I don’t know how to introduce this concept, so I’ll just throw it out there: college is the best time for starting up a business. This article right here is the guide for starting a business in college. Are you ready?
I was once working on a guest post on balancing your college life with starting a new business and it hit me. I will say it again. College is the best time to start a business with no money invested and just lots of time.
But why’s college the best time to start a business? Let’s jump into this guide…
You need money in college.
Starting a business may come as a hobby in your free time. On the flip side, it’ll most likely come out of necessity.
Sometimes desperation drives innovation. We all know that many great businesses were started by college students working out of their parents garage.
I will avoid the anecdotal advice and feel good stories today but I’m sure you guys know what I mean. College students need money. The reality is that starting up a business in college can be a significant source of income in the future.
You have free time in college to start a business.
We all would like to think that we are so busy that we have absolutely no time for anything.
In that case how do most of us have time to catch every football game? How do we keep up with our favorite tv shows?
Realistically the only time we are completely busy is right before an exam. I wrote all of my midterms and reports during the past 2 weeks. This week I have been focusing on my blog. The time is there. It’s just a matter of using this time better.
How can you improve your time management? Look no further than my time management tips.
Your living conditions are ideal to start a business.
When working on a guide to starting a business, my advice is simple. Your conditions in college are ideal. Why not take advantage of your conditions as a student?
Let me rephrase that: you live at home with your parents or with your buddies. If you moved away for college then this obviously doesn’t apply to you.
With a roof under your head how can you complain? You have no mortgage to stress about. All you have to stress about is having enough beer money for Friday night. Starting up a business is a lot easier when you don’t have the added stress of being responsible for a family and a mortgage.
One final point to bring this guide to starting a business together…
Starting up a business has become increasingly easier!
On November 7th, 2008, I decided that it was time to pay the server costs and get my own domain name.
Within hours the blog was running. The coffee change the blog earns didn’t come until many months later. Making that first move was the hardest part. The networking and connecting with other bloggers/readers can be very fun. Once I had the domain running, it was time to pump out content and try promoting it somehow.
Seriously, if you want to distribute your own t-shirts then just make the damn shirts! Draw up a unique design and get it on a shirt. Don’t worry about the financing for your business because I doubt you’re going to need to hire an accountant for the first few months while only your 4 closest buddies buy your shirts.
It’s really easy to worry about all of the minor details that come with starting a side business. In fact this is usually the greatest barrier to entry. Not the money or capital funding.
It’s the psychological barrier of breaking through mainstream knowledge that suggests we should simply look for a job with someone else.
For further reading for now, I listed possible side businesses you can start in college when I wrote my ultimate financial survival guide.
Help from awesome Twitter followers about starting a business in college…
When working on a guide to starting a business, it’s important to reach out to your audience to see what they have to say. I asked my friends on Twitters for their best reasons for starting a business in college. The results are listed below…
@NoDebtPlan: Start with minimal capital and maximum time/energy. Failure is meaningless because you can always go get a job.
@amabiae: You have nothing to lose and your entrepreneurial creativity isn’t burdened by as many mundane anchors.
@MoneyEnergy: You may be more motivated during college than at any later time and have the energy and fresh perspective to put into it.
Do you think college is the best time for starting up a business? What’s your take on this guide to starting a business. Would you recommend your friends start a business in school?
Teenager as a term and concept did not exist until the 1940s. Before then there were 2 periods in a person’s life: childhood and adulthood.
The word adolescent to refer to the young portion of adulthood had a positive connotation, as reflecting growth into maturity, ripening from youth. The young were encouraged to imitate the adult and become grown up.
Today by contrast we have a perverted view of maturity, an extended period of childhood where the presumption is that crucial decisions may be postponed without incurring a high price for this delay. That’s childish.
Time is a resource that no one can replenish but children waste it because of immaturity. In that time we could create opportunities that can give us immediate purpose for the present and objectives for the future.
Yet so many so-called adults waste this time and potential opportunities in the hope that, by having some bureaucrat punch their ticket at some college campus, the future will be set for success.
This is the great deceit of a “college education.” It’s the culmination of a life time of bureaucratic indoctrination that starts in government schools from kindergarten through high school, and ends killing human initiative.
That’s why so few have great ideas and even fewer take advantage of them immediately. Those who do, however, lead. They enjoy a freedom meant only for adults.
Hi, I’m Jon Morgan, the CEO and Co-Founder of Venture Smarter, a consulting firm that helps startups and small businesses scale and grow. I read your article and I think it’s very inspiring and motivating. I agree with the reasons you gave for why college is the best time to start a business: you have more time, you have less risk, you have more resources, you have more opportunities, and you have more fun. I think these are very valid and realistic reasons that every college student should consider. As a former college student, I know how challenging and rewarding it can be to start your own business. Thank you for sharing your wisdom and I hope to connect with you soon.