Ohio State Students Make Big Moves Storing Items

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

[Music]

We all know that we have too much stuff. But what can we do? Some people propose decluttering. Personally, I feel better at letting go of things. I periodically look around my house or my office and say, "Do I really need this?" If I do, great, I keep it.

If not, I try to find a better home for it. But even so, whether you are pro or anti-decluttering, the point is that this is a pain point, and it's a problem for a lot of people, having too much stuff. In particular, college students often have to move out of their dorm or apartment during the summer, taking all of their things with them or finding a home for them. Welcome to Side Hustle School. My name is Chris Guillebeau, and in today's episode, two college students make big moves storing items for fellow students.

The annual moving exodus at their university provides side hustle inspiration, and now they're on a mission. This episode and every episode of Side Hustle School is completely free, brought to you by our partners. So let's say thank you to them, and then I'll tell you this story. [Music]

In 1967, Ringo Starr sang the classic line, "I get by with a little help from my friends." That adage is perhaps never more true than when it comes to moving. As any college student, past or present, knows, moving is an annual and time-honored tradition.

And so is the clear out of empty bottles, and the seasonal, "Hey, where am I gonna put "all this stuff until next semester" challenge. Mike Garagas and Brandon Gottlieb were able to solve their annual storage crisis, but they had lots of friends at Ohio State University who struggled. What better way to help your friends get by than to start a side hustle dedicated to their problem? Mike, an engineering student, and Brandon, a finance student, knew that there had to be a better solution than hope and pray something works out when it comes to finding willing family members or friends to store furniture and other items during summer holidays, or any other occasion people have to move. They pitched the idea of next-store, like next-store, but, you know, store, as a peer-to-peer marketplace that would help connect people with extra space in their home or garage to rent it out to other people who have things they need to store.

It was a simple process that would allow users to register as a host, list how much space they have available to rent, and then those hosts are paid based on how much space is rented. In the pitch competition they entered, Mike and Brandon won $1,000 in startup capital. Unfortunately, the money didn't materialize for a few months, but that didn't let them hold back from capitalizing on their idea. They decided to work on idea validation and testing out their service by offering to store items in their apartment for international students over the summer. They earned another $1,000 from this, which both proved that their service was needed and provided the funds to immediately invest in building their website.

And here's how it works. Users upload images of their space, and Mike and Brandon talk with the host during the in-depth sign-up process. This helps them get an idea of who is trustworthy. Usually the owner's insurance covers the content, but they're also working to provide an extra set of insurance for the renters, which they say should launch fairly soon. The side hustle is only a few months old, so they've been heavily focused on adding hosts and expanding their network.

They've used everything from Facebook ads, printed flyers, and they've even sponsored a theater troupe. Results are still waiting to be seen from that last one. Even though it's new, Mike and Brandon are proud to say they've been able to consistently bring in $400 a month in profit, not counting funds they are reinvesting in the business, and they're watching that number get higher as more people find out about Nextdoor and sign up to become hosts. People are even starting to sign up from outside their home state of Ohio, where they started. But even as they grow into new states, they're still feeling the rush of their first sale.

Especially, as Brandon put it, we really had no idea how everything would function when it happened. Of course, everything broke at once, and we spent a few days scrambling, but it was still extremely exciting. Even though they launched in the middle of their exam season, which happens to be right before moving season, they capitalized on their success and confidence, printing more flyers to continue promoting the business. One small move for friends could be a giant leap for the storage industry, as Mike and Brandon look to scale their side hustle and continue the push into new states. They want to grow Nextdoor one host at a time.

It helps that they're still roommates themselves and good friends. As a bonus, the next time they move, they'll know exactly where to store their stuff. [Music]

All right, fun project, congrats to Mike and Brandon, and here are two quick lessons from these guys. So we always ask people what has been the best part of this experience so far, and what has been the worst part of the experience, because there's always good things along with the challenges. And for the best part, Brandon says it has been the organic growth.

At first, we had to prod and prod to get hosts through the signup process, but now people naturally enter the site, having seen us in some publication, perhaps on some podcast interview, and become hosts. To also have people recognize how the concept could change the industry is another major leap for us. We have such a great base of people believing in us that we feel unstoppable. So what has been the worst part so far? Well, I related to this.

Brandon said realizing that everything breaks at one point or another. I had to come to terms with the fact that our website cannot always be perfect, and sometimes things won't work, and we won't realize for a bit to fix it, or we won't know how to fix it. But each day, it gets better and more easily usable by customers. It's taught us patience and the ability to step back and not freak out about small issues. Like I said, I relate to that.

I'm always struggling with stuff that is breaking or could be improved, and I just don't have time, or I don't give it the attention it deserves. But I'm working on it, just like these guys, perhaps just like you, bit by bit, every day getting a little bit further on. But yes, the ability to step back and not freak out about small issues is valuable. I always tell people, done is better than perfect. Your website is probably never going to be perfect, but it could be done.

So if you can't have perfection, at least you could have something that's out there in the world while you're working on it, 'cause that's life. Okay, I hope you enjoyed this one. I'm gonna sign off for the day. As always, inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is so much better. I hope you do one thing today to get closer to the goals you believe in.

If you'd like to check out the show notes for today's episode, learn more about next door, just come to sidehustleschool.com/588. That is for episode 588. I will be back tomorrow. I believe it is our weekly recap. Is that right?

Yes, it is. End of the week. I'll be back tomorrow. My name is Chris Guillebeau, and this is Side Hustle School.