Adding to the growing list of entrepreneurs on campus this year are students Jeremy Shutt ‘26 and Sean Angelucci ‘27, working in the home service business. This year, these two students proved the balance between college coursework and self-starting a business is possible, no matter how difficult, beginning with going door-to-door offering window washing services.
Last spring, Shutt came across what he thought was some YouTube channel trying to get viral off a scam. A man by the name of SteveO The Window Cleaner on YouTube recommended that with just $100 of equipment, anyone can turn a profit washing windows for homeowners.
“I didn’t believe it, but then I actually went out and got the $100 of equipment, and then my first day out I made $500. From there, it kind of just developed to where I am now,” Shutt said.
Shutt began his work in window washing with one extension pole with a brush and squeegee attachments, soap, and water. Today, he owns the independent homecare company, Shutt’s Home Services, which has expanded its services to power washing as well as snow removal for clients during the winter.
He maintains clientele in his hometown of Annapolis, and the Roland Park and Guilford neighborhoods in Baltimore during the semesters. His primary approach to gaining exposure is door knocking, a process that Shutt knows has a reputation for being a nuisance.
“A lot of people think of door-to-door sales as people who come to your door with iPads selling you a service for a major company, but for us it’s a super personal and quick talk,” Shutt said.
Shutt sees knocking in doors as a direct and personal way to communicate without applying pressure to potential clients.
“I think people find it interesting, because not a lot of people get someone knocking on their door offering a service that they can do at that moment, right then and there, and make a complete difference,” Shutt said.
As his business grew, Shutt recruited a handful of other part-time employees, expanding the business and its sphere of influence. Among them was Angelucci, a finance major who took interest in Shutt’s work, and had aspirations of self-starting a business of his own. Angelucci, after months of working with Shutt, began window washing in the summer in his hometown in Pennsylvania under the business name, Sean Does Windows.
“I had to do some convincing with my parents, but eventually I made enough money to show the proof of concept, so I ended up doing it all summer,” Angelucci said.
But, Angelucci realized in the fall that traveling between his home in Pennsylvania and his home on campus made maintaining a consistent clientele a great challenge. He wanted to start a business that he could do from any location.
Connecting his experience in home services and his interest in Artificial Intelligence (AI) developments, Angelucci is now coding AI chat agents for home service websites. Angelucci works with business to place the small widgets in the corner of the websites. The widgets answer questions, direct customers, and provide information to keep clients informed on the product.
“The idea of it is that these widgets will get people who would’ve left your site and turn them into buyers. Because people leave sites all the time due to disinterest, but also definitely due to unanswered questions,” Angelucci said.
Angelucci uses the programs Voice Flow and Voice Glow to develop the widgets to add an additional element of customer service and guide customers looking to book an appointment with these home service companies. He sees the programs as an effective tool to help take on some of the load that sales representatives carry with closing deals and making cold calls.
“I think companies that don’t implement it will get left behind, and it is important for us to understand how to use it,” Angelucci said.
Angelucci credited his understanding of home service businesses and their needs to his previous work in window washing, both with Shutt and his independent work over the summer. He also hopes to expand his business to assist real estate businesses and other more profitable ventures.
“It was just a great gateway for him to see what was possible for creating his own business,” Shutt said.
Shutt and Angelucci hope to continue their business ventures in home services throughout college and beyond. Shutt is particularly excited to see how his business may grow once he graduates and can dedicate his full attention to it. Still, he remains diligent about giving other opportunities a chance.
“I think it’s important to be focused on only one or two things max but always have an understanding and your eye out for other things. Opportunities come and go, and if you’re not looking, you’re not going to see them.”
