Starting a Business in High School: Interview With Lizzie Sleight

Lizzie Sleight began Inexperienced Grass Greetings in her junior year of significant school. She shares the troubles that occur with starting off your own small business from scratch.

Lizzie Sleight is a high faculty senior who commenced her own company when faculties shut down thanks to the pandemic. She experienced usually desired to start a business enterprise of her individual and when the time and opportunity presented them selves, Lizzie took action. She began screening out her thoughts and sharing with her buddies the garden symptoms that she rents out for celebrations.

Lizzie Sleight celebrating her birthday with a Inexperienced Grass Greetings lawn indication. Picture supply: Author

Q&A with Lizzie Sleight

The Ascent: What impressed you to commence Green Grass Greetings?

Lizzie Sleight: Green Grass Greetings is a garden card rental services. I have only performed this for about a calendar year, even considerably less than a yr. It was mid-March when I created the final decision to commence it and at the time, the state was moving into the lockdown. Covid was shutting a bunch of things down which include birthdays and celebrations.

A primary concern that was really talked about was these bad pupils in the class of 2020. They are not likely to have these normal graduations. I listened to from my loved ones members out west, who do some thing related, that they had been doing all these property indications for the seniors.

I talked about it with my loved ones, and we made the decision that it would be a very good idea to start off this small business, which we experienced essentially talked about a pair several years back. But since I didn’t have my driver’s license, it didn’t actually make sense.

It was genuinely just the timing with me being household, and I was old plenty of, and the option offered alone of needing new and inventive strategies to celebrate special situations that allowed me to get started this small business.

The Ascent: The signals appear terrific. I love driving previous them and seeing them. It is fantastic since you don’t have to stress about people obtaining sick, but you can rejoice a little something.

Lizzie Sleight: Thanks. That was the strategy. To have these drive-by parties where by you can see these signals and anyone would even now feel celebrated.

The Ascent: What can our viewers master from your encounter managing your personal organization?

Lizzie Sleight: The primary matter that I have learned from my knowledge is that designs alter. When we have been conversing about this before last 12 months, we imagined we understood how it would go. We assumed we knew the stock we wanted to get. We imagined we realized how a lot cash we were investing. We considered we experienced a reliable approach.

We also just rushed into it, so, there have been a lot of bumps and a great deal of factors we experienced to change. But ultimately, our lives had been manufactured less difficult for that. It does not imply that it was bad for you to do everything incorrect in the initially place. I necessary to make these errors of pricing to determine out which rate would attract and who was eager to shell out what.

I wanted to make mistakes of which graphics I wanted to purchase and determine out what they seemed like and how a lot of symptoms ended up in fact using cupcakes and how many symptoms were applying soccer.

“It’s good to try to remember that options improve. Nobody expects you to get it appropriate the 1st time and that’s Okay.”

The Ascent: What have been some challenges you have faced as a smaller business proprietor? How did you triumph over these worries?

Lizzie Sleight: I think the 1st and possibly the largest problem was the startup procedure. At first, I experienced looked into joining franchises. There’s a few out there. But the startup fees were being way too large and for the types in my value range the enrollment was slow and it would choose a though for me to get my company off the floor.

So, I ended up choosing to get started my individual enterprise, but that allowed other opponents to have the time to begin their individual corporations.

I was struggling to identify if this was anything that I required to do. Other opponents had by now began to construct up their clientele, but that was expected. Yet another obstacle I faced is that there was a truly sizzling season in June and May when people today desired to order signs, but I have experienced months exactly where folks just weren’t intrigued. Maybe they have been out of city or it just was not anything that they needed.

It is a thing that I have to have to feel about. How can I defeat this? Do I want to market place better? Do I have to have to do revenue? How can I catch the attention of customers?

The Ascent: What instruments have you employed to make your company additional effective?

Lizzie Sleight: For marketing, we use social media. It is seriously wonderful to use Facebook and Instagram, primarily simply because most of the time they are free of charge, but often we’ll use the raise on Facebook to raise our posts in the local community.

