'Student Painters' are College Students Turned Entrepreneurs

Spending hours on his feet while knocking on doors and handing out fliers is probably not how Anthony Pappas thought he would spend his spring.

But that's exactly what the 20-year-old college student has been doing.

Pappas, a sophomore at Western Michigan University and 2011 graduate of Canton High School, said he's learned what it takes to run a business from working with Student Painters.

Student Painters is a student painting company. All painters and managers are full-time college students who are earning money to pay for tuition and expenses for the following school year, according to its website.

Pappas joined in January and will be managing his own Student Painters exterior painting business in Northville, Novi and Farmington Hills this summer. 

"I have all the responsibility. I have to go out and market my business, and I make the sales," he said.

He said he was trained at Western Michigan University with other recruits and gets help from his manager, whom he meets regularly. He is responsible for hiring painters, also college students, to join his crew for the summer. 

"I will have a crew of four to six people. I only have two painters right now, so I'll be looking for painters," he said.

Although it is a tough job, Pappas said he enjoys it. Learning about business is great for him because he said he plans to study accounting, but he recommends it for any student.

"It's so incredible. My confidence has gone through the roof," he said.

Pappas said he thought about running a business one day. Now he can make sales pitches, determine estimates and write contracts for his sales.

"I'm going to be able to put this on my resume. If employers ask me about the hardest thing I’ve done, I can tell them I ran my own business," he said.

Pappas said his parents weren't sold on the idea at first because they weren't sure about all of the extra work he would be doing. He comes home every weekend to spread the word about his business and secure painting projects from May until August. Pappas is eager to succeed and plans to work more with Student Painters.

"Depending on how I do this summer, I can come back and become a district manager," he said.

Pappas is hiring painters, so those interested can call him at 734-560-7191. He said those wanting to manage their own Student Painters service area, like him, can look into it in the fall for next summer.