Entrepreneurs
Start Here
Start Here
College Pro offers you something today that your future self will thank you for. We are a student development organization that has developed thousands of entrepreneurs – like yourself – to manage a summer business. You get to be your own boss, and we get to see you grow into the leader you already are.
This position is powered by College Pro Window Cleaning. You may recognize the brand, which focuses on two core areas: (1) the development of aspiring entrepreneurs, and (2) the delivery of residential window cleaning. College Pro is the brand most recognized by our home owners, while Entrepreneurs Start Here is the actual training program and model that drives it all. In this position, you learn how to run a business that delivers services to your customers through a highly focused coaching and skill development process. You leave the summer with unparalleled skills to channel into whatever your future dreams hold.
Here’s a breakdown of the position
YEAR 1 | Owner-Operator
You’ll run an owner-operator style business in which you learn foundational business skills like: goal setting, business planning, marketing, sales, financial management, interviewing, scheduling and leadership. You will be trained in monthly conferences and will develop your depth of skill through weekly 1-on-1 coaching meetings and the daily grind of actually running your own business. In year 1, you’ll master how to lead yourself effectively. First year entrepreneurs, on average, generate a $30,000 revenue (sales) in their business.
YEAR 2 | Owner
Year 1 teaches you a ton, but a lot of our alumni say that year 2 & 3 helped solidify their confidence in how to run a business. With foundational skills under your belt from Year 1, you’ll continue to develop yourself and grow your business in Year 2. You build on your community marketing and customer base, and add skills such as: problem solving, conflict resolution and higher-level team leadership. During year 2, you’ll learn how to effectively lead others and significantly grow your revenue. Average second year entrepreneurs generate $50,000 in revenue.
YEAR 3 | Multi-Tier
Welcome to business ownership -10x! You’ve had 2 years to learn from rookie mistakes, learn from the network of 100+ other young adults in the same process as you, and learn from your coach. During Year 3, you’ll lead through additional layers in your business, adding skills like: situational leadership, delegation and priority management to your arsenal. At this stage, you’re much more skilled, and you’re really taking a step out of working IN your business toward empowering your employees. You’ll now have the entrepreneurial acumen to see tremendous growth in your business. In year 3, our average entrepreneur generates $100,000 in revenue, and becomes a candidate for our Leadership Team, having shown exceptional growth and leadership aptitude.
Check out Zoe's startup story
Entrepreneurs
Grow Here
Grow Here
In August, 2018, Jared Koehl wrapped up a seven year journey in our program, and reflected on his experience with us.
“Every single week, for the past seven years, I’ve sat down with someone older and wiser, who’s given me feedback on my strengths and weaknesses. I learned a lot about myself.”
Jared began as a crew member, and left as an experienced Business Coach with many options on his plate. He reflected on his journey, saying, “My time with College Pro was always something different, every year was something new – a new challenge – and it brought new learning.” Not one of the seven years was the same – 50% of that was Jared developing his skills, the other 50% was the program’s structure providing him different opportunities. Jared also took it upon himself to master something new each year of his journey.
“Every year was very different, and challenging, but in a very different way. That’s what I liked about it; it was awesome!”
The program, at 'it’s best'
In Jared’s opinion, the program is best when followed over multiple years. He says, “it moves very fast and there is so much to learn that it stacks year over year.” That said, he commented that there is support for all types of learners, and support at every stage. The way Jared articulated his skill stacking, year over year, was:
- Crew Member: small-scale setting and hitting goals. Our crew of 3 had to learn to get along and set and hit daily goals to complete jobs for our customers.
- Franchisee: goal setting on steroids. I had to hit goals in a bunch of areas, from administrative to sales. My first year I learned how to manage myself (which was hard), then I learned how to effectively lead others in my second year.
- Coach: leading and training business owners. I was more mature, and I was leading people who were more invested, and there was more pressure on me as a coach.
The difference in what Jared was doing
He was always ‘ON’, always thinking about what was next. Everything Jared did was very calculated – and it had to be – because of all the different things going on: school, work, relationships, coaching people who were running a business. “My friends had fewer things going on in their world.” This taught him how to manage multiple priorities without letting the ball drop or burning out.
Next for Jared
He plans on building something that is a business, and has an environment that people want to be in. That’s his vision, and where he’s going. “I need to find the model and want to challenge myself and find something new.” But in the interim, he’s bought a one-way ticket to central America to go cultivate new experiences. #adiós
Jared Koehl
Entrepreneurs
Forge Futures Here
Forge Futures Here
Since 1971, we’ve been providing the systems and coaching to launch entrepreneurial minded people, with thousands of our alumni now running impressive businesses and leading teams with skills they began cultivating as students. Right here.
Our alumni are our greatest testament
KIMBAL
MUSK
“In the summer of 1994, [Elon] Musk and his brother, Kimbal, took their first steps toward becoming honest-to-God Americans. They set off on a road trip across the country. Kimbal had been working as a franchisee for College Pro Painters and done well for himself, running what amounted to a small business. He sold off his part of the franchise and pooled the money with what Musk had on hand to buy a beat-up 1970s BMW 320i.” From Elon Musk’s Book: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future
CHRISTINE
COLLIER
“You can really use those skills forever, I still default to what I learned that summer. Business lives and dies by the numbers. The way College Pro was structured helped me structure my businesses following my franchisee experience. You don’t learn those in a classroom studying business, you learn by trial and error and doing it yourself – that’s real life”.
MARK
GRAHAM
Running around outdoors, cleaning windows, and doing business with some pretty successful people. Mark loved that despite his young age he could hold his own and land jobs in a wealthy neighborhood, “it was thrilling to be taken seriously…I grew up a lot. I loved that I could kill my production numbers one week and maybe take the next week off – I had control over my own destiny. I worked hard, but I took time off guilt-free because I knew what I was doing.”