BYU-Idaho student entrepreneur could win up to $50,000 at Boise pitch competition

REXBURG — Nick Hepworth has nan mind of an entrepreneur. When he saw a work not yet being offered successful nan marketplace, he jumped successful to capable nan need. Now he’s getting recognized for his thought and has a chance to triumph large astatine nan upcoming Boise Entrepreneur Week Pitch Competition.

With his caller company, Subitt, Hepworth and his business partners guidelines to triumph up to $50,000 if they return location nan expansive prize astatine nan October 3 title successful Boise.

In this time and age, arsenic exertion plays a ample domiciled successful business, galore companies usage subscriptions to connection incentives to their regular customers while besides keeping their ain revenues flowing. It’s a win-win for nan businesses and nan consumers.

Hepworth, a student astatine Brigham Young University-Idaho, initially group retired to create a subscription work for his ain imaginable customers. He wanted to connection subscriptions for nutritional supplements and pre-workout macromolecule powders. When he sat down pinch his computer-science-major roommate, Aoi Kuriki, to make a plan, they realized nan thought could beryllium much far-reaching and they explored nan thought of offering nan work to different mini businesses.

“It’s difficult to make a subscription,” Hepworth says. “That’s a problem, and we needed to find a solution.”

The solution was Subitt, a caller online work which intends to supply mini businesses a measurement to connection subscriptions without having to build nan strategy themselves.

“Plain and simple, we’re conscionable a marketplace for subscriptions,” Hepworth says. Users tin sojourn nan website aliases download nan app to spot subscription offers from section businesses. In eastbound Idaho, businesses are offering subscriptions for nutrient and drinks, pet grooming, car detailing, and more. Hepworth says Subitt has 45 businesses utilizing nan work pinch astir 150 much fresh to join.

Hepworth, Kuriki, and a 3rd squad member, Jae Kim, precocious competed astatine nan Idaho Entrepreneur Challenge astatine Boise State University. The Subitt squad won first place, which came pinch a fewer 1000 bucks to put into nan business and a “golden ticket” to make their transportation astatine Boise Entrepreneur Week.

Hepworth says it’s rewarding to beryllium portion of thing that helps different group and to person received specified a affirmative response.

“The title and each nan different benefits of trying to build thing that has an effect – it’s been awesome,” he says.

Subitt will subordinate 7 different finalists astatine Boise Entrepreneur Week, each hoping to triumph nan $50,000 expansive prize aft nan judges and investors perceive nan entrepreneurs’ champion pitches. Hepworth says nan Subitt squad members haven’t had a batch of transportation believe and person ne'er presented their thought to hundreds of group astatine once. While they’re excited astatine nan possibilities astatine nan competition, they’ve remained focused connected their main extremity of building their business.

“As overmuch arsenic we emotion nan transportation competition, we’re decidedly focused connected building Subitt correct now,” Hepworth says. “We effort to talk to sellers each day.”

They’re talking to businesses successful eastbound Idaho, but they’re besides branching retired and offering their services elsewhere.

“We’ve gotten sellers signed up from Rexburg and Salt Lake City, to sellers now successful Dallas, Texas, to sellers successful Arizona,” Hepworth says. “We’ve been capable to kinda get to a constituent wherever we tin do this successful much than 1 place, and that’s really exciting.”

Hepworth, who is primitively from Alabama and plans to postgraduate from BYU-Idaho successful 2025, says he and his squad are successful it for nan agelong haul.

“We want to build thing that tin past and beryllium impactful,” he says. “Small businesses really don’t person a batch of resources aliases group who are looking retired for mini business owners. We’re trying to create a immense business instrumentality web to make it easier to tally a mini business.”

Nick Hepworth, Aoi Kuriki and Jae Kim — nan squad down Subitt — will compete astatine Boise Entrepreneur Week connected October 3. | Courtesy photo