Today we have Universities Finest and Bucks Happening profiled below. Both companies are making moves and cost virtually nothing to start. Universities Finest simply saw an opening and starting making calenders at campuses across the county. Bucks Happening is an extremely niche blog show casing everything happening in Bucks country Pennsylvania. Simple ideas that a few young people jumped on to take charge of their lives.
Of course with any new company they are looking for feedback and have a million questions. Take a second and let them know what you think! Which companies model do you like best? What do you see as obstacles or opportunities? Each profile also has a handful of questions from the founders for you to answer!
What is the story behind your company?
One day Steve and myself were sitting in my dorm room at Southern Connecticut State University. Thinking about all the things we were restricted of doing since we were both RA’s. There were rules that we couldn’t work at restaurants or bars in the area, because our residents might go. Rules on duty nights and how we couldn’t party on some the best nights, and the list goes on and on.
Thinking about all of the clubs and bars in the downtown New Haven, CT area, why don’t we produce a New Haven SHOT GIRL CALENDAR, and charge the bars/clubs to have their girls on the different pages.
After hours of planning this out, I said why would we restrict this to New Haven Shot Girls. In our area alone, you have Southern Connecticut State University, Quinnipiac University, Yale, Sacred Heart, University of New Haven, and the list goes on. Let go to each school finding the finest students from each school and produce a calendar and hold release parties for the calendars at bars/clubs in the area.
Long story short, we were able to start UFINEST llc and here we are today.
What makes your company unique in its industry?
Universities-Finest is the only company in the world that travels to different schools producing calendars of students for that specific school and holding major release parties. We target a specific school and the surrounding community. We will contact hair salons and makeup boutiques in the area to do the hair and makeup for each shoot, in return of advertisements in the calendar.
We also reach out to local businesses in the area and offer them a great opportunity to advertise to their specific target market (the students) at a very reasonable rate.
Every calendar sold, a portion goes back to Move For Hunger, a Non-Profit that we have chosen to help.
Future plans for the company?
Universities-Finest plans to reach 30 school by 2014
Founders and Ages:
Max Lowy 22
Steven Aleves 23
Help answer their questions!
Question 1: where to find the money to hold the events you would like
Question 2: finding a way to really sale this idea/concept to local business owners
Question 3: how to get big name sponsors
What is the story behind your company?
Angela & Tina both left corporate America to follow their start-ups businesses- Lime Events & BeMe. Little did they know that Angela’s hobby of blogging about Bucks County would quickly flourish into a business of it’s own.
Angela began blogging about Bucks County, PA in May 2009. After making the decision to trade in her NYC studio apartment for a house in Bucks County (where she had grown up), she found herself constantly defending herself as friends would condemn her decision, insisting she would be bored out of her mind living in the suburbs. To the contrary, though, Angela found herself enjoying life more than ever. As a result, she created Bucks Happening as a way to share all of the fun things she was discovering in Bucks County.
Her sister, Tina, found herself in a similar situation just a few months later and decided to add her experiences to the blog as well. Soon after, traffic began doubling each month and as the word got out around town, Bucks Happening took on a life of it’s own.
What makes your company unique in its industry?
Bucks Happening is the perfect example of stumbling upon a wonderful opportunity and strategically responding. Since both Angela & Tina had experienced the difficulties associated with promoting a start-up, they did not take their growth lightly. Instead, they immediately responded with improved content & new features; they formed important partnerships & created an innovative business model.
Bucks Happening also decided to expand upon the traditional advertising services offered by blogs. Rather than concentrating on one-dimensional banner ads, Bucks Happening offers engaging marketing campaigns for local businesses that are seamlessly integrated into the site.
Future plans for the company?
Bucks Happening is going to continue to create innovative features and valuable content for their readers. We are moving towards a yearly-sponsorship model in order to create more-effective campaigns for our clients and establish a sturdy, workable business model.
URL:
Founders and Ages:
Angela Giovine- 28
Tina Paparone- 25
Help answer their questions!
Question 1: Should we get investment capital in order to jump-start our growth rate or be content growing at a steady pace without the need for additional capital?
Question 2: The world of social media is constantly changing- where is the best place to allocate our resources?
Question 3: How will traditional media outlets concentrating more efforts online affect the blogging world?
