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Starting a Business near college campus

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Sean...M
Posts: 2450 - Karma: 14
alright newschoolers, i knew i'd get some bomb ass ideas if i came here.

So in my business class we have to start a small business somewhere around campus. So what I'm here to ask you guys it if some new shop, business etc opened, what would make it unique or make you more likely to become a customer there?

things to take into factor:
What makes it unique
Locatoin
Promotion or how its advertised


Sep 24 2008 7:29PM
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H0NKY
Posts: 250 - Karma: 18
sick free stickers, and the occasional t
Sep 24 2008 7:31PM
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Pee_and_Ski
Posts: 1869 - Karma: 57
a shop that you could chill at would be cool
Sep 24 2008 7:31PM
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TheButterHashira
Posts: 9691 - Karma: 1,702
Buy a krystal burger or whitecastle franchise. College kids love sliders for some reason.
Or make a new restaurant from scratch and give it a chill atmosphere with lots of sliders.
Sep 24 2008 7:35PM
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Sean...M
Posts: 2450 - Karma: 14
its gotta be a business from scratch.
Sep 24 2008 7:37PM
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MCIRONCOCK
Posts: 3094 - Karma: 30
Some kind of bar/restaurant that has live bands and whatnot on select days of the week, with cheap food?
Sep 24 2008 7:42PM
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Bulky
Posts: 1054 - Karma: 11
anything that brings in the drunk people because most drunk people dont care about money and will spend like crazy.
Sep 24 2008 8:23PM
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Sean...M
Posts: 2450 - Karma: 14
see im on the same page as you guys

its gotta have cheap/decent food, open late for the drunkies, stuff that draws in the drunkies
Sep 24 2008 8:26PM
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Snowcase
Posts: 11456 - Karma: 634
There's a place around here called funken waffles. They have live music all the time and they only serve waffles. Only problem is, they only serve waffles. Something chill like that would be perfect for a college town. Also open late and comfy places to sit.
Sep 24 2008 8:33PM
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MissMontana
Posts: 971 - Karma: 42
My friends and I have been talking about this for a while. We would start a little place that sells 4 things 24/7. Beer, bagels, coffee and condoms. Think about how lucrative that would be. Bagels and coffee for the study kids, coffee and condoms for the lucky kids, condoms and beer for the drunk kids, beer and pizza bagels for the other drunk kids and coffee and bagels for breakfast!

but it has to be open all. day. every. day.
Sep 24 2008 8:34PM
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gmack24
Posts: 4636 - Karma: 31
party packs,  5 red cups, filled with playing cards, pong balls, dice. Sell for $3 a pop.
Sep 24 2008 8:46PM
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St.Steezy
Posts: 4228 - Karma: 20
free and or cheap beer.
Sep 24 2008 9:11PM
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N-John360
Posts: 835 - Karma: 8
A Hot Dog stand, open only on Fridays or Saturdays. Sell a hot dog with many toppings and give it a catchy name. At my college, on the weekends there is a hot dog stand and they sell a crazy one calledm"fat bitch." everyone buys one. I've spent $30 on them after a month at school I'd say.
Sep 24 2008 11:17PM
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Billups
Posts: 3960 - Karma: 329
Really any kind of resturant/food shop that stays open late. For example, theres a pizza place at IU that opens at 4 pm and closes at 2 on weekdays and 4 on weekends, and they make bank, because all the drunk kids get hungry around 2 or 3 and order a pizza. It doesn't have to be pizza, because Jimmy Johns does the same thing.
Sep 24 2008 11:22PM
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Fish_Sandwich.
Posts: 9108 - Karma: 16
Word.
Sep 24 2008 11:25PM
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Sean...M
Posts: 2450 - Karma: 14
startin to get some good ideas. keep em comin people. I like the idea of having live bands and like couches n shit around.
Sep 24 2008 11:27PM
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MADr.
Posts: 2193 - Karma: 27
if its close to bars, then pretty much any kind of restaurant that stays open till after the bars close. we have a russian dumpling place in bellingham that does this. its called palominis and the dumplings arent really that great, just spicy, but its always packed after 1am. They never have more than 2 people working, but they can crank out orders cause they only sell 3 things, meat dumplings, potatoe dumplings and soda. at $5 an order, and the smallest overhead i can think of, i bet its increadibly profitable.
Sep 24 2008 11:47PM
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Sean...M
Posts: 2450 - Karma: 14
alright so lets say its a late night little restaurant thing. outside there will be like cheap tables and plastic charis for people to sit and eat with together and then couches for the really drunk to chill, plenty of sitting room and will sell like foods such as burgers, tacos and pizza by the slice (food people eat when their drunk). it will be a chill atmosphere with good music n shit. outside there will be a little stage that some of the local bands can play at on some nights.

thats for like if theres a late night restaurant type of gig. but what about any other shops/businesses that dont involve food. i know like a hookah loungs has already been done, hair cuttery is out of the questoin along with like a headshop. any ideas somethin like those would be great. Thanks for all the ideas so far tho! much appreciated and karma was distrubuted
Sep 25 2008 1:28AM
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Sno.
Posts: 12155 - Karma: 6,152
is this a more discrete version of the "how to become a drug dealer" thread?
Sep 25 2008 1:33AM
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Sean...M
Posts: 2450 - Karma: 14
haha this is me coming to a community that would help of an idea that gets me get a good business grade
Sep 25 2008 1:36AM
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Sno.
Posts: 12155 - Karma: 6,152
advertise to chicks, get a ladies night going or something. Or have a show there, and have the girls entry be free + 1 free drink.

