REXBURG — Nick Hepworth has the mind of an entrepreneur. He saw a service that wasn’t yet available in the market and jumped in to fill that need. Now, his idea is being recognized and he has a chance to win big at the upcoming Boise Entrepreneur Week Pitch Competition.
With his new company, Subitt, Hepworth and his business partners have a chance to win up to $50,000 if they win the grand prize at a contest to be held Oct. 3 in Boise.
Nowadays, as technology plays a huge role in business, many companies use subscriptions to incentivize their regular customers while also maintaining their own revenue. It’s a win-win situation for businesses and consumers.
Hepworth, a student at Brigham Young University in Idaho, originally wanted to create a subscription service for his own potential customers. He wanted to offer nutritional supplements and pre-workout protein powder subscriptions. When he and his roommate, Aoi Kuriki, who majored in computer science, discussed plans, they realized the idea could have a broader reach and considered the idea of offering their services to other small businesses. did.
“It’s hard to get a subscription,” Hepworth said. “It was a problem and we needed to find a solution.”
The solution was Subitt, a new online service aimed at giving small businesses a way to offer subscriptions without having to build their own systems.
“Plain and simple, we are just a subscription marketplace,” Hepworth says. Users can visit the website or download the app to see subscription offers from local businesses. In eastern Idaho, businesses offer subscriptions for food and beverage, pet grooming, car detailing, and more. Hepworth said Subitt’s service is used by 45 companies, and about 150 more are ready to join.
Hepworth, Kuriki and a third team member, Jay Kim, recently competed in the Idaho Entrepreneur Challenge at Boise State University. The Subitt team won first place, thousands of dollars to invest in their business, and a “golden ticket” to pitch at Boise Entrepreneur Week.
Hepworth says it’s rewarding to participate in helping others and receive such a positive response.
“The competition and all the other benefits of trying to make something impactful were great,” he says.
Subbit joins seven other finalists at Boise Entrepreneurship Week, each aiming to win a $50,000 grand prize after judges and investors hear entrepreneurs’ best pitches. Hepworth said Subvit’s team members don’t do much pitch practice and have never presented their ideas in front of hundreds of people at a time. While they are excited about the possibilities in the competition, they remain focused on their main goal of building their business.
“We love pitch competition, but our focus right now is definitely on building sub-bits,” Hepworth says. “We try to talk to sellers throughout the day.”
They’re negotiating with companies in eastern Idaho, but they’re also expanding into other areas to offer their services.
“We’ve had sellers sign up from Rexburg and Salt Lake City to now sellers in Dallas, Texas, and now Arizona,” Hepworth said. “We were able to get to the point where we could do this in multiple locations, which is really exciting.”
Hepworth, an Alabama native who plans to graduate from BYU-Idaho in 2025, said he and his team are in it for the long term.
“We want to create something that is sustainable and impactful,” he says. “Small businesses don’t really have a lot of resources and talent to look out for small business owners.We’re trying to build a huge network of business tools to make it easier for small businesses to run their businesses. I’m here.”
Nick Hepworth, Aoi Kuriki, and Jay Kim (Subitt’s team) will compete at Boise Entrepreneur Week on October 3rd. Provided photo
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