Teen-Owned Business Expands Services In McLean

MCLEAN, VA — When McLean High School students Ben Jeannot, Jack Lannin and Quin Frew started a business placing teens with house work jobs, they had five teens signed up to work. Now over 200 teens are signed up for TeenServ, a service allowing McLean residents to post jobs and hire teens to complete them. It's also offering new services: tutoring and indoor work such as cleaning.

Through TeenServ, residents sign up to post jobs they need done. Teens signed up to work are considered independent contractors and can choose to accept a job depending on their schedules and work preferences. Residents set their own prices for the jobs, and the amount advertised to the teens is the amount they'll be paid. Payments are conducted through PayPal.

Lannin told Patch the new indoor jobs provide opportunities for teens who cannot do the physical work associated with outdoor tasks. On the other side, it helps residents who need a one-time job, Jeannot added.

Among the things teens can help with are hooking up TVs, printers and other technology, as well as hanging up holiday lights. When a customer seeks a tutoring job, there's a vetting process to check what experience a teen has with the subject.

If the teens do not have experience with a particular academic subject — or any job posting for that matter — TeenServ will let the customer know or recommend a professional.

"Teens don't usually accept jobs that they know they wouldn't be good at," Jeannot said of the job listing process.

TeenServ takes teens' safety into account with the new indoor jobs. Aside from screening addresses on the National Sex Offender Registry, there is a check-in, check-out system in place when a teen goes to do a job.

"We make sure that it's very clear if they feel uncomfortable, they leave," said Lannin.

If a customer isn't completely satisfied with a job, the TeenServ owners will give a refund and do the job again themselves.

The owners are willing to work with seniors or others who aren't familiar with posting jobs online. "This is a service that they can benefit from," said Jeannot. "If they call or reach out to us, we are willing to work around their circumstances."

In 2019, over 300 jobs were completed through TeenServ. Looking ahead to the future, they hope to expand the geographical area covered and maintain data on teen workers. The business is focused on mostly McLean for now, but TeenServ's owners hope to expand around Fairfax County. That involves building up a base of teen workers before allowing residents to post jobs elsewhere in the county. After all, if residents need time-specific jobs done, they can't be the ones waiting.

To contact TeenServ, email teenservbusiness@gmail.com, call or text 703-399-6198 outside school hours or visit www.teenserv.com.