Student’s lawn mowing business leads to honor.
Meet NFIB Scholarship Winner Adam Hackfort of Iowa
What began as a project for Adam Hackfort in 2012 has turned into a thriving business.
The teenager started Adam Hackfort Mowing by going door-to-door in his hometown of Panora, about an hour west of Des Moines. He even printed business cards to hand out and placed ads in the paper to add legitimacy to his venture. Soon, the requests started pouring in and the business took off.
Now Hackfort’s efforts have earned him a college scholarship, the NFIB/Iowa Leadership Council Young Entrepreneur Award.
Hackfort worked at a golf course before he started his mowing business, but the freedom of scheduling his own hours and not working for someone else drew him to start a small business.
“I can adjust my schedule to fit my priorities,” Hackfort said.
Despite this freedom, running a seasonal company comes with challenges. Working around the weather and fulfilling customer needs with a one-man business has always been a struggle, he said.
Although the recent high school graduate will be leaving his hometown to study supply chain management at Iowa State University in the fall, he hopes to continue his mowing business during his summer breaks. Hackfort encourages other teenagers to pursue their own dreams of owning a small business.
“It might be hard at first, but every kid is capable of running a small business if they want to,” Hackfort said.
