He wanted it, but he could not fill his appetite. He didn’t have a car and was unwilling to make the journey from East Holden to Grand River Avenue on foot.
He was hungry and out of luck.
After some thought, his desire for fast food led to an idea - starting a delivery business for hungry students like him.
The idea was simple: Take a student’s order, buy the food himself and deliver it to their door.
Holcman called his girlfriend, who attends Ohio University, to see what she thought. She told him there was a successful student-run food delivery service at Ohio University and encouraged him to create a similar business at MSU.
Holcman spent the afternoon branding his new company. He created a MSU Delivery Facebook and Twitter account and printed off paper business cards.
By night time, he was already working - he made a total of three deliveries.
“Saturday morning I had the idea, and by Saturday night I was already taking deliveries,” he said.
His first order ca me in around 10 p.m. that night. When a student texted him a food order, he immediately picked up the requested Little Caesars pizza and took the cheesy treat to students at MSU’s Main Library.
“I think it’s crazy how fast it’s gotten around already,” he said. “The Internet’s amazing.”
Because of university regulations for freshmen, Holcman doesn’t have a car on campus. To fulfill the orders, he borrows his friend’s car and compensates her with gas money.
Holcman said he tried to make the ordering process as simple as possible.
When students want to order, they are instructed to text Holcman their food order, along with their address and phone number.
Holcman then drives out to get the food and then texts the student how much the order will be, including the delivery rate. MSU Delivery charges an additional $4 for on-campus orders and $5 for off-campus orders.
From there, he goes to wherever the food needs to be delivered and gives them a call. He collects the cash and hands over the order.
With previous experience as a flower delivery driver back in his hometown, he said he is familiar with the risks of delivering goods. Holcman said he’s aware people could not answer when he gets there or fake orders, but he remains optimistic.
“If worst comes to worst, I get to eat the food,” he said laughing.
For now, Holcman is the business’ only delivery man, but he said he hopes to expand and hire others in the near future. From the feedback he’s gotten back, he said he thinks business will rapidly take off.
“I have to get the word out more but so far everyone says it’s a really good idea,” he said.
