A group of friends at UF have combined their passions for business and hats to create a new company.
Four students who wanted to create something unique for college students across the country founded Brohats in July, co-founder Sam Lifton said. The business makes and distributes neon trucker hats with different sayings and catchphrases.
A “bro” is a young man or woman who likes to have a good time socializing with different people and standing out in a crowd, said Lifton, a sophomore sports management major.
The company markets mainly to college students, and the hats cost $10.
Making money is a bonus and a goal of the business, but the founders really wanted to create something they could have fun with, he said.
There are seven different hats, but the company wants to create more with different colors and sayings, Lifton said.
The business advertises on the website totalfratmove.com and has its own site, brohats.com. The business tried using Google and Facebook advertisements, but decided it was not worth the money because people were not seeing them.
Lifton packages the hats and ships them from the local post office. He said hats have been ordered from people in every state and he wants to have representatives at different colleges to market the company.
Ryan Weiss, co-founder, thought creating the hats and being a part of a business would be a fun, new challenge. After selling the first bulk order, he knew the business would be a success, said Weiss, a political science senior.
The group takes a handful of hats to the stadium before each game to sell and advertise for the business. Weiss said the company sells the most hats before football games, especially the orange one. Their goal is to make $1,000 every two weeks, and they hope to achieve it in the next couple of months.
Erica Freeman, a first-year exploratory major, bought a neon orange Brohat thats says “Frat.” at the first home football game on Sept. 4. She saw her friends had them and thought they were fashionable, she said.
“Brohats are saving the world, one hat at a time,” Lifton said.
