How to Become a Student Entrepreneur: Step-by-Step Guide


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The best, the shortest and most powerful introduction here is just two words – Mark Zuckerberg.
You probably know that Facebook’s founder became world-known when he was a young college student. Some 10% of students begin their business. Don’t you think you are the one who can become an entrepreneur at university? Do you know your peer entrepreneurs? Have an idea? Ambitions? Drive for result? The path is hard, but the reward is overwhelming. And it is not only about money; it’s about your life.
Here is a basic entrepreneurship class to learn what to do first, how to plan resources, assess risks and where to get help from.

1. You can rely on pure luck, but you’d better not

It is a good idea to start with evaluating your talents, knowledge and motivation. Research the field you want to try yourself in. It is good to know what added value you plan to bring to the existing state of affairs challenging the status quo. Though, if your motivation runs high, you can try and enter the unknown. Taking risks is something you can’t do without in entrepreneurial zone.

2. Start collecting ideas

What are you good at? Keen on essay writing? Why don’t you freelance write for business? Consider starting a blog or online essay writing service. If you feel like design is your passion, try it in room decoration, clothes, landscape, and architecture. Programming for smartphones is like selling hot pies nowadays. Explore this opportunity if you think you have found a niche or the whole segment of the market. Find a co-partner. Teamwork will help you produce awesome results. Pixar is the example.
Watch people around carefully. Note what they are reluctant to do. Charge them some money and do the job for them, but calculate carefully to be in the black, as non-profitable endeavor cannot be called business. Time-saving services (like doing home chores) are popular, you only get a sum of money, but your customers receive quality time to make their dreams come true (good advertising, isn’t it?).
You can also start a dog watching service in the neighborhood. It is definitely a tiresome activity and animal owners are ready to pay for this. What does money smell like? It smells like good profit. Recycling is another area to try. It can be a good source of money and environmentally friendly business, sometimes with state grants to support it. You can recycle plastic, paper, and scrap metal.
Plastic is a disaster for the planet. A plastic bottle takes around 450 years to break down completely, so you have huge area for business. Just come up with innovative approaches. Why not allow your unusual hobbies to earn you cash? Skydiving, parachuting, scuba diving, powerbocking, and parkouring can attract crowds. They can also be part of the entertainment.
You can sell homegrown produce. It is quite trendy to buy food grown in the yard. Have you seen a London underground farm? It is an urban farm housed in the tunnels. The owners had a revolutionary idea to connect growers and customers. Besides, they save money on logistics. Set up an artwork business if your profession is creating art. You can also help trading art items if you are more of a sales guy.

3. What is your great idea and how to make it real?

So, you have some ideas in your mind on how to make money on your skills and hobbies? It’s time to move to the next step! Challenge your insight questioning yourself:

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  • Is there demand on the market for what you are going to offer?
  • What consumer group are you targeting?
  • Are consumers ready to pay the rough estimated price?

 

  • Make SWOT analysis

Assess Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Sales and market research will help you a lot, but they cost money. Find open sources of information and look for possible insights. There are special funds that you can rely on. Invest some time to search them.

  • Check competition and assess the risk

Don’t forget that market study always involves competitor analysis. Figure out the following issues:
 

  • Who are your main potential competitors?
  • Is the market saturated?
  • What competitive advantages are you planning to offer?
  • Who is the leader in the market and why?
  • What is competitor’s sales strategy?

 

  • Have a vision and shine brightly

When starting a business, have the ultimate goal and imagine your start-up in 5 years. What is it going to be? Having no vision is having no future, it is true.

4. Find your business role model and coach

It is always useful to have a coach or a mentor to support you. Often experience matters a lot. Sometimes it is life experience only. Remember that you won’t be able to avoid mistakes, for they are necessary to find the right way.
Going back to Mark Zuckerberg, he must have had no problems writing an essay at Harvard University, as his speeches are well structured and arguments are consistent. We’d advise you to listen to him and chances are – he may become one of your mentors whose ideas will help your entrepreneurial activities prosper.
About the Author: Michelle Brooks is the blog editor and guest contributor to the educational resources. She specializes in writing about business, self-development and career.
 

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