For many students, being broke in college is a reality due to the high costs of obtaining a higher education. Many look to many different avenues like babysitting, working on campus, getting an internship, to earn some extra spending money.

 

Although many look to these different jobs to make that extra dollar, a few students turn to starting their own businesses to make the extra money they want while also boosting their resume and business experience while in college.

 

UT Senior, Alexi Cortez is one of these students. After being inspired when purchasing shoelaces during a study abroad trip to Hong Kong, Cortez, then only a college sophomore, started her own shoelace business.

 

“I called my dad super excited after buying myself some [shoelaces] and he loved the idea of them as well and almost jokingly suggested we start selling them in the US,” Cortez said.

 

The shoelaces are silicone shoelaces; which make it easy for someone to slip their shoes on and off. For Cortez, the idea of not tying her shoes was something that always intrigued her.

 

“Growing up I played golf and I hated tying my shoes so much that I would almost exclusively get shoes with a Velcro tie,” Cortez said laughing.

 

After concluding she was very satisfied with her purchase, Cortez decided to venture on the endeavor of creating her own business, Mavericks, an idea her and her dad initially joked about.

 

“I started a couple clubs/businesses in high school, and my entire family from grandparents, to aunts and uncles, to parents all own their own business, so the idea of starting a business wasn’t all that new or intimidating to me,” Cortez described.

 

Cortez wanted her shoelaces to be like the ones she initially purchased in Hong Kong. She looked for a manufacturer when she was back in the United States to help her turn her dream into a reality. Once the manufacturer was identified, Cortez felt confident to begin her new journey.

 

“I realized how simple it was to get started and built out the rest of the business from the logo to the website to the shipping process,” Cortez stated.

 

As the business picked up, Cortez started to advertise her shoelaces on Facebook and Google. These advertisements opened the door to her having customers across the United States, including states like Hawaii.

 

After 6 weeks of business, Cortez received a cease and desist letter from Hickies, a shoelace company. They informed her that she had been selling intellectually stolen property and demanded her to shut her business down.

 

“Turns out the manufacturers lied to me and did not obtain the patent to sell the laces. I immediately had to shut down or else I ran the risk of being sued,” Cortez said.

 

Cortez decided to put an end to her shoelace business because she did not want to risk it.

 

As Cortez reflects on her experience, she realizes she had rushed into starting the business and wished she had been more careful in the early stages of creating her brand.

 

“Looking back, I was so excited to get the business going that I kind of rushed into it and over looked some major details that ultimately became the downfall of my business” Cortez stated.

 

Although Cortez realized her mistakes, she believes that this failure made her more prepared for the future.

 

“When I had to shut down, I initially was really upset,” Cortez said. “But I realized I had a really cool opportunity to basically test drive a business for a nice span of 6 weeks - run the marketing, operations, accountancy, and procurement myself and truly learned a lot about the intricacies of running a business and selling a product.”

 

With her Mavericks shoelace brand all tied up, Cortez plans to graduate in May 2018 and start her career with Facebook in Austin.