A Lipscomb senior and two students from Belmont started an online food store during winter break, making it possible for students to buy groceries without ever leaving their rooms.
James Murrell, a senior marketing major from Manila, Philippines, began mydormfood.com with his brother Jonathan Murrell and his friend Bruno Silva. The business basically works like a grocery store that allows students to select the food they want and then have it shipped directly to their college residences, Murrell explained.
“It sounded like a good idea,” Murrell said. “I wasn’t sure if I’d have the time because I’m doing 19 hours, and it’s senior year.”
Murrell said that he and his brother had developed other entrepreneurial ideas before but never pursued them. He decided to give this one a try.
“James is the type of student a business professor likes to have in class,” said Dr. Randy Steger, one of Murrell’s marketing instructors. “He is more goal-oriented than most students, however, not just on getting a good grade. He is interested in learning how to do the right things, the right way to be successful in life.”
During the fall semester, Murrell and his business partners finished developing the idea and then launched it during the first week of spring semester. Murrell said the website was the most difficult aspect of starting the business.
“We needed quite a bit of capital, but besides that it wasn’t too bad,” Murrell said. “The biggest part was the website. The online store aspect of it—if that’s not good, it’s not going to work.”
Murrell said he has received a good response from people but added that the site needs more publicity before it can make significant profit. He said the main goal is to change students’ minds about how to buy groceries.
“Everyone says it’s a great idea,” Murrell said. “It’s just turning that initial reaction into going on there when they want their groceries. We have to change the pattern of how they shop.”
The creators of mydormfood.com purchase the food items in bulk from larger manufacturers and then divide them into smaller quantities, making it cheaper for customers, Murrell explained. Mydormfood.com has a gift card option and also makes it easy for parents, the site’s target audience, to send care packages to their students.
According to Murrell, his new business has partnered with a protein bar company from Franklin called Grab the Gold and with a missions organization called Real Life Foundation, which pays college tuition for young people from the Philippines.
Murrell said that through their partnership a percentage of all the sales will go to the Real Life Foundation.
“It takes unbelievably poor high school kids and puts them through college,” Murrell said. “It basically provides a way for them to get out of poverty.”
Murrell said he hopes the site soon will become a nationwide thing.
“Within two to three years, we want to have a presence in the majority of colleges,” Murrell said.
Steger said that Lipscomb tries to teach its business students to meet customers’ needs and to do it in a better way than the competition. He said he thinks Murrell is exactly that kind of businessman.
“With James’ ability to be industrious, conscientious and dependable, he will treat people in a way that will build relationships and loyalty with his customers and employees,” Steger said. “I believe from my experience that he has great promise as a business professional and an entrepreneur. It has been my honor to help train him as a Christian business leader.”