Central Florida\u2019s hospitality industry entertains and serves over 55 million visitors from throughout the globe each year in addition to its local residents. And due to the extraordinarily high volume of costomers, many restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and entertainment venues in the area can charge a premium rate for their services \u2013 a cost that local college students often can\u2019t afford.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor most college kids, spending two or three extra dollars is a huge deal,\u201d said Julien Meyer, a 20-year-old Hospitality Management and Event Management double major at the Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½\u2019s Rosen College of Hospitality Management. \u201cA couple bucks can really decide where we go to eat or hang out, so we\u2019re always looking for some sort of deal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many college students download coupon apps to their smartphones or visit websites, like Groupon.com, to find savings on lunch, groceries, coffee, and other various daytime activities; however, there are very few, if any, companies that market nightlife discounts specifically to college students.<\/p>\n
Meyer, a self-described life-long entrepreneur, realized this market gap and founded collegeTKTS \u2013 a marketing firm that aims to connect Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ students with discounts to local concerts, eateries, special events, nightclubs and more.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to DJ at different bars around town and I would always invite my friends to hang out, but many of them could only afford to go out one night a week,\u201d Meyer said. \u201cSo I began talking to the managers I worked for to see if they could offer discounts to college students, and they loved the idea, but needed a medium. This was my \u2018Aha!\u2019 moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
With no other direct competition, Meyer launched collegeTKTS in August of 2012 and word quickly spread throughout the local hospitality industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know it sounds clich\u00e9, but my company grew faster than I ever expected,\u201d said Meyer. \u201cI thought I wouldn\u2019t have any revenue my first year and that most of my time would be spent cold calling businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
What Meyer underestimated was the power of networking.<\/p>\n
\u201cI scheduled meetings with the managers I knew from DJ-ing and pitched my company to them,\u201d Meyer recalled. \u201cThey loved the company and began telling their friends, who also owned restaurants and bars around town. Before I knew it, businesses were calling me for my services.\u201d<\/p>\n
What collegeTKTS offers is simple, direct and effective. Through the company\u2019s website, Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ students can register their .edu email address to receive a newsletter loaded with nightlife discounts from Meyer\u2019s clients.<\/p>\n
Within its first five months, more than 1,200 students subscribed to the company\u2019s newsletter.<\/p>\n
But despite Meyer\u2019s success, the college junior was still looking for guidance to grow his business. Meyer ultimately found a mentor and business partner in Matt Ockwell, a Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ alumnus, \u201910, who owned the bi-monthly coupon publication, CollegeStack.<\/p>\n
\u201cCollegeStack is very well-known around Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ and has a similar business model to my company,\u201d said Meyer. \u201cI reached out to their owner, Matt Ockwell, and he was happy to meet with me. We started talking about our goals and he asked me if I would be interested in purchasing his company.\u201d<\/p>\n
After rounds of negotiation, the two struck a deal on Jan. 11, and Meyer now owns collegeTKTS and CollegeStack to become the coupon kingpin of Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½.<\/p>\n
\u201cCollegeStack offers discounts to college students for lunch and other daytime activities, while collegeTKTS focuses on nightlife savings; so I have kind of cornered the market,\u201d Meyer explained.<\/p>\n
With the acquisition complete, Meyer and his team now manage over 100 client accounts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want people to know that there is no formula for success, you just need to go out, experience things, and learn from those experiences,\u201d said Meyer. \u201cI hope that my story motivates and encourages others to act on their business ideas and instincts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meyer\u2019s story and entrepreneurial spirit was recently featured in Small Business Owner<\/em> magazine, and will also soon be featured in Small Business Today Magazine<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Central Florida\u2019s hospitality industry entertains and serves over 55 million visitors from throughout the globe each year in addition to its local residents. And due to the extraordinarily high volume of costomers, many restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and entertainment venues in the area can charge a premium rate for their services \u2013 a cost that local college students often can\u2019t afford.…","protected":false},"author":155,"featured_media":45067,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1622,2211,15,9272,4068],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-45066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-life","tag-event-management","tag-hospitality","tag-hospitality-management","tag-julien-meyer","tag-rosen-college-of-hospitality-management"],"yoast_head":"\n