Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I`m currently a college student looking for some ideas on starting up a business.  I`ve been coming up with some ideas that would take advantage of all of the mass amounts of people in such a small area.   I currently have been weighting the pros and cons of two ideas.  The first would be a college promotion business.  It would almost be like a marketing firm where I would target my college campus and advertise for businesses.  I`ve seen a lot of companies target my campus for people to promote them, but I haven`t seen a business take care of them all.  My other idea is an online grocery/school supplies store that delivers on my campus.  I`ll be working out of my apartment this year.  If you guys could leave some advice that would be great.

Thanks

I like the delivery business best, because you`re selling a concrete product. It`s very hard to sell an abstraction like an ombudsman who connects marketing companies to sales reps on a campus. Not to mention you`d be entering the sphere of influence of the college`s own marketing department.

On the other hand, everybody knows what a "delivery service" is. Even college students!

There`s no doubt in my mind that a majority of college students fall into a certain general demographic, in terms of what they would want delivered. There`s always a sort of "general store" somewhere in town, along with a typical fast food place, pizza joint, and so forth.

If you were to build an inventory based on the "must have" items people want at 1am, or any other time outside normal business hours, I think you could build a winner.

What would be your growth potential? If you wanted to get bigger, and not be a shopkeeper forever, how would you develop this business to the point where YOU were no longer necessary. Where you wouldn`t have to be present every day, and perhaps where you would have a wider influence?

When I was in college, the school was way up on the hill and Super Wegmans! was way down on the flats.

And the buses in town sucked - they went in huge circles instead of just there and back.

So the idea was that whoever had a car (and cars on campus were rare) would pile everyone in their car for a grocery run.

I think that someone who owned a larger passenger van and could take everyone to the store for an hour could make some bucks. I mean, 30,000 undergrads and no grocery stores nearby? I was the only one crazy enough to make that trip on my bike ...

What about opening up a PeaPod service in the town? Isn`t that a franchise?

There is another site that I could buy a franchise from called custom
groceries. The question is should I buy into a franchise, or pay for someone
to make my own site?

I recently graduated from college, I like your ideas, however, when I was a
student, a lot of the grocery stores offered delivery for only $5. It`s
becoming more common for grocery stores to offer cheap delivery so you
should be aware of that possibility.

If you do decide to go ahead with starting a business, drop me a line. I do
graphic design and would love to help you out.
ReDefine_Design@hotmail.com

http://www.redefinedesignstudios.com

Likelihood is that buying a franchise would cost a lot more than a Web site, so you could start `small` with the Web site, contract with some local grocery stores, set up your delivery system, and generate income. THEN see about maybe a franchise?

Interesting problem: What would your minimum order be, or would you have a basic delivery charge? For example, a student calls and wants 1 package of Twinkies delivered. Is that do-able? How, and what would be the charges?

Another would be like for taxi cabs: You get a call at 1pm, deliver the goods to dorm X. Out goes the truck at 1:15pm, delivers, and while it`s en-route back to the HQ, you get another call, different delivery, same Dorm.

What about if you had delivery "on the hour," or perhaps "on the half hour?"

Remembering back to my college days, money (not enough) was always an issue with me and the majority of my friends so you`ll need to first determine if your student population would support such a delivery endeavor. 

That said, it`s impressive to see that you`re using your college years as a springboard to your entrepreneurial vocation.

 

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Wishing you all continued blessings and successes!
~Roshelle (aka SparkleGirl), SparklingCards.com
We provide customized cards that make your gifts shine! Also, our Wedding Day Survival Kit has been featured in America`s Bride Magazine.

Also, please check out my new venture, welcome2college.com - a FREE resource site for prospective and newly enrolled university and college students.

The Big Boys have your idea, too. At the end of the school year, Fed Ex had tables, shipping boxes, tape, etc. set up on the Northwestern campus.  Smart on their part!

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One idea I wish I would have thought of while in college.... dorm laundry service.

I read an article a few weeks ago about this guy who had a food delivery service that catered to dorms. It seemed to be a pretty profitable niche.


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