Brock School of Business sophomore Ash Perry is a resident in the Samford Startup small business incubator. Through the program, Perry has launched his business Howl Services LLC, a service-driven business with a two-sided market that connects high school and college students with various tasks in the communities in which they live through an on-demand booking app. Howl provides services such as yard work, painting, junk hauling, pressure washing, installing and removing holiday decor, moving, and a multitude of other odd jobs.

"We fulfill our mission through our on-demand booking app and plan to expand to several cities across the nation," he said.

Perry chose the name "Howl" because he wanted to connect the name of his business back to the first location on Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, in some way as he had plans of expanding from the beginning. While his family home is in Tennessee, the driveway and mailbox are located in Georgia. In fact, there are only two houses, including his, on his street that are located in Tennessee. With a mountain divided by state borders, Perry is constantly working on the Georgia side known as "Fairyland." In Fairyland, the streets are named after fairy tales like Princess, Wood Nymph, and more! At the entrance to the Fairyland there is a metal carving of Little Red Riding Hood and the wolf which is the icon for Fairyland. When Perry started his business, he created a list of potential names and "Howl" was on the list. The list consisted of random one word names as he thought that was trending at the time just like the app "Acorn." With further contemplation, Perry saw that "Howl" could fit perfectly. So his clients are completely confused, he added the word "services" and a catchy slogan, "Any Task, Just Ask," so people who would understand it is an odd job company. The word "Howl" is short, connects back to his first location, and can be used to tell his clients to "howl" for help.

Samford Startup has helped launch my business by giving me a space to collaborate with fellow students also pursuing their entrepreneurial dreams. With the help of Brock School of Business faculty and local professionals, we are also gaining new insight and tangible ways to grow our businesses. It’s the resources and collaboration that this program offers that has helped me start a business that will hopefully make a redemptive impact here on campus and around the nation.

I plan to launch my business all around the nation. I am working on the best model to expand and will grow my business well beyond my graduation date. Part of growing my business will be connecting with local schools and communities in order to shed light on what exactly Howl does. We will operate as a small business in every city in which we expand, but will serve various cities in the nation.

Learn more about Howl Services through these platforms: