Entrepreneurship is an endeavor often not explored until college or later in adulthood; however, two Benilde–St. Margaret’s students challenged this idea by establishing their own business. Juniors Liam Long and Matthew Tucker created Deep Divers Commercial, a scuba odd-jobs business that offers any service needed under water.

Before founding Deep Divers Commercial, Long and Tucker each had experience in aquatic occupations. Long spent his last two summers working for Waterfront Restoration, doing jobs that required him to clean up invasive species in the Minneapolis Metropolitan Area lakes, while Tucker cleaned, polished, and buffed boats for Tidy Boats on Lake Minnetonka. Long has a hundred dives logged in fresh water, while Tucker is an expert on detailing and cleaning. Additionally, both Long and Tucker are decorated Eagle Scouts.

The two students are not only business partners, but have been friends for close to five years. After discussing past job experiences and shared ideas about business, the duo founded Deep Divers Commercial. “We thought it would be a fun thing to do over the summer and would allow for us to gain some experience in the business world,” Long said.

To get started, Long and Tucker had to obtain licenses from the Department of Natural Resources and register as an official business in the state of Minnesota. They spent hours learning about web design in order to build their own website to give customers quick access to their services and contact information. “We have spent a lot of time researching and learning how to make a website, while also getting licenses to meet the DNR requirements of working in this job field,” Tucker said.

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Deep Divers Commercial offers their services throughout the spring, summer, and fall all around the Twin Cities area. The team takes their “odd jobs” description seriously: they can be hired for anything from golf ball diving to dock search and recovery to floating weed removal. “Whatever you need scuba gear for, we are likely to offer that service,” Long said.

Compared to other companies, Long and Tucker can offer lower prices while retaining the same, if not better, customer satisfaction guarantee. Deep Divers Commercial has accomplished this by eliminating corporate costs (they use their personal vehicles for services) in conjunction with highly valuing both field experience and customer satisfaction. “We don’t have any big corporate costs. We don’t have people working in some office for us,” Tucker said.   

The main priority for the two teens, as emerging entrepreneurs, is to get the word out about their new business, especially their dedication to tackle any job that needs to get done. A job’s expense is measured by what is required to do in that job rather than by the amount of time it would cost to do it. “A job could take us 10 hours or 50 hours; it doesn’t matter how long it will take. It just makes it easier for the customer,” Long said.