Many of the world’s future entrepreneurs are currently sitting in a dorm room studying. Today’s millennial college kids are more into innovation and generating ideas for a business. A lot of them have good ideas, but no money for a startup. However, a lack of funding isn’t always the biggest issue.
For college entrepreneurs, it is hard to manage time between studying and running a business. Being that I ran a successful business while passing my college classes, I have a few tips on how to balance the two. Here are 8 timeless pieces of advice for college entrepreneurs:
1. Think It Over Before Responding To Anything Significant
We live in a world where we’re expected to be “on” and responsive at all times with email, text messages and tweets. You’re probably wondering why anyone should take a moment to think it over before replying to someone.
As an entrepreneur, you’ll need to make significant decisions every single day. Whether it’s setting up a call for a potential partnership or doing an interview for a major publication, you’re expected to respond to numerous opportunities. Instead of making hasty decisions, think for a short period of time about it. If it’s really significant, you may even want to sleep on it. Think things through first and remember that nothing needs to be answered to immediately. Taking your time to think of things before answering will help you greatly especially when you’re young.
2. Every Single Relationship You Make Will Be Unique
Believe it or not, no two relationships that you make in the world of business will ever really be the same. It took me quite a while to learn this and often the differences between individuals frustrated me. Whether it’s your partners, employees, customers or vendors, you’ll quickly learn that every relationship will be different in its own way.
The sooner you begin to learn this, the easier it will be for you to manage numerous people. Cherish the relationships you make and treat them all differently. You will learn over time how valuable some of these relationships are and how far they can take you.
3. Lead From Within, Not From Out Front
This has long been one of my most favorite pieces of advice on how to control a business without being controlling. There’s a reason why startups are initially referred to as babies. You spend all of your time with them and can’t imagine allowing anyone else to take over.
Eventually, all babies grow up. When they do grow up, there are more responsibilities added to the mix. If you try to continue doing everything by yourself, you’ll eventually burn out. Whenever the time comes for you to hire your first employee, think strategically and take the process seriously. Surround yourself with a strong team that empowers your business and that you trust to keep everything running smoothly even if you aren’t around.
4. Keep Your Cool
Professionalism and class are much harder to come by these days than you may imagine. When you receive some hate emails that gets you fuming, don’t respond immediately. Take a second to calm down, look at something else and come back to it. The email you write immediately after reading it and the one you write an hour later are very different. Listen, breathe, step outside and come back with a positive, solution-oriented response.
The world of business is very different from the college world. In college, when two people get upset they are almost encouraged by their peers to either verbally roast one another or even worse, fight one another. In business, neither is a good idea. How you carry yourself is extremely important because it’s a direct representation of your business. Maintain a level of professionalism at all times and don’t ever lose your cool!
5. Confront Issues And Obstacles With Integrity And Honesty
Whenever an issue arises in our personal or professional lives, we tend to justify it with white lies. Eventually, these lies build a formidable facade, a wall that seemingly guards us against confronting the issue at hand.
In business, we don’t have time to play games. This isn’t high school or some drama series, we need to handle business and move forward. If there are ever issues or obstacles getting in the way of your business, handle it with honesty and integrity. If you are at fault, be accountable and apologetic to set a strong example for others.
6. Be Positive
Running a business is full of ups and downs and learning how to weather the storms that come your way will be crucial for you to be successful in the long haul. Keep working hard and maintaining a positive in everything you approach. Your attitude as the leader will be contagious amongst everyone else.
As an entrepreneur, it’s really easy to put your head down. It isn’t easy running your own business, but staying positive is crucial. Be an optimist and find a way to locate the positives in every single situation. By doing this, your belief system will be rock solid and people will follow your lead.
7. Spend And Invest Your Time With The Right People
Life ebbs and flows; friendships come and go. Some people are blessed with friendships that may last a lifetime while others end up having more fallouts. The most important thing is to stay away from nurturing detrimental friendships and avoiding bad friendships from forming.
Your net worth is truly your network. Who do you spend the most time with? Are they successful, doing big things and motivating you? I quickly learned in college that I was surrounded by tons of toxic people. I had to remove those people from my life, build a stronger support system around me and I quickly saw myself reaching new levels of success I hadn’t seen before.
8. Invest, Invest, Invest
If you are starting a business in college, you are one of the few lucky ones. You are taking initiative at a young age and you have the potential to set yourself up for the rest of your life. However, to do so you have to make smart decisions right from the beginning.
The younger you are, the more risks you can take. You should obviously weigh the risks and rewards, but you can be ballsier with your money. Instead of focusing on saving a ton of money, find ways to invest. Find ways to make your money work for you so that you can grow a small chunk of cash into a big amount.
Conclusion
Being a college entrepreneur can be frustrating and very time consuming. However, following timeless advice from successful entrepreneurs can make a difference. In this post, I shared with you 8 timeless pieces of advice for college entrepreneurs.
