Grayson Birch, a sophomore management major, and Luke Ferris, a junior finance major, are owners of Variety Washing. Variety Washing originated as a summer job idea between Birch and Ferris but evolved into a serious business venture with significant growth, including increased revenue and the addition of employees.
What is the story of your company? How did it start?
Variety Washing started as an idea between college roommates for a summer job because we did not want to go back to our old jobs. After our first summer, we realized there was more potential in this business than just a summer job. So, we started taking it more seriously and started working on long term foundations. This helped us explode in so many ways to where we had employees, our revenue was the highest it had ever been, and we were able to grow far beyond what we expected.
Why did you want to join the Samford Startup program?
We wanted to join the Samford Startup because we thought the mentorship and experience it provided would be very beneficial to our business.
How has the Samford Startup program supported your business?
One of the ways that the Samford Startup has helped us is the speakers as well as the wisdom and experience they share with us.
What has been the most challenging part of launching your business? How did you overcome this?
The biggest struggle in our business has been finding great people to hire. We are still working on the solution; however, we are excited about trying our new hiring process.
How has the Samford Startup program helped you grow professionally?
The Samford Startup has helped us grow in the way of networking with other business owners.
Looking to the future, what do you envision for your business?
We are very excited about what the future holds for Variety Washing. We believe that we can franchise and help other college students who want to become entrepreneurs but don’t know how get into a business of their own without help.
How is your business redemptive in a Christ-like manner?
Our business represents Christ in the way we treat customers. We always treat our customers with respect and live to serve them.
How do you see your company having an impact on the Samford and Birmingham communities?
One way Variety Washing has an impact on the Samford community is by hiring Samford students. In the past, we have almost exclusively hired Samford students of all ages because we know Samford is full of hard-working and talented individuals.
Why would you encourage other student entrepreneurs to also join the program?
We would encourage people to join the Samford Startup because of the community that it creates. You can create a great network and learn from the other entrepreneurs in the cohort.
