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Tag: college entrepreneurs

  • Top 7 Tips for Becoming a Successful Student Entrepreneur

    The world’s biggest names share more than just a few enviable accomplishments. Be it Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, or Bill Gates. They all are billionaires who made their fortune in the technology industry, and they all were students when they started their businesses. They are living proof that you don’t need to be a graduate to start your own business.

    In some cases, you don’t even need to complete your graduation especially if you are taking the examples of Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg. Some tips for becoming a successful student entrepreneur must be known before you start a business.

    However, before contemplating becoming a successful student entrepreneur you should have a plan. Like any other venture you undertake, planning is a must. In this article, we will talk about some tips that you should follow to become a successful student entrepreneur. So let’s get started.

    Interest Level of Students in Entrepreneurship
    Interest Level of Students in Entrepreneurship

    Pay Attention to the Advice of the Mentor
    Analyse Your Own Abilities and Disabilities
    Find Business Ideas That Suit You
    Test Your Idea
    Research Your Competitors
    Search for a Suitable Mentor
    Use Your Status as a Student for Leverage

    Pay Attention to the Advice of the Mentor

    When still in college pay attention as well as make the most of your time with your educators. While colleges have the duty to connect students to mentors, offer real-life experiences, and send employable graduates into the workforce. Students have the duty of making sure that they get the most out of their college investment as after college these mentors or experts are called consultants and will charge for the same information.

    Analyse Your Own Abilities and Disabilities

    Don’t rely solely on the entrepreneurship classes make your own evaluation regarding your skills knowledge and the goals you want to achieve. Rather than relying primarily on classes or in-house competition, good entrepreneurship programs give leverage to local entrepreneurship communities for an internship, workshops and speaker events. The more you will know about your abilities and disabilities the better you’ll be able to manoeuvre yourself.

    Find Business Ideas That Suit You

    Research the market thoroughly for the business ideas which will suit you best. Your idea doesn’t have to be a million-dollar idea to start with. Let’s say it’s an application that links the customer’s credit card and allows them to get grilled pizza delivered to their hotel rooms or pay for guest accommodation with the click of a button.

    Test Your Idea

    The main mistake that new entrepreneurs make is putting a lot of time and money into ideas that are bound to fail. One of the reasons this happens with entrepreneurs is that they work and exist in isolation once they set up their businesses. Favourably you are still in college, surrounded by smart people whom you could ask for suggestions. If your business idea is fairly inexpensive you can make a rough scaled-down version of it and test it out.

    Research Your Competitors

    Your competitors are your biggest teachers. Look around you, have knowledge of your competitors and also keep an eye on them. You can add features to your product or services that your competitors do not have and make them unique. This way you will get more leverage for your product or service and it is the strategy that is generally used by any competitor’s company.

    Search for a Suitable Mentor

    One of the most important and valuable assets an entrepreneur can have at any given age is a business mentor. A business mentor is a person who has functional knowledge and who is ready to offer advice, guidance, lesson and support to run your business and help speed up your success. Find a mentor who can do all the above things and help you out by providing suggestions at necessary times.

    Use Your Status as a Student for Leverage

    Finally, use your status as a student who is starting something cool to get tons of leverage and publicity. Start out by approaching your local radio station and newspaper, and your own community of students. You can use the internet and social media also in many ways for the promotion of your business. Remember, it is always better to start with your dream instead of sitting idle in fear of its failure.

    Conclusion

    More than 80% of students interested in starting their own businesses do not have the experience or the knowledge to do so. If you think of joining entrepreneurship classes, they teach an orthodox lesson “make it work the first time or it’s not for you”. Contests and classes generate a feeling that the first venture of the students is the one and only chance to prove themselves as an entrepreneur. However, students should learn to plan, apply, fail, and repeat the process again till they get successful.

    FAQs

    What are the entrepreneurship tips for becoming a successful entrepreneur?

    Some of the tips to becoming a successful entrepreneur are:

    • Have a solid business plan.
    • Prepare for financial challenges.
    • Be frugal – remember you’re a start-up.
    • Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
    • Put your faith in a trusted mentor.
    • Marketing on a shoestring budget.
    • Look after number one.
    • Build a team that shares your vision.

    What made entrepreneurs successful?

    Passion, resourcefulness, willingness to improvise, listening to others, and strong determination to succeed are what make an entrepreneur successful.

