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Broad Run senior launches online business portal
Greg Snow was 16 when he decided to start his own Internet company, Loudoun Coups (short for coupons).
While working at Smoothie King in Ashburn, Snow approached his boss and pitched his idea for a Web site where local businesses like Smoothie King could be promoted by featuring company information and coupons.
Now Snow's site, www.LoudounCoups.com, contains information on about 20 businesses in eastern Loudoun, including Smoothie King, Fractured Prune doughnut shop, Foster's Grille and Meadows Farms nursery.
Loudoun residents can visit the site to find and print coupons for savings at all these businesses, Snow said, and Loudoun Coups is expanding this year into a magazine featuring even more deals at local businesses.
"I just saw all the coupons coming to my house in the mail, and I thought people should have a better way to access it," said Snow, 17. "My main goal is to spread it through Loudoun County."
Snow has taken his idea, which originated as a school project for DECA, a national marketing club, and officially registered the site and received a home business license.
His Web site gets about 1,000 hits a month, and business owners say it has helped them attract more patrons to their businesses.
From here, Snow plans to circulate the Loudoun Coups magazine featuring local business coupons among students at Broad Run and other high schools.
He said his friends at school weren't sure about his ambitions at first, but once his business took off, they started supporting him.
After high school graduation this June, Snow said he still hopes to stay involved in running the company, though he might have to hire some help.
"Since it's mainly online, I could run it from anywhere, even from my dorm room," Snow said. "With the magazine, I might have to have a senior run it next year."
The experience of launching and maintaining his own Web site has been a lot of work, he said, but he has learned from it too.
"It's a lot harder than I thought it would be, but it's been fun interacting with business owners and building a client base," he said. "To do something like this, you have to be able to really connect with people."
Snow is applying to colleges this fall and hopes to attend James Madison University as a business major.
"I want to run my own business when I am older," he said. "I want to start with a franchise and go from there."
Contact the reporter at ecoe@timespapers.com
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