MACON, Ga. — For some, getting a job while in high school is a chance to put some cash in your pockets or save for college. But for Jaden Adler, he wanted to take a slightly different path.
"We just didn't want to go with the normal you know Chic-Fil-A, Zaxby's normal route like that," Adler said.
Adler and Finn Wakefield wanted to start saving money for college. Instead of getting a job, they decided to start their own window-washing business: Window Magic.
"You know it's very hard to work on a high schooler schedule, so we just wanted to do it ourselves," Adler said.
A study by Ernest and Young and Junior Achievement USA showed that 60% of teens start a business rather than get a traditional job, but that doesn’t surprise Wakefield.
“I think it gives us more options. We can do what we want to do and kinda find a way to make money for it. You know, you can work with whoever you want. You can kinda go to your friends," Wakefield said.
Rick Canosa is the first employee and manages the operations of Window Magic. He was attracted to join his friend’s business, but it’s been a transition.
"It’s hard you know cause you’re on your own. You don’t have a boss to look up to so all three of us we manage this by ourselves and we just got to be independent and we think of everything ourselves," Canosa said.
Chris Hefner owns Your Pie off Bass Road. He believes this group is different from their generation.
"The generation today is not always…they’re more just wanna look at your phone, but to their credit, they really have gone out and knocked on a lot of doors and got a lot of business and done the work. Now they’re starting to get repeat business from existing customers," Hefner said.
The same study concluded that 69% of teens have a business idea and don’t know how to get started, but Adler gives his best advice.
"It’s going to be really hard," Adler said. "Just try to hustle get out there and make as much money as you can. You need to plan it out and it takes a lot of time and effort but it’s something you can definitely achieve if you take the time and put in the work."
Wakefield said there are plans to continue their business through college.
But as the band of juniors from Howard High School continue to work on developing their business, they are looking to expand the business and make it even more successful.
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