Some children want to be firefighters or doctors or astronauts when they grow up. For as long as he can remember, Greg Snow wanted to be a business owner.

"I always was the kid doing lemonade stands or mowing lawns to get extra money," Snow said.

That entrepreneurial spirit has helped him create his first business, Loudoun Coups, which he launched last year at home, while a junior at Broad Run High School.

Now in his senior year, he has made the Web-based coupon business his DECA project and has hopes of turning it into a money-making venture. DECA is a co-curricular organization of high-school students enrolled in marketing education.

"It was his baby, his creation," said Cheryl Daley, marketing teacher and DECA sponsor at Broad Run. "He'll come in and ask advice, but it is his, completely his."



SNOW, 17, from Ashburn, came up with the idea after seeing all the various coupon clippers in the mail. He decided to gather up all those coupons and put them in one central location. His first client and what he describes as his "guinea pig" was Smoothie King in Ashburn, where he has worked for more than two years.

"I was a bit skeptical at first as Ashburn has a million coupon site out there, but I know him very well and I believe in his abilities and attributes regardless of his age," Brad Lepp, owner of Smoothie King said in an e-mail. He said there has been a "very good grassroots response" to the coupons Snow has featured on his Web site for the business.

"I'm seeing anywhere between 12-15 of his coupons per month come back," Lepp said.

Besides going out and soliciting businesses to use his service, Snow has also created the site, incorporated his business into a Limited Liability Company, registered his business name, wrote the articles of incorporation and is seeking his home-based business license, after which he will contact the IRS to get his tax identification number, get insurance and open a bank account — all on his own. Whenever he has questions, he contacts the Loudoun County Small Business Development Center in Sterling or seeks the advice of Daley.

"It's an eight- to 10-step process. I thought it would be harder," Snow said of the formalities of creating a business. "It's a lot of paperwork."

As of the end of September, Snow featured 18 businesses on his site ranging from a number of restaurants to recreation to services in the Ashburn, Broadlands, Leesburg and Sterling area.

"The future goal is to do individual advertising for each business," Snow said. "I want to learn to build relationships."



ULTIMATELY, SNOW would like to charge for his service and split the profits between the business and the DECA program at school. So far, Snow is signing up clients for free, but hopes to start charging a nominal fee.

"One of the things we've talked about is finding a way to see how much those things are actually being used. For instance at Smoothie King, if they are getting the coupons back … maybe it's worth charging for the value they are getting," Daley said. "I think he can find the right formula to charge the customers. The right price for this could work."

Despite the current economic climate, Lepp agrees: "We are in very tough economic times and I think any slight advantage you have or can get by getting your name out is positive. His rates are very reasonable and as I said, I believe in what he does and he wants to see it succeed."

Lepp does admit that he thinks Snow faces an "uphill battle" given the poor economy and amount of competition, but thinks if the Web site continues to evolve and continues to set itself apart from everyone else the teenager will accomplish his goals.

"To his benefit, he is young and resourceful," Lepp said. "It's going to be hard for small businesses to part with their marketing money. He knows he has to work extra hard to see that money."



ONE OF HIS plans is to use follow DECA members to blanket the area with flyers to get the word out and solicit new customers. He has even approached Daley about trying to create a joint venture with other DECA programs at neighboring schools. Daley isn't sure how to go about creating a partnership with the other programs, as it has never been tried before.

For that matter, as far as she knows, no one has ever created an actual business before. Typically, DECA projects are theoretical. Students work on the their business plans and work out all the other aspects and variables of running a business then submit a 30-page paper to the state DECA association as a yearly competition. Snow's challenge, Daley said, will be to convey that this is an actual working business not some hypothetical situation.

"I'm not sure if we have thought through how to get all these schools engaged in it," Daley said. "We all do work together, so many students are friends. I think it is something that could work. It's just a question of working out the details."

Besides working on becoming an entrepreneur — ultimately Snow sees himself as first owning a franchise business then opening his own restaurant — he is active at school and with his friends. He played varsity football last year and plans to play basketball, which he has been playing since second grade, this upcoming season and continues to work shifts at Smoothie King while also visiting businesses on weekends and updating the Web site on a regular basis.

He hopes to attend George Mason University, but is considering schools such as Virginia Tech, Radford, University of South Carolina and University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

"I plan on majoring in business, that's why I really want to go to GMU," Snow said.