landis-Eigsti specifically inspires me to grow in my marketing knowledge so that I can eventually help people in the way that he does. In an interview with Carlyn Runnels he states, “Also, learn business skills first as an entrepreneur. It’s important to be good at your craft, but business skills and sales skills are incredibly important.” This inspires me to learn the basic business skills first, because this will set the foundation for being able to help people with all kinds of businesses, like Jacob does.
Below is a series of blog posts Jacob has posted on a site called Medium in order to assist with marketing, social media and video strategies.
Sources:
Youngstown, Ohio is a smaller city on the outskirts of Ohio that has circulated entrepreneurial ventures in and out of storefronts for decades. A company called the Youngstown Business Incubator developed a program they like to call the WE Program, short for Women in Entrepreneurship. The WE Program “creates economic opportunities for women through entrepreneurial education and training, mentoring, and networking.” Their focus specifically on women branched from a mission to promote “minority-owned enterprises,” which they hope will bring personal and community growth.
The WE Program emphasizes three phases – WE Create, WE Launch, WE Grow – that women can apply for, according to whatever stage in the entrepreneurial startup women find themselves. The WE Create phase is a “four-week program that offers four workshops and educational sessions to help women who are ready to enter the world of entrepreneurship but need help developing an idea.” This phase is for the imaginers, the ones who have the ideas but have no clue where to start and need some structural workshops. The WE Launch phase “includes ten weeks of classes that teach the fundamentals of owning and operating a business.” The primary focus of the WE Launch phase is to take already-started businesses and aid them in launching their product or service into the market. The WE Grow phase, phase III of the Accelerator Program, “gives women four weeks of marketing strategy and tools to grow their existing businesses.” Each phase has an application that can be completed on the Youngstown Business Incubator website, and any woman can apply. Each program applicant is reviewed and applicable to win a grant award from each program, which has significantly changed the course of many women’s businesses within Mahoning Valley. Check out the program for yourself!
Find the website here: https://ybi.org/we/
For most teenagers, social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. They use it to stay connected with friends and gather information about the world. While these platforms can be used in a wide variety of ways, many of these teens have gained an in-depth knowledge of how Social Media works and how people interact within each platform. This skill is so common among the younger generation that few seem to understand the importance and significance of this intellectual skill. Iman Gadzhi was one of these ordinary teenagers until he discovered how to capitalize off of his social media knowledge.
Iman Gadzhi was a 17 year old boy raised by his single mother. As Iman grew older he realized that he would have to find a way to support him and his mom. As a result, he quickly adopted an entrepreneurial mind and started several businesses which all ended in failure. It wasn’t until he offered to run his club soccer team’s and was offered to be paid that Gadzhi saw how he could make money with his current skill set of social media. This revelation gave Iman Gadzhi all the information to pursue a career in Social Media Marketing (SMM). He set a goal that if he could reach a certain monthly income, he would drop out of high school. After weeks of hard work, Iman landed two major clients and his dream was finally realized. He dropped out of high school and placed all his time and energy into this new business venture.
While scaling his business could have easily been the final continual step in this process, Gadzhi came thought of something more incredible. If he, a normal teenager could use the skills that almost every teenager has to build a business that could support his dream life, why couldn’t others do it too? This is what ultimately strengthened Iman Gadzhi in this industry. While he could have chosen to focus on a singular problem and keep his ideas to himself, Iman chose to start a SMM course to teach other people like himself how to create a business in this arena. Now we fast-forward several years and Gadzhi has cemented himself as a thought leader in Social Media Marketing and has taught thousands of people how they can become financially secure as well as entrepreneurially minded.
Before reading this, take a second to reflect and remember what you were doing in 2011. For most college students whenever they think back to 2011, they may think about school, their friends and family, maybe going on a memorable vacation or receiving an awesome gift. For Ben Towers, when he thinks back to 2011, the first thing that probably comes to mind is when he started his first company at just 13 years old.
In 2009, a family friend challenged him to build them a real website. Most 11 year old’s would take the challenge as a joke, thinking that that was well out of their skill set and capabilities for their age group. Not Ben Towers though. Ben didn’t have prior knowledge about website building before accepting this challenge but, with the help of several YouTube videos, he was able to successfully build a full blown professional website. After completing the first site, Towers continued building sites and in 2011 started his first business named Ben Towers Website Design (BTWD). Less than two years after starting his first company Towers re-branded his company as Towers Design, which is a digital marketing agency and in the same year started Social Marley, a social media management company. Two years later in 2015, Towers would officially launch the service. Towers Design continued to grow then in 2017, through a merger with Zest the Agency, became one of the larger digital marketing firms in Kent, England.
While Towers is certainly well known for his entrepreneurial successes, he is widely known as an advisor as well as promoter for entrepreneurship.
