Samuel Mere creator of CampusPro shares his business start-up with Blackstone LaunchPad
Our entrepreneur of the month is Samuel Mere, he is a University at Albany alumni who graduated in 2016. Samuel majored in Criminal Justice with minors in Business, Portuguese, and Sociology. His professional background includes working for companies such as Facebook, Apple, and C.H Robinson. He is currently a full-time entrepreneur working on his first venture CampusPro.
We interviewed Samuel to gain insight into his start-up pf CampusPro:
Why did you decide to start this business?
“Throughout my academic career at the University at Albany, I was a Resident Assistant (RA) on Indian Quad for two years. During my first year as an RA, there were two residents on my floor who had side hustles. One was a cosmetologist who provided services for hair and makeup. The other gave haircuts to his friends. Both of these students were using their skills to make extra money in their free time. However, they faced challenges finding new clients who were not their roommates or close friends. At the time, there were not many resources for student freelancers to market themselves and get new clients. So, I took it upon myself to create a platform that would allow students to conveniently promote their services to other students on campus, so they can get more clients and make more money…It’s called CampusPro.”
What problem are you solving?
“There is a lack of opportunities available for college students to make extra money during their free time. Not every student qualifies for on-campus employment and not every student has a schedule that complies with a part-time job. However, college students today are freelancing, but they don’t have the appropriate tools or resources to market themselves successfully. The current solutions are inefficient, ineffective and expensive. CampusPro makes it easier for college students to get involved in freelancing, so they can have the extra money in their pockets for everyday spending.”
How did you start solving it?
“The first step I took when starting CampusPro, I researched the freelancing economy. I did not want to get involved with an industry that did not have potential or that was in decline. I learned the freelancing economy, shared economy and on-demand economy are all rapidly growing markets that are outpacing the traditional workforce. The second part of my research, looking into potential competition and what marketplaces already exist for freelancers and college students. Freelance marketplaces already exist such as Fiverr and Upwork, but those platforms are not tailored to college students. Student-to-Student marketplaces exist as well, but they are focused more on reselling textbooks or only offer tutoring services. After my research, I immediately got involved with startup events in the community to network and learn because I didn’t know exactly how to bring this idea to life. I met entrepreneurs, mentors, investors, and developers who all shared their feedback and expertise on how I should pursue my idea. Before you knew it, I hired a development firm to create the MVP and then we launched our first beta at the University at Albany during the Fall 2018 semester. To date, we hired a Chief Technical Officer (CTO), released a new version of the app and are continuing to launch at new campuses such as UAlbany, The College of Saint Rose, Siena College, The Sage Colleges, SUNY New Paltz and more. Our app is now available in the App Store and coming soon to the Google Play Store.”