Entrepreneurship is alive and well in Westport.
Our town is filled with men and women who have stepped back from corporate America — or whatever career they were in — to start their own businesses here.
But they’re not the only ones.
Teenagers are also taking the entrepreneurial plunge.
We’re not talking about lemonade stands or lawn moving. These young men and women are the real deal.
Here are a few. Read their stories — and be inspired that our future is in very good, creative and hard-working hands.
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We’ve highlighted Christian Rinaldi a couple of times.
Less than one year out of high school, he’s rebranded his thriving, and very professional, mobile car detailing business.
Now called Car Concierge CT, Christian and his staff — a well-trained crew, including Kyle Dulak and Justyn Capellan — offer 4 packages.
There’s interior cleaning, exterior polishing and waxing, and rim work, of course. But they’ve stepped up their premium luxury “concierge” service, highlighting multi-step paint correction, ceramic coating, and much more.
Including the engine. You’ll never see it. But Christian does.
Christian Rinaldi, with cars he’s worked on.
Christian bought a van, and outfitted it with water and a power source, to come to customers all over Fairfield County.
He’s fully licensed, insured, and — as an LLC — has an A- rating from the Better Business Bureau.
Their customers trust Car Concierge CT with Lexuses, Audis, and — recently — an Aston Martin Vantage.
Christian recently spent 2 weeks in Atlanta, getting certified by Koch-Chemie, a high-quality German cleaning products firm. He studied chemistry, along with paint reconditioning skills.
This is not a high school start-up. It’s Christian’s full-time business. He’s a perfectionist, putting hours into every aspect of what he calls “my art.”
Taking care of every detail.
He’s honed his people skills too. He communicates easily and efficiently, explaining to customers exactly what they’ll get, and when, and how he’ll do it.
Christian Rinaldi is going places. Including — he hopes — to your driveway.
(For the very professional Car Concierge CT website, click here. For the Instagram @carconciergectllc, click here.)
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Two summers ago, going into junior year, Staples friends Will Stoutenburg and Ollie Vynerib were looking for jobs.
Ollie was 15 — too young to work officially — and neither wanted to have a boss.
They brainstormed ideas, and settled on starting a window washing business.
Will’s parents warned it would be a waste of time. But the boys went to a hardware store, bought squeegees, mops and dish soap, plus long poles.
They came up with a clever name: WOW (for “Will Ollie Window-washing).
They watched “a ton” of online videos to learn about their craft, and door-to-door sales.
It was not easy.
“Getting doors slammed in our faces was actually super good for us,” Will reports.
It was intimidating at first. But by the end of the summer, after multiple 14-plus hour days, their business had generated $10,000. Ollie and Will made $4,000 each.
They promised every customer that they’d donate a percentage of profits to Staples Tuition Grants. Proudly, they did.
Ollie Vynerib and Will Stoutenburg: Have ladder and hoses, will travel.
Still, they knew there was room to improve.
Last summer they scaled things up. They spent nearly all the money they’d made on upgraded equipment — enhancing both their product, and their efficiency. (They’re also fully insured.)
They hired 15 employees — all Staples students — and got very good at selling door to door. They cleaned over 200 homes (and some businesses), with Ollie and Will doing all the sales and scheduling.
“It was exhausting days and stressful,” Will says. “But it was working, so we stayed disciplined and kept grinding.
“The amount I learned about business from running WOW the last 2 summers is incredible,” he adds.
“From how to sell, managing expenses and customers, mastering window cleaning and employees, I gained a ton of knowledge.
“It was far from easy, dealing with things like equipment issues, mean customers, etc. But it was all worth it.”
Wow!
This summer, they’ve again spent money upgrading equipment, and reinvesting in WOW. They’ve added sales employees to their cleaning staff.
And they’re still just in high school. After graduating in June, Will heads to Tulane University. He’ll study — no surprise — business and entrepreneurship.
And Ollie will attend the Marshall School of Business, at the University of Southern California.
(To learn more, text 203-820-0078.)
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Grill cleaning is a task that nearly everyone needs done.
But few people want to do it.
Pierce Brown and Ben Zwick are happy to fill the need.
Both graduated from Staples High School last year. They were sports captains (volleyball and ski team, respectively), and participated in the Service League of Boys.
While finishing up their first year at college (Queens University and the University of Vermont, respectively), the business/finance majors looked for holes in the Westport service market that needed filling.
Grill cleaning seemed like a great opportunity.
They offer a full, deep clean and polish — including deep inside, and underneath.
Those are places no one ever sees. But Pierce and Ben make them shine just like the hood.
(To learn more, text Pierce at 203-229-2293 or Ben at 203-818-1833.)
Looking like new!
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But grill cleaning is not Ben’s only job.
Cars are a lifelong obsession. From a very young age he and his father have raced them. And for years, Ben has helped friends and family members source them, for good prices.
He has turned that latter hobby into a business: BZ Auto Advisory. He find cars that are the best fit, negotiates new and used car prices to save thousands of dollars — and monetizes it for himself too.
“Eliminate the stress, inefficiency and risk associated with car buying by working with an unbiased, personal vehicle advisor,” Ben says.
First, Ben helps define the criteria a customer is looking for in a car. Then, he offers specific models to choose from.
Next, he creates spreadsheets from throughout the region, to find the best deals. Then he contacts the seller, and negotiates.
Ben’s pricing analyses show clients a variety of possibilities.
One recent example: a 2018 Volkswagen Golf R. The deal was closed at $6,000 less than market value.
Ben constantly watches the market. His research is very thorough. Clients are thrilled.
He found a Porsche Panamera 4S Turismo. with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $129,000 in 2018, for a client for $56,000. It had only 50,000 miles, and a full Porsche service record.
Ben found a BMW in Boston for $26,900.
Another client says, “BZ helped me find a great 2018 Audi A4, and knew all of the important questions to ask the owner and mechanics. He let me know about expected maintenance and how to identify what cars to walk away from. I was very pleased with his services, and he saved me a bunch of money.”
(To learn more, text Ben at Ben at 203-818-1833. For the Instagram @BZAutoAdvisory, click here.)
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(“06880” often reports on young Westporters, local businesses- and, like today, their intersection. If you enjoy stories like this, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
