很久以前, people would ask neighborhood kids for help with household chores—moving furniture, 挂画或看孩子. 约书亚·蒙代尔，17岁, business graduate and current MBA student, wants to bring those days back - with an entrepreneurial twist.
I always wanted to be an entrepreneur, 蒙代尔说. 我只是不知道那是什么样子.
而不是, he found himself working as a valet at the Irvine Marriott, running for cars in the rain while juggling 欧文康考迪亚大学 classes and leadership on the water polo team. 然后有一天下班后, a neighbor asked him to help organize boxes in the garage - and he earned more than he did as a valet.
I always wanted to be an entrepreneur, 我只是不知道那是什么样子.
I was being paid more to move boxes and do household chores than running for cars in the rain. 蒙代尔说，这很管用.
这就是《正规赌博十大平台排行》的起源, a business which hires out college students to perform non-professional, 家务劳动按小时计酬.
我觉得这主意不错, 帕梅拉·韦德回忆道, MA '95, 蒙代尔's 欧文康考迪亚大学 professor in a business writing class. 当时, I had a senior in college and my neighbors would start calling a couple of weeks before vacation to ask when she'd be home because they were saving up chores for her. I thought [Joshua] might be onto something.
Wade challenged 蒙代尔 and fellow student collaborator Manuel Zorn to prove the project's viability with market research. 结果?
There was definitely a market for it, Wade says. 数据是巨大的. Ninety percent of households said they would hire college students to do chores, 与其他来源相反.
大学生, 太, were eager to make $15-20 an hour doing chores over the summer or during a break. Wade advised 蒙代尔 and Zorn to enter 欧文康考迪亚大学's first annual Cornelius 业务 Plan competition. They 太k fourth place and a $1,000 prize in March 2016, but wanted to do better.
We proceeded to redefine the business plan, taking the judges' feedback and critiquing ourselves, 蒙代尔说. With Wade advising them again, they brought on a third partner to help create an app. Because they had not placed in the top three of the Cornelius competition (God was in the details of that, 蒙代尔说), 他们被允许再次进入. This time they won second place and $5,000.
That was really awesome for us, 蒙代尔 says.
They used the money to incorporate NeighborING, 商标的名称和标志, 撰写建国论文. Then they were accepted into UC Irvine's prestigious business incubator program, Wayfinder, one of just a handful of teams chosen from 65 applicants.
It was a big deal to get into the UCI incubator program, says Wade. When I went with Josh to the orientation, 有来自哈佛的代表, 波莫纳,耶鲁大学, 麻省理工学院和其他一流大学. For Concordia to be represented there was huge.
Still, she wasn't surprised they were accepted. I unders太d that if you espoused excellence and walked the talk, 你可以和他们中的佼佼者竞争. I felt strongly that they were a valid contender.
企业孵化器, 持续了六个月, gave the team access to mentoring and encouragement from experts-in-residence who have raised capital, sold businesses and worked for America's largest companies. NeighborING also received work space, conference rooms and presentation areas. The start-up became operational in November, with a functioning web site linking customers with background-checked college students.
There's an emotional thing that hits home,God has really given me specific people in my life to complete all this. 这是一段疯狂的旅程.
That was a really big milestone for us, 蒙代尔说. That same month 欧文康考迪亚大学 founded its own Concordia Incubator Program, 我住在商学院, under the direction of dean Stephen Christensen. 韦德成了实习主任. 蒙代尔, now serving as the program's first intern, shares his early experiences as an entrepreneur with other students. He has made presentations about NeighborING to the faculty, and the Board of Trustees—several of whom hired his employees to do chores.
It's been really helpful with Concordia supporting me, he says.
Most of NeighborING's employees are 欧文康考迪亚大学 students who perform chores ranging from demolition, 清理物业, 到家具修理. The two biggest needs: babysitting and technology help. The new NeighborING app will give Uber-like ratings and reviews for each worker, and allow customers to choose their workers.
One gratifying surprise has been that customers tend to tip well because they want to support industrious college students working their way through school.
There's an emotional thing that hits home, 蒙代尔说. God has really given me specific people in my life to complete all this. 这是一段疯狂的旅程.
Wade says NeighborING is very primed for business... I have lots of kids come to me with lots of ideas. Joshua was the first to prove to me that this was a valid idea that could fly. It had his passion and enthusiasm, and a viable, untapped market.