Powering the scenes, I use Canva, which I appreciate. I use that to make any infographics, or to make Instagram posts, Instagram tales, but we also use it to design templates for our invoices, so we have that saved in the queue. I employed Canva for the brand and the organization playing cards. That’s likely my preferred useful resource that I use.

We also use Venmo for all the payment processing, which is helpful. Of system, Google Spreadsheets for our documents.

The Ascent: What information do you have for other small company founders in your industry?

Lizzie Sleight: Alter is good. What we had to study was that we had to adjust some of our graphics.

Make sure that no indicator is the identical. We had to go out of our convenience zone and probably blend colours that we didn’t assume would function. We’ve experienced to invest in far more graphics, so they are not the exact same sign. Make each individual indicator come to feel additional customized for the consumer.

For our Instagram posts, it is always significant to publish all the time. As irritating as it may look, it is actually what aids obtain desire.

Our very first round wasn’t perfect and we undoubtedly experienced to spend more income to make extra cash. We experienced to alter a good deal of things to get into that rhythm of building things perform.

The Ascent: What advice would you give young gals or ladies hoping to get started their personal business?

I would just say to go for it. Your thought may possibly feel insane, but just to go for it. Don’t try to discuss oneself out of it. In the commencing, I went through a lot of back and forth: Is it worth it for me? Are people today going to think that it is a excellent concept? Is this seriously a thing that I want to do?

I was amazed and you’d be amazed how quite a few people are interested in what you have to say. Also, be confident in your possess thoughts. If you do not consider your business enterprise is going to perform, it is not likely to do the job.

The Ascent: How do you manage university and working a company?

Lizzie Sleight: As a senior in superior school, I have my classes early in the day. Luckily, I’m incredibly grateful to have my mother be an lively element of this organization. She is tremendous keen to support me answer to email messages and enable me know when they come by. It is surely a little something that I could not do alone.

I generally invest the initial 50 percent of the afternoon on schoolwork. In the evening is when I focus on small business. That is the time we go out and do the actual physical symptoms.

The Ascent: What strategies of advertising and marketing have labored effectively for you? You mentioned that you do use Facebook as section of your social media system. Are there other individuals?

Lizzie Sleight: Fb is where by we put up our giveaways and pictures of the signals. I can convey to by making use of Fb there is a lot more interest than individuals just seeing the symptoms from the streets. All of our signs incorporate a indication with the title of our business enterprise and contact info. We also leave organization playing cards at the doorway.

A significant factor that served us get heading was term of mouth. I began by undertaking cost-free indications for my friend’s birthdays or for schools. That helped get communication heading and permit other folks know that I was a business enterprise.

I have been out performing symptoms and I have experienced persons say, “Oh can I get your enterprise card?” Word of mouth has been big.

The Ascent: What is the most rewarding portion of having your possess small business?

Lizzie Sleight: I imagine the most gratifying part is just to see that I have been effective setting up one thing from scratch. When I think about it, I’m nonetheless a senior in significant faculty, I’m even now 17 many years previous and the fact that I have this up and running. Despite all this enable, it is continue to a portion of me that I’m super proud of. It’s been worthwhile to see other people who are interested in my small business.

The Ascent: What is subsequent for Green Grass Greetings? I know you could be going off to faculty in the fall.

Lizzie Sleight: My family is a massive part of this organization. When I leave future fall, my young brother and my moms and dads will support preserve the small business likely at house.

If we are chatting in quick terms, the up coming stage for Eco-friendly Grass Greetings is to create our web-site. We have been conversing about that for a though and it is some thing we hope to carry out shortly, so our consumers never have to go as a result of our Instagram and our Facebook to test and obtain our contact facts.

Having action makes all the variation

Lizzie did not wait right until she was out of university or experienced the ideal disorders. She was willing to acquire motion to get started her organization and make errors alongside the way. Occasionally you just will need to get started out and get the ball rolling when it comes to starting up your have small business. Studying how to market online and industry your enterprise takes a little bit of trial and mistake, but having motion is the critical.

Eco-friendly Grass Greetings garden signals can help people today celebrate birthdays in a distinctive way. Graphic supply: Author