Any fan of road trips will tell you the journey is just as important as the destination.
For Worth McFall, founder of Somewhere Waffle and winner of the University of Georgia’s $5,000 Summer Launch Demo Day, his journey has meant refining and reimagining his concept for a chicken and waffle food truck several times this year.
“Somewhere Waffle’s goal is to take food on an adventure,” McFall, a Terry College of Business senior studying economics, told the judges of the Aug. 3 contest. “We’re realizing every single day that we can get smarter, we can learn how to run a business a little better, and we can learn how to make our menu better.”
That’s what the Summer Launch Program is all about, said Cali Brutz, a lecturer and associate director of the UGA Entrepreneurship Program.
Summer Launch is the UGA Entrepreneurship Program’s intensive business-refining workshop. Each student entrepreneur has already developed their business through a UGA Idea Accelerator program. The eight-week summer program focuses them on generating revenue and finding customers.
“You will hear some incredible stories of growth tonight, but please don’t be fooled,” Brutz said. “There is so much blood, sweat and tears that have gone into these ideas.”
The business plan for Somewhere Waffle, a food truck that caters events like wedding parties and sorority socials, has shifted over the past year. McFall’s long-term plan had included developing the food truck into a chain of fast-casual restaurants. Now he plans to launch a franchised food truck revolution.
McFall started Somewhere Waffle after converting a cargo van into his food truck. This summer, working with mentors at the Entrepreneurship Program, he has grown his monthly revenue from $2,000 to $5,000 and expanded his catering service from Athens to Atlanta and Auburn, Alabama.
Each of the five student startups that participated in Summer Launch increased their revenue this summer, Brutz said. At the beginning of the program, each team received $5,000 to seed their expansion. By the end of the summer, they had brought in almost $62,000 in combined sales.
“Regardless of outcomes, I can say every single one of you has shown incredible growth this summer,” Brutz told the teams. “Great things are in store for every single one of you.”
This year’s Summer Launch finalists were:
- Thryft Ship, founded by Valeria Brenner, a UGA junior studying marketing and international business.
- Gently Herbal Skincare, founded by Kristen Dunning, a graduate student in agricultural leadership.
- RV Livin’, founded by Nick Harrison, a 2021 UGA graduate with a master’s degree in disaster management.
- Swells of Splendor, founded by Wells Maley, a 2021 UGA fashion merchandising graduate.
All of the Summer Launch teams learn as much from the journey as the winner does, Brutz said. Of the 29 businesses that have gone through the Summer Launch pipeline since 2016, more than half are still in business. By comparison, only about 10% of U.S. startups last more than three years.
“However challenging the Summer Launch journey is,” she said, “the destination is worth it.”