Michael Fafinski ’25 is an enterprising young man. The University of St. Thomas alumnus who majored in entrepreneurship, launched a landscaping company at age 16. Now, at age 23, he owns a gutter installation business with plans to grow through acquisitions.
“I am going to sell this business in a decade or so and leverage the capital for my next venture,” he said referring to his three-year-old company, Gutter Galaxy, which provides a range of gutter-related services. His goal is to take the experience he’s gained and apply it toward acquiring and growing an already established business.
Fafinski’s innate entrepreneurial spirit runs in the family.
“My dad has never had a regular 9-to-5 in his life. I’ve taken after him,” he said. “I was working at AMC Theatres in Rosemount (as a teen), and I realized that I could make more than minimum wage if I started my own lawn mowing business.”
But home services-related ventures weren’t Fafinski’s first taste of entrepreneurship.
“I was always selling duct taped wallets and random stuff as a kid,” he added.
Now, Fafinski plans to level up his career using a growth strategy he learned at St. Thomas called Entrepreneurship through Acquisition (ETA). An ETA strategy allows entrepreneurs to acquire and operate an existing business rather than starting one from scratch.
He credits his studies at the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship in the Opus College of Business as being instrumental in providing him the tools to implement a strategy for a successful, scalable business.
What classes or professors at St. Thomas had the biggest impact on your journey as an entrepreneur?
There are two classes and two professors that really launched my business career. The first is entrepreneur finance taught by Professor Jay Ebben. That class was so cool because it taught me how to take accounting principles I learned as freshman and use those numbers to advance a business.
The second class was entrepreneurship venture capital and analysis taught by Jay Ebben and Jack Dempsey, the two best professors I’ve ever had. They understand the best way to learn was to bring in outside people and have them teach us how to network. I can’t say thank you enough to those two professors.
What key takeaways from your St. Thomas classes would you like to share?
The biggest thing I’ve learned is the power of networking. Jay Ebben said he meets with at least three people a week. He suggested that I do the same and create a newsletter for my network, which I am in the process of doing. Networking has been very powerful. I have had more revenue come in from it than I thought I would have.
What helpful tips do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs?
I would say jump in as soon as possible. I could have waited until I graduated to start a business, but I wouldn’t be where I am now. It’s going to be hard sometimes, but jump in. You are going to learn a lot along the way.
Jay Ebben and Jack Dempsey did a great job helping everybody pull great value from the entrepreneurship program.
I am so excited to be in the real world now. I can make some money, run my business and expand.
