By: Deborah Johnson Wood
Danny Beckett and Sarah La Fave have busy lives. They're both full-time college students—he at Cornerstone, she at GVSU. And together they run a thriving web development business that has expanded from two to ten people and garnered $250,000 in sales in just seven months.
The business, Spearia, focuses on web development and online marketing for clients, and their own product development.
"We don't just build you something and let it sit there. We'll help you take your product to market and build a marketing strategy around whatever you're creating," Beckett says.
Beckett, 24, bought the business two years ago. He and La Fave, 22, began building it last August with two employees who worked out of Beckett's house. By September, they staff had doubled, so they moved into a small office at 6231 West River Drive. Soon the company had doubled again, necessitating a move to a larger space in the same building.
Spearia is developing its own product called Schwagon that will engage teens in competitive events on the web. Users will post videos of themselves doing, say, their biggest skateboard or snowboard jump, and will win "schwag" from different companies as prizes.
Beckett and La Fave expect to hire more web developers and other staff in the near future as the company continues to grow. Beckett expects the jobs to pay between $15 and $30 an hour.
"Our vision is to grow at the rate we've been growing, and to structure new partnerships and get good people," Beckett adds. "Without each and every person we wouldn't be at where we are today."
Source: Danny Beckett, Spearia; George Bosnjak, The Right Place, Inc.
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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