Young Gun

A thought occurred to aspiring entrepreneur Jonathan Bucci five years ago as he pressure washed a customer's driveway in Naples. He could hire a buddy to do this while he grew his new business, selling its services door to door.

The Barron Collier High Class of 2012 grad and former varsity football captain went into execution mode on his plan, with one caveat: He didn't drive directly to the potential customer's house. “I was driving a really crummy truck and parking it down the road,” Bucci says, so no one saw him get out of it.

Now 23, Bucci put in lots of hours on generating pressure-washing accounts, though most of whatever income he had came not from the business, but from waiting tables at night. He persevered, and within two years, the Naples native added house painting, minor maintenance and home repairs to his services.