Lexile
1240
Sentence Length
20.0
Word Count
420
Jeremy Young enrolled at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., to _________
art history. He ended up getting a crash course in business management and
finance, thanks to a _________ of the entrepreneurship club he attended as
a sophomore. "I joined on a whim and felt inspired to pitch an idea," recalls
Young, now 24.
Brokers
That idea--a prepaid laundry service for students--was _________ by similar
services on other college campuses. With the support of the Hamilton
entrepreneurship club, Young did some research and teamed up with four
__________ to launch HillFresh Laundry.
Inspired
"As full-time __________ we didn't want to raise the capital to purchase
equipment and lease space, and it didn't make sense for us to manage a fulltime laundry business," Young explains. "So we decided to be
laundry_________." After developing their business plan, the partners signed
on with a local laundromat that was already providing wash/dry/fold services
to another local college. That meant the company understood the
demographic--and the founders didn't have to get their own hands dirty.
But before HillFresh Laundry could begin __________ to students, the team
had to get permission from the administration to operate a business on
campus. "We had to convince the school that we were going to be
professional, have the right contracts and insurance and deliver on what we
promised," Young says.
HillFresh Laundry got the go-ahead from the administration in 2011, and
became the first for-profit student-run business to operate on the campus.
"Their approach was sophisticated," recalls a Hamilton spokesperson. "Their
entire business was planned out as if it were a major __________, not a
small, student-run business."
The team mailed _________ materials to all 1,800 students on campus.
During the first month, 20 students signed on for one of three packages:
$349 per semester for up to 12 pounds of clothing per week, $399 for 15
pounds or $499 for 20 pounds.
As word of the service spread, HillFresh Laundry added more customers,
whose laundry is picked up on campus and returned--washed, dried and
folded--the next day. In the first 18 months, the five founders recouped their
initial investment of $800 apiece and started earning dividends. Their
continued ________ depends on signing up incoming freshmen and retaining
them all the way through graduation--which Young believes is possible, given
the company's current retention rate of more than 90 percent. The biggest
supporters of HillFresh Laundry are students who are juggling full class
schedules, extracurricular activities and part-time jobs and, he says,
"recognize the value of what we offer."
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/226131
Classmates
Corporation
Marketing
Meeting
Promotional
Students
Study
Success
Lexile
1240
Sentence Length
20.0
Jeremy Young enrolled at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., to study art
history. He ended up getting a crash course in business management and
finance, thanks to a meeting of the entrepreneurship club he attended as a
sophomore. "I joined on a whim and felt inspired to pitch an idea," recalls
Young, now 24.
That idea--a prepaid laundry service for students--was inspired by similar
services on other college campuses. With the support of the Hamilton
entrepreneurship club, Young did some research and teamed up with four
classmates to launch HillFresh Laundry.
"As full-time students we didn't want to raise the capital to purchase
equipment and lease space, and it didn't make sense for us to manage a fulltime laundry business," Young explains. "So we decided to be laundry
brokers." After developing their business plan, the partners signed on with a
local laundromat that was already providing wash/dry/fold services to another
local college. That meant the company understood the demographic--and the
founders didn't have to get their own hands dirty.
But before HillFresh Laundry could begin marketing to students, the team
had to get permission from the administration to operate a business on
campus. "We had to convince the school that we were going to be
professional, have the right contracts and insurance and deliver on what we
promised," Young says.
HillFresh Laundry got the go-ahead from the administration in 2011, and
became the first for-profit student-run business to operate on the campus.
"Their approach was sophisticated," recalls a Hamilton spokesperson. "Their
entire business was planned out as if it were a major corporation, not a small,
student-run business."
The team mailed promotional materials to all 1,800 students on campus.
During the first month, 20 students signed on for one of three packages:
$349 per semester for up to 12 pounds of clothing per week, $399 for 15
pounds or $499 for 20 pounds.
As word of the service spread, HillFresh Laundry added more customers,
whose laundry is picked up on campus and returned--washed, dried and
folded--the next day. In the first 18 months, the five founders recouped their
initial investment of $800 apiece and started earning dividends. Their
continued success depends on signing up incoming freshmen and retaining
them all the way through graduation--which Young believes is possible, given
the company's current retention rate of more than 90 percent. The biggest
supporters of HillFresh Laundry are students who are juggling full class
schedules, extracurricular activities and part-time jobs and, he says,
"recognize the value of what we offer."
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/226131
Word Count
420