“We’re in the business of helping people get into business,” said Adam Povlitz, CEO and president of Anago Cleaning Systems, when asked why his company chose to establish a scholarship at NSU. “We thought, ‘What better way to inspire young people to be entrepreneurial than to create a scholarship for those with a major or minor in entrepreneurship?’”
Anago’s David Povlitz and Terry Mollica Aspiring Entrepreneur Scholarship was established to commemorate the 25th year of Anago’s existence and celebrate the founders of the organization before they retired. Although Anago Cleaning Systems is rooted in the commercial cleaning industry, the organization offers entrepreneurs the opportunity to establish master franchises, as well as independently owned and operated business franchises. The company has continued to grow and be successful, ranking #33 in Entrepreneur magazine’s most recent annual Franchise 500 rankings.
This year’s recipient of the Aspiring Entrepreneur Scholarship, Cameran Hollis (Business Administration Management, ’24), had the opportunity to meet with Anago founder David Povlitz. During that conversation, Hollis was able to share his plans to one day own and operate an assisted living facility, as well as get some advice from a successful entrepreneur.
“Mr. Povlitz taught me that you have to start from the bottom and work your way up,” Hollis said. “He also told me don’t get discouraged. You are bound to make mistakes, just make sure you learn from them. He taught me how to be persistent. I hope I can find someone like him to be my mentor.”
Mentoring seems to run in the family, as Adam Povlitz is a member of the Executives and Entrepreneurs in Residence Program (EEiRP) at NSU’s H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship. In the program, students engage with executives and entrepreneurs, learn from their expertise, and share their own business plans for feedback and advice.
“In franchising, your job is really being a teacher. A franchisee is not your employee because they own their own business, so you’re having to teach them how you would conduct business in an industry that you’ve been in for years or decades. And sometimes you only have about two weeks of initial training to do it,” Povlitz said.
“What I do in franchising ends up being very tangential to coaching someone on how to operate a business,” he added. “So, when I learned how the Executive and Entrepreneurs in Residence program worked—students will bounce their ideas off you and you can coach them—I thought that was great.”
Jamal Noel (Accounting, ’22) had the benefit of attending a presentation from Povlitz and said he learned to blaze his own path after hearing Povlitz speak about his former career in corporate finance at IBM and the transition he made to working at Anago.
“He [Povlitz] said a couple of things that stuck with me,” said Noel. “He said to really understand business, you have to be in a business, and to be successful at business, you have to be willing to be challenged.”
Noel has taken that advice to heart and has pushed himself to be uncomfortable at NSU, constantly growing, taking on new roles, and taking advantage of opportunities like the EEiRP. After graduation, he plans to get his CPA, go to law school, and become a tax attorney.
“Thank you for the opportunity to learn,” he added. “The executives don’t have to be here, but they take time out of their day.”
Povlitz noted that time is something donors can give that means more to students than money.
“If a student gets a couple thousand bucks on a scholarship, she’s happy, but if that student comes up with a business plan that literally changes her life from a chat with me, or a professor, or another businessperson in the community, you can’t put a price tag on that,” he said.
He added that he appreciates hearing the students’ business ideas and having the opportunity to encourage them to think through the steps that progresses their ideas to an actionable business plan.
“I met with a student who wanted to start a coffee bar, and we walked through some of her ideas. I suggested she work through all of the positions at a Starbucks to learn its day-to-day operations,” Povlitz said. “She walked out and said, ‘This was probably the most helpful conversation about my business that I’ve had.’ That gave me goosebumps. For me, that’s the benefit. I enjoy the aha moments students have.”
To learn more about Anago Cleaning Systems, visit AnagoCleaning.com.
