Starting a business while still studying is not exactly easy but it has its advantages. Although studying in itself can already take so much time, there can still be some time left for productive activities such as doing business. This is especially so for businesses that has something to do with the type of business students would like to have after graduating.
Student entrepreneurship seems to be a daunting task , what with all the existing responsibilities of studying and excelling at it. Students however, who manage to squeeze entrepreneurship into their busy lives have the chance of not only earning but also developing skills and acquiring practical business knowledge which can never be learned in school. This is a type of learning that can give them the edge over other graduates when it is time to enter the employment world.
Doing business provides experience in marketing products, dealing with customers, and doing financial accounting. Being enrolled as a student also gives that extraordinary advantage of having a ready market for their offered products and services. Classmates, friends, and their respective families are natural targets for marketing and most of them turn out to be willing and eager customers. Seeing a student seriously trying to make a go of business is enough for many to patronize the business.
Colleges and universities do not automatically produce successful business people. Everybody has to go through the process of learning and experiencing the ropes of doing business. Even the richest heirs to giant businesses will have to earn their mark apart from the accomplishments made by their predecessors for them to have a rightful claim to business success.
Doing business while still studying is an opportunity to develop business acumen at an early stage. This is seen as an advantageous proposition even to those who are not enrolled in business courses and who may not have any immediate plans of going into business. Having learned the ropes of business makes graduates a more viable candidate for employment.
Studying and doing business at the same time needs proper time management. It goes without saying that students must not sacrifice studies for business. There are priorities and studying must come first at least during the time that a student is still trying to earn a degree.
Did all successful businessmen finish a degree? Probably not, as there are always exceptions but why waste the opportunity that is already there?Student entrepreneurship is productive and fun but it has to be done without sacrificing studies.
Teresa is a researcher-writer who covers a wide range of topics in search of useful information.
Image: forbes.com