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Juan Sebastian Hoyos, who plans to resume his studies in international business and management in the College of Business Administration as a senior in the spring, wants to change the way people order from restaurants. During an internship at a start-up marketing company, he handled finances, did record keeping, and then moved into sales. He also was charged with another responsibility: getting lunch. “We had a few menus on hand and, being located in South Beach, we had lots of choices, but still it wasn’t easy when people wanted something different,” he said.
Starting and building this new business gave Hoyos the chance to draw on what he describes as his innate business savvy as well as what he had learned in his College classes. Over a period of four months, he did market research and wrote a business plan that laid out the advantages, projections, and finances. “I learned how to do a business plan in the College and also used a book called How to Write a Business Plan, which I bought at the Florida International University bookstore. I identified my competitors, of which there were two leading ones, and analyzed their business models. Based on my research—using Google and other search engines and contacting restaurants to see if they used any service—I determined that ninety percent of the restaurant industry was untouched, which means there’s lots of room to make money.” He pitched the idea to investors, who agreed to finance it if he devoted himself to it full-time—hence the hiatus from school. It took another four months to build the web site. He credits fellow student Chris Touris with devising a concept and system “that are brilliant.” And he credits the internship with helping him understand what start-ups are all about. “It takes commitment and sacrifice,” he said. With three hundred restaurants in South Beach, he hits the streets on his bicycle, with his laptop in tow, and makes presentations to potential clients. He also is prospecting in West Palm Beach. “I’m very big on marketing and advertising,” he said. “I’ve put together a nice package of information and have used the best quality materials to create my presentation. In fact, I invested in my own binding machine to make sure the presentations are as professional as possible.” In the future, he wants to go national, with a service that’s “mutually beneficial to restaurants and to their patrons.” He also plans to start a scholarship fund—which he hopes will be one of the largest in the country—that will enable people to use the online ordering system, then round their order up to the next dollar, with the surplus going into the Menu King Scholarship Fund, Inc. The site, now under development, is planned to be www.menuking.ssf.org. “For recipients, we’ll look for leaders,” he said. “We want people with a 3.0 GPA in a college or university who show a desire to be active whether in academics, sports, or the community. “ But his own community commitment won’t have to wait till the site is completed and the fund builds up. He already spends time with high school students, getting them to understand that they’ll apply what they’re learning. “I want to motivate them, showing them they can do whatever they want,” he said. “I hope they can learn from my experiences in the internship and in starting the business. When I talk to members of the marketing organization DECA and the enterprise organization SBLA, I let them know that their activities give them an edge over their peers. I also want them to understand that they have nothing to lose by trying because they are learning the steps to succeed.” Hoyos looks forward to resuming his studies, building on what he has already learned. “The most helpful courses I’ve taken so far have been in financial management and statistics. I do statistics all the time,” he said. “I also learned how to take business beyond this country and how to manage my employees in the future, which is such an important skill.”
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