Raymon Land III, owner of Fabulous Coaches, Branford, FL, has been named a finalist in Businessweek’s sixth annual search for America’s best young entrepreneurs. The honors go to young business leaders age 25 and under. Voting ends on October 21, and the top five vote-getters will be announced on the Small Business channel on October 28.
Bloomberg.com reports Land, 23, as the “young guy” in the charter bus industry, where most operators have decades of experience.
“It’s not like the tech business, where a lot of young people start businesses [based on] new ideas,” says Land, who founded the company in high school after finding charter buses lacking when he had hired them for class trips. He bought his first bus, a used, 49-passenger Van Hool, online for $25,000 — using a loan and $5,000 of his own money—and set up the fabulouscoach.com website in 2004. The company’s largest deal to date was a $1.1 million, eight-month contract with the military to move troops around following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Land says revenue reached $3 million in 2009 and forecasts $4.5 million this year. Today, the 77-employee business has more than 40 vehicles. Land, who still drives buses himself.
The finalists in Businessweek.com’s sixth annual search for America’s best young entrepreneurs reflect the times: Most of their companies are lean and focused on getting profitable before expanding. For more, visit www.businessweek.com.
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