College Start-Ups

Most students work hard to get into a good university, get a degree, and get a job. But some students have great ideas that simply cannot wait until graduation day. With many free resources and technologies available to them, more and more university students are finding ways to start small businesses while they are still in school. Let's take a look at a few enterprising undergraduates and their companies.

Green Mobile

As a student at the University of Missouri, Brian Laoruangroch used to sell refurbished¹ cell phones on eBay as a hobby. But when Brian realized how much money he could make by buying, fixing, and reselling phones, he decided to create his own website to resell the phones. His parents loaned him money, and he received money from his local government to found a company called Green Mobile, which now has local retail stores and about 20 employees. Brian said balancing work and studies was challenging, but he didn't forget to pay attention in class. "I was learning important business concepts while I was using them in my own business," he said.

Whitney Williams Collection

Whitney Williams has always been creative, and she enjoys making things in her spare time. While in elementary school, she sold handmade stationery to people in her neighborhood, and later she expanded her offerings to include one-of-a-kind purses. When Whitney visited Italy as a student at Texas Christian University, she fell in love with the handmade jewelry she saw there. It inspired her to start her own jewelry business. Instead of partying with friends or traveling, Whitney spent most of her weekends for the next two years selling her high-quality jewelry at small shows and private sales. As a result, the Whitney Williams Collection is now produced and sold around the world. Whitney hopes to eventually expand her brand to include shoes, clothing, and accessories.

Punch

As a competitive swimmer, Zac Workman became very familiar with energy drinks. However, Zac found problems with most energy drinks. They either tasted bad, used chemicals that weren't healthy, or made the user feel tired again when its sugary energy was used up. This spurred Zac to do some research when he got to the University of Indiana. Using an old family recipe for fruit punch, Zac developed an energy drink with natural ingredients, and found a partner to produce it. His energy drink, called Punch, became popular on his campus. As his business grows, Zac says he's learning on the job. "People would think it would be difficult to balance class and a business," he said, "but I'm learning more now than I ever have in the classroom."

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¹ Something that is refurbished is made clean, fresh, or like new again.