    What are some business ideas for youngsters in India?

    Some business ideas for youngsters in India:

    • Social Impact Investment Funds.
    • Cheap Home Solar Energy Setup Company.
    • Community Generator/ Energy Supply Control.
    • Internet infrastructure Building Company.
    • India Culture E-Commerce Niche Store.
    • Warehouse/ Inventory Management for E-Commerce.

  • Top 10 Best Business Ideas for Teens and Young Entrepreneurs

    Today, the world is moving at a faster pace. Work-life has become an integral part of everyone’s life. Now, work and money come on top of the list of most millennials and Gen Z. With this mindset, the competition is increasing in every field. This requires a child to start preparing for this competition right from the teenage years.

    Nowadays, teenagers are super keen on the thought of becoming independent at an early age. The idea of being a young entrepreneur crosses the mind of almost every teenager now. Teenagers are willing to experiment in different fields to make a business out of it. Online tutoring, social media influencers, selling handmade and personalized goods, baking, home-cooked meals are some of the ideas that pay well as a business for teenagers. So, if you are a teenager and you want to earn some extra money, start right now.

    Lets look at business ideas that you can execute as a teenager.

    Online Tutoring
    Website Creation
    Digital Marketing
    Social Media Influencer
    Making and Selling Handmade/Personalized Goods
    Cooking and Baking
    Graphic Designing
    Fashion Designing
    Freelance Writing
    Photography
    FAQs

    Pandemic and the Idea of Business Among Teenagers

    Businesses have always been there. People usually follow the regular pattern of going to school, college, getting a job, saving money, and then starting a business. However, during the pandemic, the students had more time to think which paved the way towards starting a small business.

    Digitalization helped teenagers to get equipped with all the information and skills that they need to start a business. So, the pandemic also played a big role in boosting the idea of small businesses by teenagers.

    1. Online Tutoring:

    Online Tutoring

    During the pandemic, everything shifted to the online mode. One of the biggest transitions was for the children as their whole classroom got reduced to a screen. This change made the concept of e-learning even more popular than before. As a teenager, you can become an online tutor in any field that you know you are good at. You need to know your requirements and target audience.

    If you want this business to work, always remember to be professional and keep your course pattern and model effective. You can market your service among the near and dear ones or can also register on online tutoring websites.

    2. Website Creation:

    Website Creation

    Websites are not just the pages appearing on our screens. They hold a great amount of earning potential in them. As a teenager, you can learn to create your website with the help of online courses or even YouTube. Once you create your website, you can do affiliate marketing by writing blogs. You don’t need any technical skills to do it. All you need is a great passion to start your own business and start earning.

    3. Digital Marketing:

    Digital Marketing

    The term Digital Marketing is now used in every business. You can learn digital marketing from online courses. When you search for digital marketing courses, you will find a variety of paid and free courses. You can start with free courses to learn and grab interest in the field. All you got to do is practice and get yourself familiar with SEO, SEM, Ads, Google analytics. The best thing is that you can learn this at home and even start earning right from the comfort of home.

    4. Social Media Influencer:

    Social Media Marketing

    If you are someone who loves to be in front of a camera, then this is perfect for you. There is no doubt in the fact that social media influencers are gaining popularity and are no less than a celebrity. Influencer marketing involves the marketing of products and services through influencers who have built an audience over social media.

    The first step for you is to determine your niche and, create your profile accordingly. Then you have to know your audience and create meaningful and consistent content for them. Consistency not only helps to retain the followers but also attracts new ones. You need to know related to social media, ads, analytics, digital marketing to excel in this field. This is a lucrative business option for teenagers as they get to be their bosses.

    5. Making and Selling Handmade/Personalized Goods:

    Making and Selling Handmade/Personalized Goods

    This idea is great for teenagers as it enables them to explore their creative side and make an earning out of it. Handmade and personalized goods never go out of style. You can make customized jewellery with beads, clay, or resin. If you are good at painting, you can make portraits or other art and sell it online. Personalized gifts like photo frames, handwritten letters can be sold. You can even make organic soaps at home and sell them online. In this way, you can start your own small business from home and start earning.

    6. Cooking and Baking:

    Cooking and Baking

    Home-cooked meals are always in demand. If you love to cook or bake, you can make an Instagram page for it and start taking orders. You can cook proper meals, bake cakes and even make chocolates at home and sell them.

