When Jack Groetzinger '07 and Russell D'Souza '07 started Evolving Vox last fall, they never imagined that students from around the world would ask to open franchises in their institutions. Evolving Vox is a temporary ownership business that rents electronics and furniture at a set fee each term.
Groetzinger and D'Souza started the business as an affordable rental service that helps cut down on the furniture waste produced by Dartmouth students every year.
After speaking with a number of inquirers, Evolving Vox has expanded by opening new branches at Brandeis University and Cornell University. These franchise branches employ Evolving Vox's name, business model, website and wholesaler relationships. They receive legal assistance and the rights to use original advertisements, graphic art, and an order processing system.
The franchises are locally operated by students at those institutions, but Groetzinger and D'Souza receive a share of their sales.
"We anticipate that Evolving Vox will work very well at Brandeis," Adam Eisenberg, co-owner of the Brandeis location said. "We're providing Brandeis students with a genuinely useful service, and we're also getting a ton of great business experience for ourselves."
Eisenberg found out about Evolving Vox through a mutual friend of his co-owner Matt Rosen and Groetzinger. Eisenberg said that he and Rosen were searching for a great idea to provide a jumpstart for their careers or at least to have a little fun. After speaking to Groetzinger and D'Souza extensively, they decided they wanted to open an Evolving Vox of their own.
Eisenberg said the similar environments of Dartmouth and Brandeis caused him to think that the business might also be successful there.
"We [also] have suburban kids that come in from far away places who have to rent overly priced rental place furniture," Eisenberg said.
He said that Brandeis students are also concerned about the large amount of waste generated by the dumping of dorm furniture and have been using this point as one of their marketing points.
"The main reason we got involved with it was because we knew it was going to be something really successful."
The Brandeis chapter of Evolving Vox announced the opening of the business to the public last Wednesday and is currently receiving positive feedback from the community, Eisenberg said.
"Everyone really likes the idea, because of the personal connection -- at least all the people that I am friendly with know that I will deliver," he said.
This personal connection has also helped the success of the Dartmouth location. Groetzinger said that he and D'Souza have been "pleasantly surprised" at the condition of the returned furniture. D'Souza said that most furniture is returned in mint condition, a trend he attributes to the level of respect that students carry for other students.
Applying for materials such as a tax identification number from the federal government and a Paypal merchant account lent a realistic business feeling to the project, Eisenberg said.
"The entrepreneurial aspect," Eisenberg said, "gave me a sense of reality much more than you get in school."
Since Groetzinger and D'Souza will be graduating this spring, they are currently looking for a group of Dartmouth students to take over Evolving Vox upon their departure. Groetzinger said that running the business would be the perfect opportunity for students interested in entrepreneurship.
He said that a group of students would allow for each student to take over discrete responsibilities in running the busines while also providing for a bigger network of contact to keep the franchise operation running.
"We hope that this can be something continually passed down from one generation of Dartmouth students to another for a very long time," D'Souza said. "We see this as a business that has the potential to grow nationally, and we'd love for Dartmouth students to be at the center of that growth."
