Most students opt to spend their summers working, completing an internship or training for sports. But sophomore Chandler Rogers has spent his summers managing a fully licensed and insured moving company he created in 2016, Help-U-Move LLC. The company is based out of Topeka, Kansas, and serves a 100-mile radius.

Rogers said the idea of beginning a company stemmed from his stepfather, and the initial start-up was a difficult process.

“I had not had much prior moving experience, but I had treated every client as best as I could, and soon word got back to those who had referred me and I began to receive more jobs,” Rogers said. “By the end of summer I had built an effective business model that had been proven, and then I registered my company with the State of Kansas.”

In addition to the concept of the company, Rogers said his stepfather influenced his drive for the project.

“Both my parents are entrepreneurs and have self-started multiple businesses, I grew up in that ‘go-getter’ environment,” Rogers said. “People really enjoyed the quality of work that my crew and I were performing, and I really enjoyed the feedback I was receiving and began to transform it into a viable business.”

From the summer of 2017 to the summer of 2018, Rogers saw his profits double, something he said was a huge success in his eyes.

“I felt like I was starting to truly understand the business and have become more effective at bidding and running jobs as well as gaining clients,” Rogers said.

His connection with Baker has helped him gain clientele in both Baldwin City and Lawrence as well as a few employees.

“Per job I usually run two to four employees based on the size of the job,” Rogers said. “Most of my employees are guys I went to high school with who I know are hard working and well mannered.”

Junior Dillon Prokop is one of Rogers’ employees and began working for the company on an as-needed basis, but soon took up a regular role.

“My favorite part of working for Help-U-Move was the environment. It was a lot of individuals from the Topeka area around our age, so it was laid back,” Prokop said.

“We were able to have fun and joke around a lot more than I feel one would have been able to with a large corporate company. Chandler did a great job keeping it professional, but also made sure the long work days were enjoyable,” he said.

Rogers said the success of his company ultimately led to him to quit football, but he left the team on good terms. He is now completing jobs on weekends and school breaks in addition to the summer.

“I had talked to Coach Thoren about sending down crews of football guys during the summer to work on their off days from summer workouts, [which] is something that I most definitely look forward to,” Rogers said.

The skills learned and contacts acquired from Help-U-Move LLC are ones that Rogers says he plans to use in the future.

“My route at this moment is pre-veterinarian where I hope to start my own veterinarian clinic in Topeka,” Rogers said. “This experience will help me gain the experience of starting my own business and learning how to run a successful operation.”