Vaporous Venture
by Julie Stoddart
Many students plan their business ventures during college, awaiting the day when they will earn their degree and can embark upon their journey toward success. For one Texas Tech student, graduation day was simply too long to wait.
Daniel Lloyd entered Texas Tech as an eager freshman from San Antonio ready to begin an education in Engineering. Upon moving to Lubbock, Lloyd was forced to leave behind some of the luxuries and entertainment that a large city provides. One of his favorite past times was attending the local hookah shop in his neighborhood.
“When I moved to Lubbock, I noticed that there were plenty of bars,” Lloyd said. “But, there weren’t any hookah bars at all. San Antonio was full of them, but there weren’t any in Lubbock. I thought students would really enjoy a place like that.”
After a year and a half of careful research and consideration, Daniel Lloyd began his sophomore year of college with a proposal to the Small Business Association detailing his plan to own a hookah shop in the depot district of Lubbock.
“I just contacted them and they told me to get a proposal together,” Lloyd said. “After I planned it out and got a good proposal together, they decided to give me the loans I needed to get my hookah shop off the ground.”
The Small Business Association helps aspiring entrepreneurs realize their dreams by distributing loans and helping to cover fees that business owners may encounter.
While juggling school and the plans for Lloyd’s hookah shop, House of Hookah, Lloyd sought after space, interior decorators, and equipment for his new bar. He ordered hookahs from Egypt and coffee from Columbia.
By 2006, Lloyd’s dream was a full, lucrative realization and he had only begun his junior year. While business for the past two years has been successful, Lloyd plans on selling House of Hookah when he begins his next adventure, University of Texas Business School.
“It’s been a really great couple of years,” Lloyd said. “It was a great learning experience, but I want to go on to do new things. Hopefully, I’ll own another business in the future.”
Lloyd said the best piece of advice he could give to a potential business owner is just to go for what you want.
“If you don’t go for your dreams, they don’t come true right?”