Student paving his way to success in future

By MAUREEN MCGUINNESS- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

As the school year winds down, Jay Maddalone's schedule begins to pick up.

The senior at Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons School in Schenectady and parishioner of Immaculate Conception in Glenville is proprietor of his own business, Maddalone Brothers Driveway Sealing.

Although Jay says his work is a superior quality, his competition has a leg up on him at times. "The older guys aren't in school, so they're out there all day giving estimates," he said.

The time constraints of school also present a challenge. "During school, I can do one or two driveways," he said. "When school gets out, I already have six lined up."

Seal of approval

Despite the challenges, he enjoys having his own business because "you're your own boss. You make your own schedule. I like having the control. And there's a lot of responsibility when you're trying to build a name for yourself and your business."

Jay has found that running his own business has taught him lessons he couldn't learn in school.

"I've learned responsibility, money management, and time management," he said. "I've also learned how to deal with people. I've learned about my competitors so that I can tell customers why I'd be better."

Sticky business

He's also learned the importance of communication. He likes to make sure his customers have a good understanding of driveways and what he can do for them, a lesson that was learned the hard way.

After he sealed a cracked driveway, a customer wasn't satisfied with Jay's work. The customer thought sealing the driveway would eliminate the cracks, which isn't the case. Jay resealed the driveway at his own cost in order to keep the customer happy. Now he says, "I try to teach people about their driveways."

Running his own business has been a boost for Jay's self-esteem. "I'm doing the same thing as guys who are 30 or 50 years old," he said. "It feels great. I have three other contractors out there who refer me to their clients."

Own boss

In addition to running his own business, Jay works for a pizza parlor delivering pizzas. That has given him the opportunity to compare working for himself with working for someone else.

"I'd suggest [working for yourself] to anyone," he said.

Having the experience of working for someone else and working for himself has enriched discussion in class.

"When we're in economics class, I've got experiences that no one else has," he said.

Although Jay plans on studying criminal justice at Hudson Valley Community College in North Greenbush in the fall, he would like to continue running his own business on the side.

"I plan on expanding my business," he said. "I have two guys working under me now, and I can do three jobs a day. If I had more people, I could do more."

Waxing successful

Classmate Kevin Zenner-Pallotolo, a parishioner of Our Lady of Assumption in Schenectady, has also had a taste of running his own business.

While waxing his father's car, he was asked to wax another person's. Soon, he was in business. Through word of mouth and people seeing his work, Kevin's business grew. At times, he had as many as 20 customers in a week.

"There are responsibilities that come with running a small business," he said. "Customer relations are important. You have to be the real thing; you can't be a jerk."

He also learned that it's important to enjoy work. "In order to succeed, you want to be involved in something you're interested in," he said.

Learning

His business experience has taught Kevin about goal-setting, time management and personal finance. He also has a better understanding of advertising and overhead.

"If you have the materials and the money, you can make a good profit," he said. "You don't have to split it up with anyone."

Kevin also learned that age doesn't matter as long as a quality service is provided.

"Age really is not an issue," he said. "People questioned me a little bit; if I was older, they might not. But when you're talking about a $50,000 car, you expect some questions."

Although some people believe that those who run their own business have an easy life, Kevin said this isn't true. "There is no support," he said. "You have to support yourself. You have to deal with the problems."

Double duty

Waxing cars led Kevin to other opportunities. Now he works for his father's disc jockey business. At times, he has rented equipment from his father and served as a disc jockey on his own.

His current goals are to continue working as a deejay, enter the Air Force and eventually attend college.

He can see himself owning his own business again, saying, "If I had a bit of investment money, I have a few key ideas that I'd like to explore."

(06-15-00) [[In-content Ad]]