Go cure cancer. Go write the great American novel. Go start a sandal company.
Arks, a sandal company started by a UF alumnus and two UF students, premiered in early February.
Jon Alwinson, Joel Alwinson, Justin Roberson and Wesley Radcliffe embarked on the business venture about two years ago. The company features leather camouflage flip-flops.
"In Florida, all we do is live in sandals," said Joel Alwinson, a University of Central Florida alumnus and Arks executive officer. "So I couldn't believe there was not a camo-leather sandal out there."
It all began when Joel, a self-described "serial entrepreneur," began brainstorming with his brother Jon about possible business ideas. He had started a few businesses before, but this was to be his first "brother tag-team venture."
Jon's friends Roberson, a UF industrial engineering senior, and Radcliffe had also been considering the sandal business.
Roberson and the Alwinson brothers began searching for manufacturers and testing sandal designs in the fall of 2007. They pored over leather and foam samples in Joel's house.
The result was a line of sandals made with high-quality aniline leather that doesn't bleed when wet, unlike existing leather sandal brands.
As true Florida boys, the founders of Arks want their company to have a homegrown, community reputation. As a result, they are selling their sandals through a "grassroots campaign" and not through retailers. Arks has sales representatives in Tallahassee, Jacksonville and Orlando.
The founder's motto and mission statement for Arks is, "A way of life." Roberson said that is how Arks is going to conduct its sales. The marketing approach is to have a team of sales representatives who create relationships with customers.
"Arks is the Mary Kay of sandals," Alwinson said. "We are setting up sales representatives and creating communities."
Part of its community-oriented vision is to help local nonprofits, and for every pair of sandals sold, Arks donates $5 to various nonprofit organizations.
Alwinson, who is currently working as a real estate agent, financed the beginning of Arks and said funding is the biggest obstacle in creating a small business.
Roberson would like to see Arks grow into a full-time career, but for now he is taking a job with Lockheed Martin in July and selling sandals part time.
"My dream is to build Arks, and it would be great if I could make it into a career," he said.
