Is it possible to start your own business while studying and succeeding? Many young and ambitious college students get this thought at some point in their lifetime. When you are in college (which is expensive), we bet you constantly feel the urge to do something in your life that would help you make more money for living. Then you get the idea to start a business. So what’s next?
According to statistics, more than one in four modern students want and plan to start a business while studying. Succeeding in this venture is possible, though very challenging. Because of the difficulty, many individuals opt to invest in a franchise. Franchises are sought after due to their low initial investments, variety of niches, training, and constant support from the franchisor. There are options like semi-absentee franchises, which are perfect for students because they require about a 10-15 hour work week, making it easier to balance school and work. But, if you are up for the challenge of starting a business from the ground up, this guide will give you the answers you were looking for and help you get on the right track.
Balancing Out Studying and Entrepreneurship
The first major challenge facing aspiring college entrepreneurs is the inability to integrate all the time-consuming, business-building-related work into their already tight schedules. Indeed, being overloaded with classes, essays, and other schoolwork makes it hard to balance this with your business ambitions. So, first of all, you must find a way to balance things.
Delegation is the answer. Find a reputable service where you can find someone to ask, “please, write papers for me,” on PaperWriter and get qualified academic help. By delegating your schoolwork, you will get some load off your shoulders and win more time for planning and launching your startup. At the same time, with professional writers by your side, you’ll know that your assignments are getting done on time and to the highest standard.
Eventually, you will learn to juggle all your chores and succeed in all spheres.
How to Test the Viability of Your Idea
If you are determined to launch a startup, chances are that you already have an idea in mind. To make an easy start, you have to test the viability of that idea before you move on to any planning, preparatory, and launch steps.
To make this process simple, you should run three quick checks:
Feasibility Check
Conduct thorough research to determine whether your idea falls into any existing market. If yes, identify direct competitors and see how saturated this market is and define what you’ll need to stand out. If the market doesn’t exist, define whether there will be enough potential customers interested in the product or service you will be offering.
Sense Check
Once you are positive that your business will find a relevant market, you have to test whether people will actually need and want to buy your product. To do this, you need to determine your target audience. When ready, leverage social media polls and surveys to test the needs, wishes, and preferences of your target audience.
Test
Finally, when your idea has survived all the previous checks, it’s time to test your business in practice to see if prospects will actually buy from you. The good news is that you don’t need to set off a full-fledged business to run this check. You should start with a handful of your top products/services, gain some exposure, and see how your target audience reacts to your offers.
Running these three subsequent checks will help you define how viable your idea really is and, hopefully, make a more seamless launch at the end.
4 Tips for a Simple and Successful Launch of a Student Business
Now that you know how to balance it with studying and how to pre-test your idea let’s move on to some actionable tips.
Here is what you can do to make your venture successful:
Research a Lot
After you run the checks described above, you can feel like you already know everything about your market and target audience. But you probably don’t. So the first tip is to do as much research as possible.
Take enough time to study the relevant market(s) and competitors. Also, take time to build a compelling ICP (ideal customer profile). Knowing more about your future startups will help you launch faster, easier, and with fewer mistakes.
Make a Plan
If you are hoping to create a company that can survive the competition and will grow into a stable and scaling business, you NEED a good business plan. A solid strategic plan will help you get the needed financing in the early stages. In the long run, it will also help you ensure faster growth of your startup. So don’t make a common mistake by attempting to skip this stage.
Look for Available Funding Options
We all know that studying in college isn’t cheap, so it’s natural that you don’t have thousands of bucks to finance your startup. But the truth is that you will likely need at least some starting capital for your business. So the tip is to start looking for available funding opportunities early on.
As a student entrepreneur, you might have quite a few options here. Apart from the traditional way to get funding through investors, you can also consider different scholarships and grants for young entrepreneurs. Also, there are student fellowships and loans. To find the best option, analyze how much money you need to launch and study what you can get from every funding option.
Don’t Be Alone
Thinking about successful entrepreneurs, many of us see them as completely self-made and self-reliant people. But the truth is that they always have a strong support team behind them. So don’t make a mistake by trying to handle everything alone.
Giving advice to young startup founders, many businesspeople actually advise them to co-found their first venture. This way, you will have a reliable assistant by your side – someone who can get with you through all the ups and downs.
The Bottom Line
Launching a successful business as a student is full of challenges. But it shouldn’t be as stressful and complicated if you know what you are doing.
Hopefully, this guide answered some of your biggest questions and gave you a good starting point for future success!