    7. Graphic Designing:

    Graphic Designing

    If you have some design skills, you can sharpen them up and start earning. As a teenager, you can design posters, logos, ads, online graphics and sell them to customers. You can sign up on Fiverr, Freelancer.com as a seller and start looking for clients. This is a great business option for teenagers as they can earn while being creative.

    8. Fashion Designing:

    Fashion Designing

    This is a lucrative business idea for the ones who love fashion and design. If you know how to stitch, you can make customized clothes and sell them online. If you don’t know how to stitch, you can hire someone to stitch for you, while you design the garments. As teenagers, you can set up a website or build an Instagram page to sell your product.

    9. Freelance Writing:

    Freelance Writing
    Freelance Writing

    If you are someone who enjoys writing, this idea is a blessing for you. Since you are a teenager, you must be already writing your papers for school or college. So, it is a good idea to take up some commissioned projects on the side to make some money. You can sign up on marketplaces like Fiverr, UpWork and start looking for writing gigs.

    10. Photography:

    Photography

    Photography is a creative business idea for the ones who love to capture moments. As a teenager, you don’t have to take up any professional course. You can learn the basic techniques of capturing and editing online. You can take projects like clicking pictures for a birthday party, personal photoshoot, and more in your free time.

    Conclusion

    Teenagers, nowadays dream of being young entrepreneurs. They want to earn but also take their passion along with it. So, it is always a good idea to start a business at a young age. Starting a business early not only helps to earn money but also equips the youngsters with adequate skills that come in handy in their life.

    FAQs

    Can under 18 year old start a business?

    People under age 18 cannot form legal business entities, and their parents should do so on their behalf.

    What do teens sell online?

    You can sell clothing, electronics, antiques, toys, cookware, collectibles, sporting goods, art, and just about anything else imaginable.

    What is the easiest company to start?

    The easiest business to start is a service business, especially for a beginner. A service business is any kind of business where you sell services. In other words, you sell your skill, labor or expertise — instead of products or goods.

  • Melanie Perkins Success Story: How Melanie Perkins Built Canva

    Today the demographic characteristics of businesses have changed because of the increasing presence of women entrepreneurship and their leadership skills. In today’s world, women-led businesses are playing a very prominent role in the economic growth of the society, generating more employment and the upliftment of the society as well.

    According to an analysis made by Boston Consulting Group, women-driven startups which get funded are way more successful in terms of generating higher revenue. It is said that women have strong business plans and have high resilience and adaptability skills.

    In today’s highly competitive market, there is one woman that has not only emerged to be a great entrepreneur but also has proved to compete and survive with tech giants like Microsoft and Adobe. The Australian entrepreneur has built a design platform that is a big rival to the tech giants. So, Let’s look at the success story of Australian billionaire Melanie Perkins.

    Melanie Perkins – Biography
    Melanie Perkins – Childhood
    Melanie Perkins – Education
    Melanie Perkins – Early Career
    Melanie Perkins – Journey With Canva
    Melanie Perkins – Personal Life
    FAQ

    Melanie Perkins – Biography

    Name Melanie Perkins
    Born 1987
    Age 34
    Citizenship Australian
    Education The University of Western Australia
    Occupation Technology Entrepreneur, Canva
    Net worth $5.89 billion as of 2021
    Spouse Cliff Obrecht

    Melanie Perkins – Childhood

    Born to an Australian mother and a Malaysian father, Melanie has had a multi-cultural family. Her parents belong to engineering and teaching backgrounds. Melanie had an entrepreneurial spirit since her childhood. She started her first business around the markets of Perth, where she sold handmade scarves at the age of 14.

    Melanie Perkins – Education

    For most of Melanie’s childhood, she attended Sacred Heart College. Melanie pursued her career in communications, psychology, and commerce from the University of Western Australia. As part of her major studies, she also taught basic computer design. This was when she realized that students struggle to work in technical and complex platforms like photoshop and illustrator.

    At the age of 19, she dropped out of college to pursue her dreams of being an entrepreneur and business career.

    Melanie Perkins – Early Career

    Melanie Perkins with Cliff Obrecht
    Melanie Perkins with Cliff Obrecht

    It was with Cliff Obrecht her husband when Perkins co-founded her first startup named Fusion Books. It is a platform that allowed students to design their yearbooks of school by using simple tools like drag and drop, illustrations, fonts, etc.

