Frat Brothers Build Company Selling Used Cell Phones

After graduating from the University of Missouri-Columbia and setting up a company to sell used cell phones, Brian Laoruangroch wanted to find minority partners and workers he could trust.

Laoruangroch didn't have to look far to staff Green Mobile. He picked five members of his fraternity, Pi Kappa Alpha, who also earned their business degrees earlier this year, and he discovered that a brotherhood can create a booming business.

Laoruangroch and his partners found out in June that the Small Business Administration had agreed to back a $250,000 loan that will allow the company to expand and open a similar operation in Champaign, Ill.

"Most people graduate from college and take a nap; these guys opened up a business," said Jay Edwards, the SBA's senior area manager.

Edwards and Jim Gann of the University Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship helped guide the graduates.

"We gave them their options for funding, watched them practice their presentation and told them to dress for success," Edwards said.

"They have played a very large role for us," Laoruangroch said, "including advice before we presented our business plan to banks, counseling about business help in general, helping to prod the SBA to approve our loan guarantee, and letting us do practice business-plan presentations before them and many different members of faculty from the university."

Laoruangroch, the president and chief operating officer for Green Mobile, said the idea for the business stemmed from a series of mishaps.

"I had broken five or six cell phones, and it was starting to cost a lot of money. I did some research and realized that pre-owned phones on eBay were going for a fraction of the cost" of new replacement phones, Laoruangroch, 23, said. "Being a business student at the time, I made the connection that there's a need for these pre-owned phones, so I started selling them on eBay myself."

Last summer Laoruangroch decided to broaden his eBay business and created a Web site. Shortly thereafter he moved into an office at 816 Broadway, above American Shoe, were he brought in 20 of his fraternity brothers as employees.