Red Leaf Exteriors

Benjamin is a young entrepreneur based out of Washington state. His business Red Leaf Exteriors focuses on cleaning the outside of people’s homes, including gutter cleaning, window washing, and power washing. Benjamin started his business in January of 2026 after dropping out of college. He lived at home with his parents, had a part time job, and started small. Benjamin used his job to support his own financial needs, while investing all the profits from what was then a side gig back into the business.

His initial startup cost was $600-$800 dollars for gutter cleaning equipment. After he saved enough money he bought window cleaning equipment for an additional $200-$300 in May. He spent time working with a friend who was able to show him some tricks of the trade, which lead to him purchasing pressure washing equipment in July with the $2000ish he has saved up. Up to this point, Benjamin had consistently been working his part time job to pay for his own living expenses, then in July 2026 he quit his job to pursue Red Leaf Exteriors full time, and now splits the income from the business between growing the business and his own living expenses. He has been growing the business now for 4 months and it can sustain both itself and his personal living expenses.

Benjamin started this business because he did not see a clear plan that school was leading towards, and he liked the idea of being his own boss. He had a friend that had run a similar business in another area, and that friend functioned as a mentor and teacher for Benjamin as he started his business. Through that mentorship and other experience Benjamin has developed a mindset where he is constantly imagining “where will this lead me?” That mindset has allowed him to push through challenges in starting the business because he believe it will take him in a good direction for the foreseeable future.

One of the biggest challenges Benjamin has faced is learning to market his services well. He learned that a great service, paired with bad marketing, makes for a poor business. Benjamin initially used door to door sales and yard signs to promote his business. The first time the seasons switch he realized he needed to replace the yard signs with ones that aligned with the current season, because they became substantially less effective. The lesson he took away from that experience was to know your market, prepare for changes, and execute in ideas you have. His biggest piece of advice for other young entrepreneurs would be that if you have an idea of business or innovation, don’t let fear of failure stop you from just doing it. Stop thinking about it and just do it!