It is 6 p.m. on a weekday evening but for Adam Ruen, work has just begun.
Within the hour, the senior finance major will have visited clients at off-campus apartments Tivoli and Arden Villas, in a borrowed red Audi, to take out the trash.
“It’s the nicest trash pick-up car you’ve ever seen,” Ruen said.
Ruen developed the idea for Waste Majors, a trash removal service, this summer and since launching the service at the beginning of fall semester it has been an ongoing process arranging all the details. The service operates Sunday through Thursday and for a small monthly fee, Ruen picks up clients’ trash and recyclables.
“It was kind of cool, the learning process of going though all the steps,” Ruen said. “It seemed like every time I would do something it’d be like, ‘yes, I got that done,’ and they’d be like ‘oh, you have to do these two more things.’”
Ruen initially had some complications. His partner in the business backed out of the project, he had to temporarily switch from using a pick-up truck to a friend’s car, and coincidentally the same week he started, another trash service was advertised in the area.
While he still has some tasks to accomplish, Ruen registered his company name with the state through sunbiz.org, set up a website, social media pages, filed a tax id number and obtained a license to operate the business –all while taking classes as a full-time student.
Ruen is just one of many University of Central Florida students that are trying to make extra money while working for themselves.
Twelve hours before Ruen makes his rounds for Waste Majors, Hugo Cardona starts his day reading books such as “What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School.”
Cardona spends an hour reading about entrepreneurial strategies, and the effects are apparent in his operation of UCFiPhone. Cardona’s small business caters to students with an IPhone 4 or 4s who want to customize their device by adding a colored back plate. Cardona sells and installs the back plates for people who order the service on his website, but he mostly relies on social media and word-of-mouth to advertise.
“The best thing about these IPhone cases is they basically advertise themselves because people basically show off their IPhones when they’re talking. They expose the back and then people are curious as to how you changed that,” Cardona said.
Cardona emphasizes that his service allows IPhone owners to customize and create a unique phone. Other UCF students are also capitalizing on the market for individualizing phones.
“What I noticed was that there was a lot of individual people who did change the IPhone backs and a lot of people who sold IPhones and these were kind of related things to my website so what I did was basically I “hired” the competition in order to eliminate the competition,” Cardona said.
Though they are unaffiliated with each other and offer different services, UCFiPhones’ website features contact information for students who also work with IPhones so that customers can find the specialist they need. Kevin Neiman, a sophomore business major whose services are advertised on the website, said that he also reaches clients by approaching managers at phone providers located at Waterford Lakes Town Center and the Oviedo Mall.
While some students may struggle to find jobs or find places that are hiring, these UCF students are able to work for them selves to earn money.
Despite the success of Cardona’s venture –he estimates having 20 to 30 clients since starting at the end of October –he has bigger plans in the future.
Though he cannot reveal his idea, Cardona originated UCFiPhone in order to finance a larger project that he hopes to have enough funding for by the end of next semester. For his next project, Cardona has already seen advisors at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the College of Business Administration.
Coaches are available to offer students advice on starting business ventures, at no charge.
Kathie Holland works as both a coach for the CEI and as an instructor, teaching a course titled “How to Start a Business.” Holland said that a college education and research into the industry is necessary to succeed in business.
“If the owner is really truly passionate about their concept, they take the time to do the research and refine the idea,” Holland said. “Working with someone like the Small Business Development Center, the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, being open to feedback and keeping an open mind about changes they might need to make about their concept, that’s what does it.”
Ruen also acknowledged the need for preparation when planning a business in order to succeed.
“I had this epic vision of me just picking up trash, you know, so that was kind of like my motivation and my drive,” Ruen said. “I’d be doing it and doing all my research and sitting there falling asleep at my computer doing research and, like, ‘why am I doing this?’ and well it’s because I had this vision and I want it to be successful.”
