Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Fleet Robinson, 12, left, and Harrison Steineker, 11, of Surge DJ Services, work a 6-year-old’s birthday party. Robinson and Steineker developed and launched Surge DJ Services last April.
For friends Fleet Robinson and Harrison Steineker, going into business together was not a question of if, but when. The two have been friends since they met in elementary school at Cherokee Bend, while Robinson was in fourth grade and Steineker was in third grade.
“Me and Fleet thought that it would be a good idea to start a business early so we can learn a little bit about how to manage a business, since we both have the same goal of having one million dollars in the bank by the age of 21,” Harrison said.
As both boys are still in elementary and middle school, their parents are, naturally, involved in the business as well, though they hope to move on from being the “muscle” and the “chauffeur” at some point.
When asked how they felt about their boys starting their own business, Fleet’s mom, Meredith Robinson, said that she wasn’t surprised at all.
“Fleet has always been very entrepreneurial, so I wasn't that surprised when he and Harrison approached us with the idea,” she said. Cameron Steineker, mom to Harrison, agreed.
“My first thought was, ‘OK, well we need to learn about the business.’ Harrison has always liked music and playing DJ in the car, but starting a business was a big undertaking. I was very impressed with their dedication to doing the research and putting together a plan of action,” she said.
Fleet did not go into the DJ business blind. His father had DJ experience from his junior high years, and so did a few of his friends. The Robinsons strongly advised Fleet and Harrison to speak to other entrepreneurs, especially DJs, before they decided this was the business venture they wanted to try.
After taking what Meredith Robinson described as a “master class in DJing” from Birmingham business Tom’s Sound, she and Cameron Steineker agreed to lend the boys the funds to start up their DJ services.
“After several sessions at home, they could competently set everything up, comfortably make announcements, play music fluidly and take requests. They took complete ownership of the public speaking and technical aspects of the work; we did not want to play a part in that at all,” Meredith Robinson said.
When the day finally came for Fleet and Harrison to launch their business, Surge DJ Services, what better place was there to showcase your talents than the captive audience of a school carpool line?
“We sent an email to our principal, Mr. [Brannon] Aaron. He allowed us to DJ the carpool line at school and to publicize. Then we went back to the trusty old ‘bank of mom,’ and they loaned us more money so that we could buy shirts, hats, stickers and flyers for our company,” Harrison said.
Word spread quickly about Surge DJ Services, and the boys, and their parents, are thrilled at their success. Like all great startups, however, there have been some lessons learned along the way.
“Our first DJ gig was when we DJ-ed the Cherokee Bend carpool line. It was near the end of the school year, so it was pretty hot out. My computer actually ended up overheating because we didn’t have a tent yet,” Fleet said. “After we had left, it was very clear that
we needed a tent. It was also especially
important that we had Wi-Fi so we could play the song requests.”
For their moms, the hardest part of managing a growing business is scheduling.
“With both boys doing different sports, sometimes it can be tricky. We do our absolute best to make every single gig work, even if it means one may have to leave a few minutes early. This business is truly a family commitment — we all pitch in to make it work,” Cameron Steineker said.
For other parents whose children want to start a business like their sons did, Meredith and Cameron advised to “evaluate the business partner relationship and talk candidly about the support and responsibilities of all involved.”
Find Surge DJ Services on Instagram @surge_dj_services.
