A student-run delivery service bringing school essentials directly to students’ desks — and creating job opportunities on campus — is launching at UCF.
Justin Bowen, junior computer software engineering major, officially set CampuSupply in motion on Feb. 2, with the goal in mind of providing students on- and off-campus delivery of school essentials. Other aims include employing student runners and offering higher buyback rates for textbooks.
Bowen said every college student knows the panic of being 10 minutes away from a high-stakes exam and realizing they don’t have a pencil. For him, that exact moment sparked the idea for CampuSupply.
“Flexibility is a major factor,” Bowen said. “Students can work around their class schedules and earn money without commuting off campus. It also gives them a chance to be part of a service built specifically by and for students.”
CampuSupply works by offering student-led delivery for basic school essentials such as pens, notebooks and highlighters, creating a safer environment for students delivering or receiving supplies.
“Having runners deliver supplies also creates a more personal, student-to-student experience that traditional delivery drivers can’t easily replicate,” Bowen said.
Bowen said the idea for the service stemmed from his own problem — the time he was running late for a programming test and had to rush to a campus bookstore for supplies. He said he paid more than he expected and felt the entire process was a waste of time.
From that personal frustration, Bowen said he wanted to create a solution that would work and benefit other students.
“Starting a company to solve a problem one personally experiences empowers a founder with the empathy needed to create helpful solutions,” Dr. Cameron Ford, executive director of the Blackstone LaunchPad at UCF, said. “Like any hero’s journey, a frustrating ‘critical incident’ can launch an exciting startup story.”
The CampuSupply website offers quotes for selling textbooks and also offers a mail-in option for students.
The service is currently in its early-launch phase, operating on Mondays and Wednesdays. Bowen said he is focused on validating demand and collecting student feedback before scaling the operation.
“When someone puts their textbook in, we try to pay them more than what other stores pay them,” Bowen said. “Let’s say, for example, they put a book that says ‘2009,’ our app can detect the prices, and it can increase in percentage; they can get more for their book than if they sell it anywhere else.”
Ford, also an associate professor of management, mentors student entrepreneurs in developing and scaling their own businesses and websites through his role in the Blackstone LaunchPad in the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership.
He said that large university campuses, like UCF, concentrate startup resources and potential customers so they are easily accessible, and work opportunities are dependent on the presence of students and their relevance to the problem.
“The good news is that a service that works well with students, or others, on campus might have strong potential to scale beyond campus,” Ford said.
Bowen said that although CampuSupply is in its early stages, the team is focused on hiring student runners and has already released student polls for feedback.
CampuSupply offers free on-campus delivery on Mondays and Wednesdays, providing same-day deals before 3 p.m. Student IDs are not required for checkout, but a valid driver’s license or ID is required for delivery.