Although I'm not particularly sentimental, because June marked our first year anniversary I am going to tell the story of Renovation Design Group - from my perspective.

I had a difficult time deciding what to major in while in college. After getting my Associates degree from Weber State University, I took a year of courses in the mechanical engineering program and transferred to the University of Utah.

I just couldn't get excited about engineering, so I switched majors to business. Although I also had misgivings about my new major, my senior year I took a class on developing a business plan.

While describing my class to my sister-in-law, Annie Vernon, she suggested that I write a plan for starting an architectural firm. She explained to me that she and her co-worker, Ann Robinson, had wanted to start a business for some time, but just never had.

Ann, Annie, and I met several times over the course of the semester and, of course, I got an A on the business plan. We continued to refine the plan and submitted it to a business plan contest called the Entrepreneurial Challenge. (The winner gets $40,000 to start their business.) We spent hours researching and developing our plan. We advanced to the semi-finalist stage and though we didn't win the contest, I found that I loved the whole process. Two months after graduation, I quit my job and started Renovation Design Group along with Ann and Annie.

78 clients and one year later, I still wake excited to go to work in the morning!

Jared Bulloch, President, Renovation Design Group
© Renovation Design Group LLC 2005