That way all the girls will come, and guys will gravitate...


This is assuming we're talking about a bar. If you're talking about a skate/ski shop or something, the free stickers idea is a good one, start by slapping them all over town/local school campuses.
Sep 25 2008 1:38AM
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Sno.
Posts: 12155 - Karma: 6,152
oh, an idea i always had was...

there's this building in the town I live in, and it's on a fairly busy downtown street. and there's this old building there, that has a big garage door that opens on the street side.

I always thought that a skate shop there would be good.  On sunny days, you open the garage door, and it opens the store up a lot, and have mini ramps, and foose ball, and couches that you pull out into the area right outside...so it's like a skate shop inside that leads out to a place for people to chill.

People doing tricks on the ramp would surely attract people to come in, and it would soon be known as the place to be.

Sep 25 2008 1:43AM
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Billups
Posts: 3960 - Karma: 329
Oh, and to follow up on my restaurant example, the way the pizza place advertised is they had a van with loud speakers mounted on the roof and a sunroof, and they had a dude standing out the top of the van driving around bumping music throwing out condoms to people. They also give out plastic cups with the pizzas that have their name and number on it and are pretty much the perfect size for Beer Pong.
Sep 25 2008 1:40PM
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greenman
Posts: 945 - Karma: 27
what school do u go to
Sep 25 2008 3:26PM
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Rachy
Posts: 4355 - Karma: 2,761
I went to a bar by Cal Poly SLO on a tuesday night and the place was packed. But the thing that made it different was that I think every person in there was playing flip cup or beer pong or quarters or some other sort of game.

Then in Mammoth one of the bars had a trivia night were it was pretty much all sex questions.


As far as shops go, I used to work at a skate shop and we had like 3 couches set up with an xbox and playstation and a huge thing of jones soda and there were magazines and what not. People would come in all the time to just hang out.

Then I have a friend that is working at a Jean cafe. You walk in and think it would be a coffee shop only to discover that you can get your specialty drink while you are trying on your jeans.

A sight I would check out is Johnny Cupcake, now that is a man who has done well for himself with a unique idea http://www.johnnycupcakes.com/


My idea has always been to have a desert shop that would be open from 12am to 12pm that would serve breakfast two. But it would have to be in an area of a lot of bars and people to stay open. Think of the business if you could get a huge gormet brownie or pancakes at 4 am after a night at the bars. Yes, there is always dennys, but those aren't always convenient.
Sep 25 2008 3:41PM
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RRhighrider
Posts: 2140 - Karma: 1,124
i would say a 24 food/burrito place walking distance from campus would be awesome.  think how often you are drunk on campus  try to find a ride for food.
Sep 25 2008 5:45PM
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Sno.
Posts: 12155 - Karma: 6,152
you mean pita pit?
Sep 25 2008 5:50PM
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skifree919
Posts: 5842 - Karma: 35
ok this is not a food thing, but a friend of mine actually started this business at his old school (clark U)and it worked so well that it was shut down by the college because they had some pre-existing contract with some other company... BUT:

What it basically is is just a storage company for students not on campus or students wiht too much stuff. Most colleges have a preexisting one, but generally it is really expensive because there is no competition. My friend rented out one of those units in a storage facility, had the customers put all there stuff in boxes, and he came and picked it up and charged enough to make a profit. Depending on the system your school has, this can actually be very very profitable.
Sep 25 2008 6:04PM
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Tinga
Posts: 11349 - Karma: 2,333
definitely some cheap ass food.
Sep 25 2008 6:09PM
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grapecrush
Posts: 131 - Karma: 12

my friends actually opened a shop right accross from a downtown campus in my city. its a huge shop they have couches and a lounge type area in it. also theres a stage at the back and a mini vert for ppl to sesh. its the sickest shop ever. and since school has started the business has been flowing in constantly. they have super sick gear sell everything from ski's, decks, trucks, wakeboards etc. its called "THE SWITCHBOARD" and jea.

Sep 25 2008 8:30PM
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Dan.
Posts: 7201 - Karma: 1,126
open a liquor store that sells nothing but cheap beer, cheap liquor, and roofies. that last one is key if you want the frat crowd to shop there. and start a grassroots word of mouth campaign that you don't card, business will shoot through the roof.
Sep 25 2008 10:18PM
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