Juan Ponce, Ponce Services, Inc. – Young Entrepreneur of the Year
Congratulations to Juan Ponce of Ponce Services, Inc., who was selected as the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Houston District Young Entrepreneur of the Year! Juan embraced the entrepreneurial spirit early, and at the ripe old age of twenty-three, realized his dream of owning and building a successful business.
Juan’s story starts when he was just 12 years old and began working in the family business, a tree trimming business. Juan’s father had worked in the industry for nearly thirty years and had made sure Juan was familiar with all aspects of the business operations, including managing work crews. By the time he was a senior in high school, Juan knew that his future was in entrepreneurship.
In 2005, with the help of his father, Juan started a waste management company leasing roll-off containers to construction sites. Starting with 10 containers and one truck, he was profitable the very first year. Juan continued working diligently, reinvesting his profits to buy more equipment and more containers. Business was booming and his sales doubled year after year.
In 2008, Juan started a second business -- demolition services – after his customers in the waste management business expressed a need for these services. With the start of another business, however, Juan realized that he needed to evaluate his overall business strategies.
He connected with Orlando Saldana, Senior Business and Finance Consultant at the University of Houston Small Business Development Center, who helped him assess his current business position and develop a strategy for business growth. Orlando worked with Juan to develop his business plan and to address issues such as overall management, redesigning the business work flow, personnel needs, and updating the exterior of the business to include new signage. Orlando also introduced Juan to Deidra Sutton, a Senior Business Consultant at the University of Houston Procurement Technical Assistance Center, who helped Juan with his certification. He was recently approved as a minority vendor for METRO and the City of Houston.
In 2010, Juan’s father decided to transfer ownership of the tree trimming business to Juan, giving him the opportunity to consolidate his three profit centers under one umbrella organization, Ponce Services, Inc. The company provides tree care, preservation and removal, fertilization, trimming, land cleaning and deforestation, as well as waste management roll-off container rentals and demolition services.
But the 2011 Young Entrepreneur of the Year is not one to rest on his laurels. Always on the lookout for new opportunities, Juan is currently working with Orlando on a new venture: expanding his operation into the recycling of solid waste. He will soon be adding another profit center operating as a transfer station.
To find out more about this growing Houston-area business, visit http://ponceservicesinc.com/.
