Page 49 - Bus101FlipBook

CH 3] Business 101 3-3

Hanna York, Kentucky,
with her fall display of
her nursery and display
business. Started when
she was 14, and six years
later is still growing her
business even while a
student at Murray State
University, Ky.

3

displays with “Pumpkins, mums, straw, cornstalk bundles, various corns and things
like that.” “I set these up at people’s homes, churches and local businesses.” From the
profits of her enterprising she diversified into five different counties, and has acquired
property to build her own greenhouse in her senior year. Hannah grows vegetables for
consumption and decorations, and is studying business in Murray State University in
Murray, Kentucky. She has expanded her services to grow fruit for urban home
owners. York said she tries to look for untapped niche markets in her area when
deciding how to grow her business.
William Kellum, Georgia. Currently manages 65 clients in the Jefferson City area
in his landscaping business. William Kellum says that he began his business inquiry in
middle school with a research project to learn how businesses works and how they
make their money. He now runs a landscaping management company that he started
with a classmate, Alex Mason, in the Jefferson area of Georgia. As Kellum, states the
one major problem to solve was “how do two teenage boys start a successful
advertising campaign?”
Kellum says “We entered the talent show, and neither one of us can sing.” Kellum
and Mason sang a cover of “It’s Five O’clock Somewhere” by Alan Jackson and
Jimmy Buffett. While they didn’t become country music stars overnight, they still
accomplished exactly what they set out to do. “We were doing this as an advertising
campaign,” Kellum said. “We got done, and we said, ‘This show has been brought to
you by Mason & Kellum Lawn Services. We do it all — all you have to do is call.’
And it worked!”
Kellum and Mason continued their guerrilla marketing campaign by making
waves on the Jefferson High football team and paying for radio ads during their
games. Their unique approach to building a customer base proved successful. “Every
single year, we managed to have a 90 percent growth rate,” Kellum said. “We had to
give up running track because we were so busy.” After graduation, Kellum and Mason
amicably split the lawn business in two because they went to different universities.
Kellum is now the sole proprietor of 47 Lawn Care, LLC — named after his high
school football jersey number.
47 Lawn Care offers basic lawn services to 65 clients while still in University—
mowing, weed eating, trimming bushes and more — but Kellum said he wants to grow
the business in a new direction. “I’ve always been interested in more landscaping and
actually designing landscapes,” he said. “I love talking to people and them saying,
‘Wow, I had no idea my yard could look this good.’”
Studying electrical engineering at the University of Georgia, he has two ideas in

Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live, Living to Serve
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