    She started working on this platform at her mother’s place where her parents helped Perkins to print these yearbooks. She started connecting with people in colleges and universities to get new clients for her business. Very soon, it started to grow and become the largest yearbook company in entire Australia.

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    Melanie Perkins – Journey With Canva

    Melanie Perkins - Fusion Books
    Melanie Perkins – Fusion Books

    It was the time when Fusion Books was performing very well but Cliff and Melanie were running out of funds for growth and expansion. They wanted to take assistance and help from venture capitalists but no one agreed and believed in the idea.

    During this period, Fusion Books became Canva Inc. In the beginning, it was very challenging for Perkins and Obrecht to get funding from investors. They had an opportunity to visit a prominent investor Bill Tai in the year 2011 in Perth.

    They didn’t receive any funding from Tai but were regularly invited to kite-surfing gatherings where many other tech investors joined too. A few of these gatherings were held at Silicon Valley, where Perkins and Obrecht touched every single opportunity they could, but still couldn’t get any help.

    The Launch of Canva

    Melanie Perkins with Cliff Obrecht, and Cameron Adams
    Melanie Perkins with Cliff Obrecht, and Cameron Adams

    One fine day they met with a former Google executive who after years of struggle came as a blessing. Cameron Adams joined the team and also supported Canva to get funding for the brand to grow.

    In 2013 the company was officially launched after two rounds of seed funding where Melanie Perkins was announced the CEO of the Canva, Obrecht as the COO, and Cameron Adams as the CPO of the company.

    Canva started to grow and diversify its business operations at a rapid speed. In the initial year, they had more than 600,000 users. The company also expanded its reach to places like Beijing and Manila. As the years passed, the company kept adding more distinguishing features to its platform.

    Even with just a little diversification outside Australia, Melanie got popular in Silicon Valley and among the tech businesses of the United States. In 2016, she was named the Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in Asia List.

    In 2020, Canva raised $60 million and the company’s valuation went up to $6 billion making Perkins the third richest woman in Australia with a net worth of $1.3 billion.

    Melanie Perkins – Growth of Canva

    Perkins’s dream of building a graphic design platform that was easy to use with limited design skills came to be true with Canva. The platform has been an amazing alternative for Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator where the users have endless options of designing unique graphics.

    Even when Adobe dominates the global market, Canva has an active user base of more than 30 million across 190 countries.

    One of the rare stories in the startup industries is when Canva in 2017, posted a profit of $1.86 million on $25.1 million revenue in just the first half of the year. Melanie and her team have made it possible to give access to more than 40,000 templates for its premium users. The platform works on a freemium business model.

    Melanie Perkins – Personal Life

    Melanie Perkins with her husband, Cliff Obrecht
    Melanie Perkins with her husband, Cliff Obrecht

    Cliff Obrecht was the long-time boyfriend of Melanie Perkins. They together found their first startup Fusion Books and then Canva too. During the trip to Cappadocia, Turkey in 2019, Obrecht proposed to Melanie.

    Both of them are known for their philanthropic work and most of their earnings go to charity. Soon after they started traveling for kite-flying events invited by Tai, Melanie started developing an interest in traveling.

    Perkins is very proud of her work and she wants to continue growing herself as well as her designing platform Canva. More than 85% of the Fortune 500 companies are using Melanie’s platform.

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    Conclusion

    Being in the early ’30s of her life, Melanie Perkins has struggled and achieved a lot at a very young age. While she got happily married to Cliff Obrecht in January 2021, both of them plan to have a happy and successful future in building and growing Canva Inc and helping people with all the possible resources that they have.

    Melanie believes that her community and connections are really important for her business to reach new heights and she trusts that together with her team they will soon become a global leader in the tech design industry.

    FAQ

    What is the net worth of Melanie Perkins?

    The net worth of Melanie Perkins is approximately $5.89 billion.

    What is the age of Melanie Perkins?

    Melanie Perkins was born on 1987 and is 34 years old.

    Who is the husband of Melanie Perkins?

    Melanie Perkins is married to Cliff Obrecht.

