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PROVO -- Starting up a business from scratch takes a good idea, especially one that fills a need or solves a problem. A BYU grad has solved a problem he was having, and hopes it pays off big.
College students move around a lot and 26-year old Clark Davis, who just got his Mechanical Engineering degree from BYU, decided he wanted to make that process easier.
He created a furniture line, Gypsy Modular, that you can break down and set up in minutes.
Davis has created a whole line of simple, snap-together furniture; a business that he runs out of a tiny 8 by 10 foot room in a Provo duplex. He says the idea developed over time, but he knew there was a need by just watching campus activity at end of semesters.
"Just the other day I was driving down 7th north here and passed a car coming the other way," said Davis. "And there was a chick hanging out of the window holding a dresser on top of the car."
It was this kind of sight that inspired Davis to come up with easy-to-assemble, (or disassemble) no-tools-needed chairs, desks, shelves and benches that come wrapped in plastic, and sent to your front door. Lately he's concentrating on smaller versions for children's rooms.
This creation earned Davis first place in the first-ever "Student Innovator of the Year" competition last fall at the College of Engineering at BYU.
Up next for Davis? In true entrepreneurial spirit, he hopes to sell off the idea and develop something new.
E-mail: kmccord@ksl.com
