Nibletz Staff
While some people might dismiss young entrepreneurs, they can often go on to make a success of their business. After all, they are young and brimming with ideas. In fact, some of the most successful companies in the world were started by someone in their younger years. Just look at Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg who came up with the idea of Facebook when he was in his dorm at college. And now he’s worth billions of dollars. And he’s not the only one to go on to make a business before leaving college. Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian founded Reddit while at the University of Virginia, and Def Jam Records began while Rick Rubin was in his dorm. But a lot of people who think of a killer idea they want to start after college have no clue on how to get their business started. After all, they believe it might be a pipeline dream which will never make reality. But it might just be that your idea could actually take the world by storm. Therefore, here is how you can go from student to entrepreneur.
Work on identifying your brand
One of the first things you need to do to kick start your business is get your brand up to scratch. After all, you want people to identify your company and know exactly what you do. And you want to build brand familiarity so that they come back to you time and time again. Therefore, work out exactly what you want the brand name to be and how it should look. Play around with different names and think of a tag line too. You might be able to find a friend who is doing a design course to help you come up with a good logo. In fact, they might do it for free for you as experience so it won’t cost you an arm and a leg. And they can even help you to make flyers and business cards so that you can get your business off to a good start. And if you need some help identifying your brand, it’s worth sitting down and working out what makes your business idea unique. Think about the USP (unique selling point) that makes your brand exactly what is it. And with that in mind, you should be able to make a well-rounded business which you can take places after your course.
Go and get some experience
When you have just finished a course, it’s easy for you to struggle to be taken seriously as an entrepreneur. After all, potential clients will just think you are another keen youngster who wants to make their mark in the business world. And then they can easily brush you and your idea off. Therefore, to ensure you can make the transition well from student to entrepreneur, it might be worth getting some experience behind you. Find a job in the industry in which you want to move forward with your own business. Not only will it help you to pick up some skills, but it will help you to make a name for yourself in that industry. And experience is always something that looks good when it comes to meeting clients. You can still work on your company while you are working at another business. But getting some experience behind you will help you to impress clients. And it can give you vital tips that will help you to go on and make your own company a success.
Use your course to your advantage
The last couple of years you have spent doing a course on a particular subject. And now is the time to use this new found knowledge to your advantage. After all, your business is much more likely to succeed if it’s using your skills in a certain area. For example, if you have completed a Health Care Administration degree, you could use this to go on to make a business selling health care supplies, or even to start your own clinic. And this knowledge you have learned during your degree can help you to make a success of the business. You will know exactly what clients are after. And you will have a wealth of students you can ask when you are doing your market research for your company! At the end of the day, you are much more likely to fail if you go for something which you are clueless about. In fact, you might find that you will struggle if you have to go up against competitors who have education and experience in the field. Therefore, use your new skills to your advantage to make sure your business goes on to be a success.
Now is the time to get support
You might struggle to get your business off the ground if you have just finished college. Firstly, you are likely to be stuck for funds as you have spent all you had on the course. So you might not have the finances to get your business up and running. And you might not have the skills that are needed to launch a business. Therefore, if you still want to make a go of being an entrepreneur, it’s time to get some support. It might be that you require some financial support. Therefore, look into hunting down an investor who will invest funds in your business. They might be able to help you get in the right direction as well as giving you money to get your business started. Or you could even go to your mom and dad to ask for a helping hand. If they think you have a fantastic idea, they might fund you so you can move forward with your business. As for support in making your business a success, it might be that you look for a partner to work alongside you. After all, with two of you, it will be much easier to make a go of the company. And there will be less pressure on you if you get a business partner with experience!
And remember to do as much research and planning as you can while finishing your degree. That way, you will be well on your wall to starting your business once your course is complete.