  • Grow as an Entrepreneur in the College for Successful Future

    To become a successful entrepreneur, one needs to dedicate time and energy to a business venture. Starting working on business gives a lot of time to know the in and out of business. But it takes willpower to start a business at any age as starting your first business while still in school is quite challenging. Balancing schoolwork and the entrepreneurial dream are often troublesome for students. But if you follow the right steps, starting a business in college can be easier.

    If you want to grow as an entrepreneur while in college, one needs to take appropriate steps. In college, an aspiring entrepreneur can learn the tactics and develop their network. You will have an opportunity to interact with all kinds of entrepreneurs and professionals in the market while in college, which helps you guide on how to start business in college and the journey forward.

    The world’s biggest names share more than just a few enviable accomplishments. Be it Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Sergey Brin or Bill Gates. They all are billionaires who they made their fortune in the technology industry, as an entrepreneur in college when they started their business. They are living proof that you don’t need to be a graduate to start your own business.

    But if you’re contemplating on becoming an entrepreneur in college, then you should have a plan. Like any other venture you undertake, planning is a must. Research is the key to a successful planning. So, here are some tips on how to start successful entrepreneurial journey.

    7 Tips to Start Your Business in College

    7 Tips to Start Your Business in College

    More than 80% of students interested in starting their own business do not have the experience or the knowledge to do so. If you think of joining entrepreneurship classes, they teach an orthodox lesson “make it work the first time or it’s not for you”. Contest and classes generate a feeling that the first venture of the students is the one and only chance to prove themselves as an entrepreneur. Instead, they should teach to plan, apply, fail and repeat the process again until they get success. To be an entrepreneur in college is a tough journey but it is a matter of time which will be fruitful as per your hard work.

    Pay Attention

    When still in college pay attention as well as make the most of your time with your educators. While colleges have the duty to connect students to mentors, offer real-life experiences and send employable graduates into the workforce, students have the duty of making sure that they get the most out of their college investment as after college these mentors or experts are called consultants and will charge for the same information.

    Assess and Weigh Your Own Abilities & Disabilities

    Don’t rely solely on the entrepreneurship classes make your own evaluation regarding your skills knowledge and the goals you want to achieve. Rather than relying primarily on classes or in-house competition good entrepreneurship programs give leverage to local entrepreneurship communities for an internship, workshop and speaker events. The more you will know about your abilities and disabilities the better you’ll be able to maneuver yourself.

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    Find Business Ideas That Suit You

    Research the market thoroughly for the business idea which will suit you best. Your idea doesn’t have to be a million dollar idea to start with. Let’s say it’s an application which links the customer’s credit card and allows them to get grilled pizza delivered to their hotel rooms or paying guest accommodation with the click of a button.

    Test Your Idea

    The main mistake that new entrepreneurs make is putting a lot of time and money into ideas that are bound to fail. One of the reasons this happens with entrepreneurs is because they work and exist in isolation once they set up their businesses. Favorably you are still in college, surrounded by smart people whom you could ask for suggestions. If your business idea is fairly inexpensive you can make a rough scaled down version of it and test it out. Say in the case of the grilled pizza app, you can hang flyers and hand out the telephone number and see if somebody calls.

    Research Your Competitors

    Have knowledge of your competitors. You can add features to your product or services that your competitors do not have. This way you will get more leverage for your product or service. This is the strategy that is generally used by any competitor company.

    Search for a Suitable Mentor

    One of the most important and valuable assets an entrepreneur can have at any given age is a business mentor. A business mentor is a person who has functional knowledge and who is ready to offer his/her advice, guidance and support to run your business and help speed up your success.

    Use your Status as a Student for Leverage

    Finally, use your status as a student who is starting something cool to get tons of leverage and publicity. Start out by approaching your local radio station and newspaper. You can use the internet also in many ways for your promotion.

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    FAQs

    What business can a college student start?

    You can start a business of anything from sales & marketing copy, SEO content, essay writing, academic papers, or even simple proofreading.

    How can I start my own business with no money?

    Choose a small business idea with low startup costs. If you still don’t have enough money, you can finance your business idea through crowdfunding or investors.

    How to start a college business?

    Six steps to launching and growing a profitable business before you graduate college:

    • Step 1: Create a customer base
    • Step 2: Build an inexpensive prototype
    • Step 3: Create a simple one-page website
    • Step 4: Find your audience and get in front of it
    • Step 5: Keep your audience engaged

    What are the most successful small businesses?

    list of most profitable small businesses

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