One Student’s Strategy: Become a Franchisee
Nathan Fink, Belmont University
When students at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, attend the college’s basketball games, they flock to a food cart called Maui Wowi Hawaiian Coffees & Smoothies, staffed by fellow student Nathan Fink. For Fink, the opportunity to dole out Kona coffee and black raspberry smoothies to thirsty classmates is more than a fun way to make some pocket change — it’s helping him pay his way through college.
“There’s the potential to make $1,000 in a weekend,” Fink says of the food cart, which he was introduced to by his dad, who bought into the Maui Wowi franchise in 2013 and operates some carts near their home in Mayville, Wisconsin. “I was watching him do it, and I was helping out at events and making smoothies. I made use of that experience to get started on my own.”
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Fink and his father tracked down a retired franchisee in Nashville who was no longer using the cart and worked out a deal to take it over. In addition to college events, Fink brings the cart to local high school softball and volleyball tournaments.
A sophomore majoring in economics and music business, Fink got a $7,000-per-year scholarship from his high school and $11,000 in aid from Belmont. So his take-home earnings from Maui Wowi are essential for helping cover $30,000 annually for tuition plus living expenses.
He took out $5,500 in federal loans for freshman year — but that was so he could use some of his savings to invest in the franchise. Now that his Maui Wowi cart has taken off, he expects he won’t need any more loans.
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There are other advantages to operating a food cart, Fink adds. “Maui Wowi is great for college students, because pretty much all the work happens on the weekends,” he says. “So I have all week available for school.”
One Student’s Strategy: Live at Home and Get a Job
Ivy Bryan, CUNY–Brooklyn College
Shortly after Ivy Bryan started at CUNY–Brooklyn College in 2016, she began looking for work to help cover her $3,000-per-semester tuition.
She wanted to build on experience she’d gained in high school doing e-commerce marketing for a record company but found that employers weren’t taking her seriously on LinkedIn or any of the major job sites because of her age.
Then she found WayUp, a company that matches college students and new grads with companies looking to hire young talent. Bryan landed a spot right away working remotely for HoneyColony, a California-based online source of natural plant-based foods and supplements.
She was promoted within six months from a branding assistant responsible for maintaining the company’s social media presence, among other duties, to inventory manager creating and managing purchase orders. Between working 20 hours a week and saving money by living at home in Brooklyn, New York, Bryan predicts she will get through college without needing financial aid.
“Transportation, any books that I need — the job basically covers most of that,” says Bryan, who is majoring in film and women’s studies.
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Granted, the schedule isn’t easy, she admits. She logs on to get her work done between classes and sometimes while commuting on the train. After she gets home, it’s time for homework.
“I get stressed sometimes, but I find a way to manage it all,” Bryan says. The challenge “is about figuring out how to work independently and get things done as fast as possible by myself. That’s important for building my management skills.”
WayUp features millions of postings and counts more than 3.5 million young users, with more than 300,000 employers whose openings appear on the site. About 1 in 3 applicants finds a job, according to the company.
For Bryan, the flexibility of remote work has been a big boon. “If I need to work in the middle of the night,” she says, “I can.”
This story is excerpted from the U.S. News “Best Colleges 2018” guidebook, which features in-depth articles, rankings and data.
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