On this episode of The Studentpreneur Show, we hear from Kennon and Amber of carGO. Kennon works within the company and serves as the head of the branch in Springfield, Missouri, while Amber is a Missouri State University senior who is a top sales lead and a driver. CarGO is a rideshare as well as a food and alcohol delivery service based in Missouri.
The great thing about carGO is that it is a local business that supports other local businesses. In this episode, Taegan, Kennon, and Amber talk about what carGO does, why carGO chose to focus on local restaurants, why they plant themselves in small cities, and how they plan to expand.
What is carGO?
CarGo is a rideshare and food and beverage delivery service. You may already be familiar with Uber, Lyft and even Grubhub. CarGo offers a blend of those services, while also maintaining a local base to support the local businesses of each city from which they operate.
How did carGO ignite?
Kennon shares the origin story. CarGO truly has beginnings from a real-life situation where a business professor based in Columbia, Missouri, and his friends connected with Southeast Missouri Univesity (SEMO) in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, weren’t sure who was going to drive them all home after a night out A conversation a lot of adults have had. Through this experience, they realized that both Columbia and Cape Girardeau were in need of a rideshare service.
Quickly this rideshare service expanded to include food and alcohol delivery.
After testing out the technology of the app and service in Cape Girardeau, Kennon got involved early on as the company expanded to Springfield, Missouri, the third-largest city in the state. To get started in Springfield, they knew they wanted to involve local restaurants and ensure that the staff were well connected in the city. Kennon was the perfect person to help launch the Springfield branch.
Since the launch in Springfield, carGO has expanded its connections to Missouri State University (MSU). It is important for them to connect with the younger people, so getting college students aware and involved has been important for them as a business. Since connecting with MSU the business has grown. About 30% of their 20,000 users in Springfield are college students! That’s a significant number, and they hope to replicate this model of partnerships in other cities.
Benefits of carGO?
CarGO offers great benefits for the community and its team members.
For the community:
- Free to download
- Discounts for college students
- Safe ridesharing (they interview drivers face to face!)
- Deliver from local restaurants and bars
- Rides are tracked to ensure the safety of riders
- Many of the drivers are around the same age as the riders which makes it more comfortable (many college students or young adults use the service)
For the team members:
- Support staff or based locally
- Rides are tracked to ensure that drivers are safe
- Competitive pay
- Flexible schedule (great for college students!)
- Opportunities to grow by engaging with marketing and sales events
- Learn how to grow a business from the ground up (small start-up company benefits!)
And the great thing is, carGO is planning to expand by 2021! They have big plans to be in mid-sized to small cities all across the country! Don’t worry, as they expand, they will continue to have a team of support staff based in each city and promote local restaurants in each city!
Take it from Amber. She loves being part of the team. She got involved after hearing the CEO share in a course, and she was immediately drawn to the company. With a background in entrepreneurship, she is excited about learning with a growing company and the opportunities she has to increase her skills working there.
Business tips from the carGO team:
Amber and Kennon both shared some of their strategies to helping carGO grow and serving their customers well.
For sales techniques, Amber and her teammates do the following:
- Engage with people by asking things like, “hey do you want #20 and free food?!” which draws in interest and benefits the user
- The sales team provides a background on the company because this generation wants to support local
- Being genuine goes a long way
- Finding ways to connect with the customer or future teammates
- Giving away free stuff also helps people download the app
Kennon speaks more about the restaurant side of things. His tips on engaging local businesses:
- He honestly shares the great benefits of being part of carGO like the return on investment (ROI) other businesses are already experiencing
- With businesses, he notes that if a restaurant’s competitor is on the app and they are not, it could mean missed business
- Communication is important
- Keep it all legal
On that note, I’m sure you’re wondering how carGO legally operates alcohol delivery.
Because they were on the early side of an alcohol delivery service, carGO helped pass legislation that keeps users safe and the process legal. They are one of three companies in the state of Missouri that can deliver alcohol.
When a user makes a request for an alcohol run their card has to match their id when the driver arrives. Having this digital footprint keeps the business safe. In fact, it keeps a lot of people safe. Kennon notes that DUIs in Cape Girardeau have decreased by 30% since they started delivering alcohol and providing their rideshare service. While there hasn’t been an exact study on the impact of carGO in the community, it’s obvious that the service is helping keep the community safer.
Advice for motivated college students:
Whether you want to start your own business or be part of a start-up, Amber shares that it’s great to work with a newer company since you’ll be exposed to so much more than you would if you world for a larger, established cooperations. Working at a startup teaches you more than responsibilities of just one role and you build a great network.
This show is full of wisdom from a unique and intentionally local business modal. Listen to the full Studentpreneur Show episode HERE!
Get the app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cargo-driver/id1158900809
Check out their website: https://www.gocargo.io/
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/carGOrideshare
