Russell Hancock of Plainsboro Windsor is the winner of the East Coast Collegiate Entrepreneur Award. He started RNR Services, a lawn and landscaping company, six years ago – when he was a 15-year-old high school sophomore.
He is a business student at Mercer College and is the first community college student to win the award. He received $1,”000 prize for first place in New Jersey and another $1,”000 for the regional award. He automatically advances to the North American competition, where the top prize is $10,”000.
Hancock entered the contest after seeing posters in the business building. “”I thought it would be nice to be recognized after working so hard since my sophomore year of high school,”” he says. “”I figured I deserved it. But I didn’t expect to be the winner from four states.””
He is the son of Russell Sr. and Lisa Hancock, who moved the family to a new housing development in Plainsboro in 1998. Hancock was about to drop off a job application at McDonald’s when his dad suggested that he consider mowing his neighbors’ lawns. Taking $2,”500 from his life savings, he bought a used commercial lawn mower and started Russ’ Lawn Service. “”I had six accounts that first years, all within the development,”” he says. “”I would ride around the street every day after school.””
The next year, he was up to 25 lawns and hired a friend to do the “”weed wacking”” while he did the mowing. “”When I finally got my driver’s license I bought a truck and trailer,”” he says. “”I advertised with flyers and notices on people’s doors.”” He was soon up to 65 customers.
Clients began to request other services, including fertilizing, landscaping, and mulching – but he had a problem. “”By the time I got home from school, I only had about three hours of sunlight to handle 65 customers a week,”” he says.
His dad, who had been a highway construction superintendent, joined the operation to oversee the landscaping portion of the business and to insure that his son met his business obligations. With eight employees, RNR Services now serves close to 200 clients for lawn mowing and landscaping.
When he graduated from High School South, he decided to spend two years at Mercer College to continue to establish the business. He had already been accepted to Arizona State University and in August he will transfer his Mercer credits there. His business plan insures that the business will run smoothly in his absence.
The competition is hosted annually by Rothman Institute of Entrepreneurial Studies at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Hancock was the top pick from college students in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Delaware.
-Lynn Miller
