East Valley Parent Partnership High School: Austin Drysdale’s entrepreneurial spirit has paid off

For East Valley Parent Partnership senior Austin Drysdale, someday turned out to be right now.

“I’ve always thought that it would really cool to own my own business someday,” he said. “I had no idea how to do it, but I watched a bunch of YouTube videos and kind of stumbled into window-cleaning, mostly because of the low cost to start up.

“I was working at Yoke’s when I was 16, but one of my friends started a landscaping business after that and hired me. Before long, he loaned me some stuff to start window cleaning, and I researched techniques, then started going door-to-door. It was rough at first because I didn’t really know what I was talking about.It’s a lot easier now because I have a script and I know how to talk to customers.

All on his own, he has taken care of permit and insurance issues and formed Northwest Exterior Works as a limited liability company. He did all that during his senior year after his 18th birthday, the legal minimum age to establish an LLC.

The Parent Partnership, which supports homeschooling families through classes, curricula, equipment, and testing, provided Austin with the perfect vehicle for blending his academic work with his new business. He finished his schoolwork in the morning and conducted further research in the afternoon.

“Going door-to-door is a pretty tough gig, knocking on 200 houses to get four yeses,” he said. “But every time I sold a job, it felt great.

“When I want to learn something, I learn it. We have a few business owners in the family, and their advice helped me a lot. I watched videos on business startups for months in the beginning, and I still do that. I’ve figured out that when a potential customer says, ‘I’ll think about it,’ that’s a no, so instead I’ve changed to asking people what’s holding them back.

“Some days I make a lot of money, some days none at all. I would say that the business is moderately successful. I’ve learned a lot about scheduling, taking calls and dealing with bad customers. Door-to-door is my only thing right now, but I hope to make enough to do online ads soon.”

Austin said that for now about 80% of his income goes back into the business, including paying for expensive equipment. His work is mostly window-cleaning, with occasional roof and gutter-cleaning jobs. He’s always had an entrepreneurial spirit, building fences and bucking hay for neighbors as he grew up.

Drysdale is going to focus on his business after graduation, hoping to expand as much as possible and hire more employees. His five-year goal is to expand into pressure-washing and do more gutter and roof work.

Drysdale’s main teacher, Kimberly Brake, has worked with him for all four years at EVPP and said, “Austin has always been an active learner and motivated to succeed. He is driven to maintain a level of personal excellence. I have been excited to watch him start his business and work hard to establish himself and grow.”