It started with four co-founders, a full email inbox and one garage.
David Argov, Alexza Morales, Heather O’Rourke and Aly Perez, UF advertising seniors, started Garage Agency & Co., an advertising agency, from Argov’s garage.
“Every business has humble beginnings. They start at a dorm, a room in a house or in a garage,” said Argov, the company’s “account dude.”
Garage Agency & Co., which officially launched last August, focuses on small- and medium-sized local businesses and student-run organizations. It also does digital work for businesses outside Gainesville, Argov said. The startup currently serves about 11 clients.
Clients include Key West Cigar Company, Brenner Stanton Clothiers, Accent Speakers Bureau, and UF's SGP.
The company’s “strategy ninja,” Morales, said the four decided to start the agency when Argov and O’Rourke approached Morales, who felt ready to handle her own business after several advertising internships, and Perez, who saw a need for local advertising.
Argov said he felt prepared to start the business after bagging an internship with the CementBloc, a multichannel creative agency in New York City, and working as an account director for AdWerks, UF’s Ad Society’s student-run advertising agency.
Before starting the business, the founders met with William J. Rossi, a UF professor of entrepreneurship and associate director for GatorNest.
“He gave us the best advice that we could have possibly gotten,” Argov said. “He basically said, ‘Just go, and do it.’”
So they did it.
After better understanding the logistics — taxes, costs and competition — the group met about once a week during the summer to create the company from scratch, he said.
Argov said Garage Agency & Co. is a first in Gainesville, which he said lacked an agency for creative advertising. The startup is also a “valued alternative” to existing advertising agencies.
“It’s all about understanding what the client wants and understanding the target audience,” said O’Rourke, the agency’s “marketing wiz.” “Tie that in with an eye for design, and you’ve got Garage.”
Garage Agency & Co.’s owners are part of a growing trend of college students who create companies, Rossi said.
More students are interested in starting businesses, and more students who start businesses are successful at it, he said.
Rossi said the number of students in his Introduction to Entrepreneurship course increased, and about 30 percent of the students aren’t business majors.
Startup Hour, a monthly event in Gainesville that brings student and graduate entrepreneurs together, increased from about 50 to about 150 attendees since it began in 2010, he said.
This trend is fueled by the Internet, which makes creating a company easier, faster and cheaper, as well as by the lack of traditional jobs, Rossi said.
“Students who have an interest in starting a business have less to lose today,” he said.
Jordan Meyer, director of communications and marketing for the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce, said the growing number of student entrepreneurs contribute to the amount and success of local businesses.
Argov said he isn’t worried about the profit or the future of Garage Agency & Co. The agency is an opportunity to test his skills and challenge himself before he enters the workforce, he said.
“You need to do something to get real-life experiences,” he said. “Your curriculum just isn’t enough anymore.”
The co-founders of Garage Agency & Co., Aly Perez, Heather O’Rourke, David Argov and Alexza Morales, meet once a week in Argov’s garage. The student-run advertising agency has about 11 clients.
