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CBA Entrepreneur Grows Company by Assisting Students
With the economic downturn came great concern from students and families about financing higher education. The number of applications for federal student aid increased nearly 20 percent, "an enormous increase" says Andrew Reichert (CBA '07), chief executive officer and founder of Go Financial Aid, a company he started in 2006 while an undergraduate student in the University of Pittsburgh College of Business Administration.
Back then, Reichert's business model included helping students and families with a variety of financial aid options from the free application for federal student aid (FAFSA) to grants to scholarships. But having worked in the industry several years, he's realized that the help his customers need the most is with the financial aid application process—as evidenced by the fact that nationwide nearly one out of every seven FAFSA applications are filled out incorrectly. Reichert has refined his business model and now focuses primarily on walking his clients through the financial aid application process to improve their chances of receiving financing.
Given that there are more people applying for a limited amount of funds, this role is crucial. "Grants are still there, loans are more competitive and less prevalent though," Reichert says. "Private loans are dwindling owing to the upheaval in the financial industry."
For clients who don't qualify for federal student aid, he is able to advise them about alternate sources of financing.
Reichert has seen his client base grow exponentially—nearly 200 percent growth year over year. He estimates that 80 to 90 percent of his business comes from referrals and repeat clients.
While Pittsburgh, with more than 30 institutions of higher education, is a great base for Go Financial Aid, Reichert is looking to expand his client base nationally. He is employing online marketing strategies to draw customers from across the United States to his Web site www.gofinancialaid.com.
There is perhaps no greater counselor for students and families who are overwhelmed and frustrated by the financial aid application process than a young entrepreneur who is all too accustomed with the anxiety of starting a business and the day-to-day fears of running one's own business. Reichert, who since starting Go Financial Aid has also started his own real estate investment company, says he overcomes the initial anxiety of starting a business by doing his homework—thoroughly. "I'm a calculated risk taker," he says. "I overcome the anxiety of making that first leap by doing extensive research." Once he's satisfied that he's done enough research, he says he's ready to get started. "The day-to-day anxieties of running a business require an entrepreneur to be agile—to change and mold his business model in response to environmental changes." Just as he did with Go Financial Aid.
Feeding Reichert's entrepreneurial spirit is the appeal of creating something from nothing. He admits he's always been intrigued by the idea of identifying a product or service that consumers want or need and that adds value to their lives.