Header Ads

Three advantages of college entrepreneurship

 

Incubation centers of Academic Institutions help students about starting a company in college. I’d like to expand on the answer here.

There are a lot of advantages to starting a business in college. 

I’m gonna touch on three big reasons.

1. You’ve got less to lose -

 Earlier this year I had the pleasure of hearing Paul Berberian speak about a few of his past businesses and tips for the college entrepreneur. He was showing a slide with nothing on it but a big zero.

Berberian then explained that in college, we have little holding us back. He said that things like kids and mortgages are down the road. For now, it’s mostly friends, school, and a bunch of free time. Why not take the risk?

College is a great time to take an idea, bootstrap it and try to make a little (or a lot) money off of it. There are people around you majoring in useful areas like marketing, computer science, accounting, and psychology. Make a few friends, tap into their studies, and get together. Put what you’re learning in class to use in a Real World setting.

I haven’t forgotten about those students who take out loans and go into huge debts in order to attend universities. Here’s the way I see it: If you’re going, for example, Rs.5,00,000 into debt to pay for education, why not bootstrap a business and add a little more to your debt? Life hasn’t gotten real yet. You’ve got less to lose.

2. The age advantage - 

When you graduate you’re just another person in the Real World. Why not play it up that you’re doing some cool stuff and you’re still in college? 

Chances are, there’s a university newspaper associated with the school that you attend. Drop them a line. They love to feature some of the best and brightest that the university has to offer. That’s you!

Tell them your name, your year, your major, and what you’re doing - whether it applies to what you’re studying or not. Let the journalists take it from there. I consider university newspapers/newsletters to be an essential piece of marketing. 

3. The experience around you -

 Universities are filled with incredibly smart, and experienced professors. Use their expertise and their knowledge to your advantage. Fill them in on your project or startup and ask them to dissect your idea, your business plan, or your revenue model. 

Turn professors into mentors. 

I hope that in your college experience you come across a professor or two who change your life.  Or give you a path to follow.

Other Related Articles :

No comments