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
- Pay Attention
- Assess and Weigh Your Own Abilities & 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
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.
Chayanika Goswami
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.
Ashwini
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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Piyush Mishra