OU Delivery launched another branch at the University of Delaware and will soon be at Kent State.
After starting as a small delivery business without a car Fall Semester of the 2013-14 school year, OU Delivery is expanding from the streets of Athens to the University of Delaware and Kent State University.
What was formerly known as OU Delivery is now branded as Campus Delivery. A branch of the business at the University of Delaware began service Monday and a new Kent State branch is set to start Feb. 16, said John Zinno, a founder of OU Delivery and a junior pursuing a bachelor’s of specialized studies in business administration and franchising with a specialization in entrepreneurship.
Zinno and Aaron Hoffman, founders of OU Delivery, are now able to focus on the expansion of the business after overcoming problems when first starting it up, Zinno said.
“Basically, we’re trying to expand and turn this into a legit company,” Zinno said. “(Brett Snyder from the University of Delaware) is all about it. He wants to be a part of it so we got him on board.”
Snyder was a freshman at Ohio University last year and loved the concept of OU Delivery. After transferring to the University of Delaware to be closer to family, Snyder contacted OU Delivery and proposed the idea of an expansion.
“I actually originally thought of doing this on my own, not contacting OU Delivery, but I just remembered how well they ran and how smooth they were,” Snyder said. “It was not just a bunch of college kids but instead kids who knew business, knew what they were doing and thought they could actually make a career out of this.”
The Delaware branch, dubbed Campus Delivery: UD, is in a slow transition because students have just returned to campus and the newly introduced idea still needs to spread, Snyder said.
Kent State’s branch, Campus Delivery: KSU, started the process in January when Grant Walker, a 19-year-old living outside of Kent, heard about OU Delivery from a friend at OU. He applied for a manager’s position and, after getting the job, began discussing the expansion.
The delivery system at Kent State will officially start Feb. 16 but will also deliver on Valentine’s Day to help out some students, Walker said in an email.
“We are opening specifically to help students get their Valentine's Day gifts to each other without having to pay ridiculous delivery fees to florists or whomever,” Walker said.
Zinno said gaining publicity for Campus Delivery: KSU has been an easier process since he only lives about 40 minutes from Kent State’s campus and knows a lot of his friends there would be receptive to the service.
Having OU Delivery share its mistakes, business plan and technology will help the new expanding branches be successful and make the startup process smoother, Zinno said.
Another person from Kennesaw State in Georgia reached out to OU Delivery, which prompted discussion of expanding the brand to that campus. There is not a large risk financially starting another branch, but the risk comes if the branch failed which could start a possible bad reputation, Zinno said.
“I’m not really scared of (expanding to Kennesaw) at all,” Zinno said. “We’re young and in college and we’re here to learn anyway. We’re actually learning in the business world so we’re just going to keep going and see what we’ll do.”
@liz_backo
eb823313@ohio.edu
