Why College is The Best Time to Start Your Own Business
November 8, 2007 By Matthew Paulson
Many of us have the entrepreneurial spirit deep inside of us yearning to do our own thing and start our own business, but a lot of us never get around to taking the leap because we have a job and think we need to quit it to devote ourselves to our business, or we have families that we have to provide for. Fortunately, there’s a four-to-five year period in our lives when we don’t have these obligations and have everything we need to start a business—it’s called college.
A lot of people live under the false notion that when someone attends college, they have to fully devote themselves to it and won’t have time for anything else. This is simply not the case even if you go to one of the tougher schools. You’re in class for all of 15 hours a week, and do maybe another 10 hours of studying and homework. You’ll have all sorts of free time to pursue your own interests. Most college students use this time to drink, socialize, or play ultimate Frisbee, but that doesn’t have to be you. You can use this time to get a jump on live, get involved, and even start your own business.
College can be an ideal time to start a business because your finances are probably still paid largely by your parents or through a scholarship, so you really don’t have to worry about making a ton of money right away. You will also have the resources of your university at your disposal. Chances are there are a number of business professors that would jump at the chance to help a budding entrepreneur. Some colleges, such as Dakota State University, even offer office space and funding opportunities for students who are interested in starting their own business!
If you’re majoring in anything related to business, you’ll be learning a lot about business as you go through your classes. You’ll be able to practically apply what you’ve picked up in your classes and have real world experience. Even if your business doesn’t succeed, showing that you have a strong sense for business and are willing to go out and try something is definitely something that potential employers will praise and look for.
Should you start a business and have it be relatively successful to the point that it could be your full-time job after you graduate, you’re set. You can keep working and growing your business and don’t have to consider a full-time job. If you need employees, chances are there are thousands of college students at your disposal to hire! You’ll have plenty of connections to professors and students and have no shortage of talent if you need it!
College is the perfect time to start your own business no matter how you put it. You’ve got plenty of free time, very few expenses, and plenty of resources at your disposal!
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December 5th, 2007 at 8:08 am
[...] Paulson presents Why College is The Best Time to Start Your Own Business » American Consumer News posted at American Consumer [...]
December 5th, 2007 at 8:08 am
[...] Paulson presents Why College is The Best Time to Start Your Own Business » American Consumer News posted at American Consumer [...]
December 8th, 2007 at 9:29 pm
I agree that college is a good time for some people to start… but I think you’ve got it wrong if you think that most people in college have a lot of free time or that it’s the “best time” in general. In fact, for most people I know it would be the worst time to try to start a business in terms of both time and finances.
At least at the school I went to, we had to take at least 12 credit hours to be a full-time student (which could be as little as 12 class hours a week, but for some majors it might mean a whole lot more). Now, to graduate in a reasonable time period, one really had to take more than that. Plus, for each credit hour we were expected to study/work 3 hours at home. Granted, sometimes it was less, but sometimes it was more. All in all, though, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to say that most full-time students who wanted to maintain a decent grade were spending over 40 hours a week on school.
Now, that’s reasonable alone. However, most people I know/knew in college had to work to support themselves. Even with full scholarships (which most people do not get), it still costs to live. Many people I knew were going to school and working a full time job, or two part time jobs (since scheduling could be an issue for a full-time position). And most of those jobs were barely minimum wage.
A few of my friends had to study, work one or two jobs, and support children as single parents. They weren’t in the majority, but there are definitely a lot of students like them.
Maybe it’s different elsewhere, but I think it’s rather offensive to say: “Most college students use this time to drink, socialize, or play ultimate Frisbee, but that doesn’t have to be you.” Trust me, there’s a reason why college students are known for drinking, and it’s not because of all their free time. In my experience, “some” yes, “most” no — unless you have some stats to prove it.