He Skipped College and Built a Business in Florence at 19

He was 19 years old, sitting at a table at SC Works Pee Dee on West Evans Street, filling out paperwork he didn't fully understand.

He wasn't there for a job. He was there for a business license referral — the first real step toward something he'd been sketching out in notebooks since junior year.

"Everyone kept asking me where I was going to college," he said. "I didn't have an answer. I had a plan."

His plan was a small pressure washing and exterior cleaning business. Simple concept. Low startup cost. Real demand in a city like Florence, where older neighborhoods need maintenance and commercial properties need curb appeal.

He'd saved $2,200 working part-time at a local retailer during his senior year at Wilson High School. He bought a commercial-grade pressure washer, printed business cards from a Canva template, and started knocking on doors in his own neighborhood.

The First Three Months

The first month, he made $340. The second month, $820. By month three, he had three recurring commercial clients and had started charging flat-rate packages instead of hourly.

"The turning point was when I stopped thinking about it like a side hustle and started thinking about it like a business," he said. "That meant having a price sheet. Having a schedule. Answering my phone every time."

He didn't take out loans. He reinvested every dollar back into equipment in year one — a second pressure washer, a better truck mount, safety equipment. He started hiring a friend part-time during busy seasons.

What Florence Gave Him

He's asked often whether he regrets not leaving. The answer, two years in, is no.

"Florence is a smaller market, but that's actually good when you're starting out. You can get known. I know the people at three different property management companies now. That doesn't happen in a big city when you're 21."

He acknowledges the city has real gaps — nightlife, certain amenities, a sense of stagnation that some of his friends felt like a ceiling. But he also sees what others his age are missing: a city where relationships still move business, where the cost of starting something small is lower than almost anywhere else in the state, and where a young person willing to show up consistently can stand out.

"If you're waiting for Florence to give you something, you'll be waiting," he said. "But if you bring something to Florence, people notice."

What He'd Tell You

He doesn't claim to have it figured out. He still takes afternoon calls sitting in his truck between jobs. He still has slow months. He still occasionally wonders what the four-year version of his life would have looked like.

But he has something a lot of his peers don't have yet: equity. A client list. A business that exists because he started it.

If you're 17 or 18 and wondering whether you have to leave Florence to build something — he's proof that you don't. Whether it's pressure washing or photography or lawn care or mobile detailing, the infrastructure to start something small is here. SC Works will help you with the paperwork. FDTC will teach you the skills. The customers are already your neighbors.

You don't have to wait for permission.