When asked for his advise for young entrepreneurs, Towers said
“1. Get out and give it a go, you don’t even have to wait until you finish school! I didn’t!
2. Be passionate about what you do and make sure your reasons are more than simply making money, you have to love what you do.
3. Make the most of being young, be bold and tell the world! Do not try to deny your age, embrace the advantages of it!”
Most people would be content with this position and continue to grow, but Ben Towers isn’t like most people. In 2017, the same year as his company’s merger, Ben decided to leave and venture out into new endeavors. This year Towers co-founded Tahora, a service that helps to foster and grow good mental health/well-being. While plenty of services already exist for good mental health, Tahora is different in that it targets the young millennial and Generation Z workforce. Ben Towers is towering over the competition and he is only getting started.
http://socialmarley.com/about-ben
https://richtopia.com/inspirational-people/top-young-entrepreneur-interview-ben-towers
Pete Cashmore is the founder Mashable, a media blog that provides news on celebrities, trends, and general gossip. Cashmore founded Mashable when he was just 20 years old back in 2005. In the beginning it was just a blog that became incredibly popular, fast forward to today and it is now one of the most popular news cites that people get their daily gossip and more from.
Due to the success of the website, Cashmore as accumulated a net worth of $95 million. Because of the success of the cite, he was able to sell the company to a gentleman by the name of Ziff Davis for a total of $50 million dollars. So in short, he’s a pretty successful guy
Bravo Company Manufacturing is a firearms manufacturer that was started in 2003. After serving in Iraq and being part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, former United States Marine Paul Buffoni began Bravo Company Manufacturing in his garage in Hartland, Wisconsin.
After 9/11, there was a massive increase in the demand of riffles and other firearms from people in the United States that were looking for tools to defend themselves and their families. At the time, there was only one large manufacturer that was making AR15 and M4 riffles for the commercial market, which was the legendary gun manufacturer, Colt.
Buffoni quickly recognized that there was a need in the commercial market for riffles that were professional quality and that people could rely rely on in literal life or death situations. This is exactly what bravo Company USA provides: they rigorously test each riffle, barrel, and upper-receiver that they produce in their factory, and if any one of their products does not meet 100% of their specifications, they immediately scrap the product and will not sell it to any customer.
Bravo Company has been based in Hartland, Wisconsin since 2003, and they are one of the largest employers in that area. Interestingly enough, Buffoni focuses on hiring people that thing more like mechanics or engineers, since they are able to help the company develop better, more innovated products to bring to the market. Bravo Company spends years developing new parts for their weapon systems, with the focus on making these products lighter and stronger than previous versions.
Paul Buffoni was able to recognize a real need in the firearms industry and used his expertise in this field to create high quality, affordable products that the market desperately wanted. Buffoni also helps out other veterans through some charitable efforts of his company, and he loves to spend time giving back to the great community of veterans that we have here in the United States. Bravo Company is an excellent company, with a great founder, that accomplishes it’s mission of being a premier gun systems manufacturer in a simple, and customer friendly way.
A.J. Fernandez was born in March 1979, and began his cigar operations in the country of Nicaragua. Unlike many other cigar manufactures A.J. Fernandez, who is known as “Tabacalera Fernandez”, in his home country, Fernandez had humble beginnings. When Fernandez first began his company, he began with only six cigar rollers in a small, worn down facility in Esteli, Nicaragua. Here he began to make his name not by making his own cigar brand or cigar lines, but he helped other cigar manufacturers to produce some of their best selling cigar lines.
Fernandez helped the biggest name in all of cigars, Rocky Patel. This is unique to A.J. Fernandez because he was able to learn from some of the most successful cigar manufactures in the world, before he began his own cigar operations. This allowed Fernandez to take the time to develop a sound business plan before beginning his cigar brand, and it gave him the time to focus on the quality and marketing of his successful cigar lines.
After years of working in the cigar industry A.J. Fernandez began two incredibly popular cigar brands: Man O War, and Diesel. These brands helped Fernandez become a household name in the cigar industry, and have become some of the most successful brands in the cigar market. Fernandez’s many brands produce sales of almost 9 million cigars per year and sell to over 30 countries world wide.
Fernandez also revived a discontinued cigar brand in 2010, which was started by his grandfather in 1959 during the infamous Cuban Revolution in order to pay tribute to his grandfather.
By taking the time to learn from other cigar leaders, Fernandez was able to perfect an effective business strategy, which helped him launch his cigar empire. A.J. Fernandez also “bucked the trend” of many other cigar manufacturers by taking the time to perfect his craft, and develop target markets and good marketing strategies. Fernandez’s story is an inspirational story of how hard work and thinking outside the box can lead to great success.