When seeing the rapid and exponential outgrowth of rich and successful start-ups across India, motivation for paving the same path and being in the same foothold as them, runs through the veins of many young minds in India. They are majorly students who have not yet reached their 20’s and are still in the process of pursuing their degrees. Well as a matter of fact, many of the leading entrepreneurs in today’s world had started getting inside the pool of entrepreneurship even before they emerged out as a school graduate. But, despite having an idea, the question that hovers in the minds of millions is “How?” Before delving into the sector of “how “, let us look into some of the myths harbored by students and the society in general, in launching their startup while still in college.
Read how Ritesh Agarwal made it big at just 22!
Mighty Myths:-
Lack of knowledge and skills to step into the business world
Well many young entrepreneurs believe that they know very little about the way start-ups and business world functions. As a matter of fact, this belief is completely baseless. Nobody has ever learnt anything new in a day. Learning is a slow and gradual process. And with startups, you need to keep your calm and learn in the process. If you simply sit back in your couch waiting comfortably for the perfect time when you will have gathered enough knowledge to wend then you will end up sitting idle infinitely.
Managing time
If you are under the impression that you won’t find time to get over your curriculum and do a start-up, then you were never really passionate about being an entrepreneur. If you can stay awake till late midnight watching TV series or movies, or hang around with your friends in the evening hours or lounge around in weekends, you can definitely , manage some time to put your brain in use to plan up something gigantically big. All you need to learn is to learn time management and keep a balance between work and college.
Age
A misconception that is very common among young entrepreneurs is that they think themselves to be too young and that people won’t take them and their ideas seriously because they lack experience. But the truth is something way beyond this. Younger minds are filled with much more cutting-edge ideas than the older ones and filled with higher wattage of energy which in turn will compel people to listen to your ideas and planning.
Now let us move on to some of the techniques that can be undertaken which will help you to start an enterprise while still in college.
Exploit Available Resources
You won’t ever find a better time and chance in your life where academic, technical, professional and advisory resources will be within the reach of your fingertips. It is the time when you might get mentored and the best guidance from a professor who has acquired his business expertise from years of experience. Depending on the domain of your product, your peers and fellow mates may serve as the best beta pool for the testing of your product. Participate in all sorts of B-planning and entrepreneurial competitions which will give you better exposure and will aid in the enhancement your ideas.
Bite off as much as you can chew
Try and understand your weaknesses and get over it. Remember the fact that you are a student. You still have your school work and other priorities to be fulfilled. Don’t venture down into something that is far beyond your reach. Start off with something small, something which requires less capital investment and eventually move along the way to make it huge.
Analyse your ideas
Talk about your ideas with people, who you can trust, your friends, your room-mates your colleagues. Let your ideas get scrutinized by smartest of people around you and get their opinions. Or even if you don’t want to share your ideas with people around you, then make a blog or a diary or a word document and keep penning down your ideas there. Implement your ideas but don’t be reluctant to change them. Keep bending and molding it till you start getting some valuable output.
Break-Through in Breaks
As a student, you enjoy a greater privilege in getting summer, winter and spring breaks which otherwise the professionals do not get. Make an optimal utilization of this period. Work harder on your plans during this time. While you need a little space of your own but then too don’t let this period go in vain. You get to work better without added stress or pressure.
Long-Term Future
Plan your ideas keeping in view the future prospect of your product. You will have a combat between your willingness to grow your venture quickly and the investors demand on your shares. Deal with the situation tactically. Ensure that you do not give away too much of your ownership. Your idea might be brilliant and only a few inches away from making you a millionaire but sharing too much of ownership will reduce your net profitability.
Take on Internships
Mark it, it’s plural, it’s “internships”. It is often recommended to have an industrial exposure, to get an idea about owning and running your own business and the way the corporate sector works, and taking on multiple internships will help you achieve this. In addition to this, a paid internship will also provide you with some capital to invest into to start-up.
Choice of Appropriate courses
Besides your course curriculum, do take some extra courses that will aid you in future. The idea might sound a little dull, but if you want to grow your business, which may be as small as selling roadside food, into a big venture, you will need marketing skills. Take courses on entrepreneurship, raising venture capital, prototyping and aforesaid marketing. If you find it hectic to take these classes during your regular course, join the summer courses. Who knows, you may even find your future partner there.
Rise above the Fear of Failure
Last but not the least; detach yourselves from all your fears of failure. Rather be joyous that you failed because you have tried at least and in this process you have learnt the lessons of what works and what doesn’t, which no book or no teacher can teach you. Most of the start-ups do not succeed at its very first attempt. And after all you are just living your college life, free from all the bondage of family responsibilities. You cannot get a better chance to try and implement your idea. Even if you risk it, you are nowhere at a loss but profitable from every sphere. Don’t cry because it’s over, but smile because it happened.
There is no right or wrong time for anything. If you have an idea that you are confident about, go forward and give it a try. Bring your idea into verisimilitude as early as possible because if you don’t somebody else definitely will.
