Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dylan Sadiq, the full founder of The College Cleaners. I am currently 20 years old so yes, I am still in college while starting my first business. I am a first-generation college student attending Rutgers University-New Brunswick pursuing a degree in Biomedical Engineering with a concentration in Prosthetic Engineering. I dream to one day have the opportunity to help amputees get the chance to live a normal life by being capable of completing everyday tasks on their own.

My power washing story begins with me just doing my mom a favor by cleaning the outside of her house. My older brother owned a low-end pressure washer and I figured it could work so I tried my best and the results shocked me, my brother, and especially my mother. She was so grateful that I took the time to help and our house came out better than we could imagine. My family then urged me to put myself out there to earn a couple of extra bucks as we, along with everyone else, were struggling due to the pandemic. As a result, I put together a nice little Facebook post and told everyone if they were interested to please reach out to me.

The attention I drew from my Facebook post was unexpected! I received over 250 reactions, over 70 comments, and 20 personal messages. When it was all said and done, I worked with 12 local residents to help power wash their homes, fences, and decks out of my mother’s Hyundai with a $70 Home Depot power washer. Although this was not a business, I treated every home owner with infinite respect for reaching out to me for help. Their gratitude for my work was overwhelming considering my inexperience and lack of resources. Despite this, I worked as hard as I could to not only make a few bucks during an everlasting pandemic but to give back to my community and put smiles on my neighbor’s faces. Fortunately, my customers noticed my dedication to do the best work I possibly could and treated me accordingly. In the end, this came to be an amazing learning and business experience which I greatly enjoyed and appreciate. Thank you to all of my Bayonne Residents who helped me through a hard time for all of us and gave me a chance to show my potential. At this point, my older brother saw the true potential for this to be my first business! So I saved every dollar I could from power washing, shoveling, birthdays, and my Rutgers work study until I was able to afford a van, a logo, a vehicle wrap, a professional grade power washing equipment. After months of hard work, learning, failure, and dedication, The College Cleaners was born.