Are you thinking of skipping the employee part after college and jumping onto the director train? Many people have done this and succeeded. Zuckerberg founded Facebook in his dorm room and Frederick Smith thought of the idea for FedEx while at Yale, so why shouldn’t you start your own business right away?
If you feel like you are ready to jump to the real thing, you don’t even have to start a huge business. You can start small – a small store or a tech startup, or maybe a studio or a gallery. Perhaps you are thinking of buying a truck and opening a transportation or some kind of a mobile business? Whichever business idea you have in mind can be turned into something amazing if you have the right planning and resources to get started. Even if you still have debts from your college education, you can create a plan that covers both that debt and the expenses for your new business.
But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Before you make this important decision, you should know what needs to be done to start a business after college.
Courage
Starting a new business can be frightening even for those with a lot of experience, not to mention a recent college graduate. You can probably come up with hundreds of reasons why you should not take this risk and the same amount of reasons to take it.
The first thing you need is courage to start the business. If you don’t have the courage to do this, you might as well give up on it. Otherwise, you will lose a lot of time and money and give up when the first barrier appears.
Experience
This probably sounds impossible since, after all, you’d be starting the business right after college. But, an experience does not necessarily mean job experience. You can gather experience to start your own business by doing internships, researching, and even gathering the skills you learned at school to plan your business steps.
Help
You will need help – everyone does. At this point in your life, the best shot at getting the advice and help you need is a mentor or someone who works in the field you are about to start a business in. A trusted advisor will offer you the support and guidance you need and help you understand if you are ready to start a new business right away.
Network
A strong network will make all the difference for you, and you don’t have to start building it when you finish college. You can work on your networking while still and college and have a ready database of sources and people related to your field. This can help you a lot when the time comes to start the business.
Communication Skills
Communication is an important skill for any entrepreneur, regardless of the company they are managing. Work on your skills and learn how to communicate with people in the sector. By doing so, you will have the tool to increase your network of contacts and collaborators, and close deals with success.
Finances
As we said, you don’t have to be debt-free to start your own business. However, you must be very careful when planning where and how to invest your money. Managing the financial aspects will later be the job of your accountant, but before you start your company, you need to do this prioritizing on your own. Make a plan on what you need vs. what you want. You may want brand new flashy equipment, when you only need equipment that will get the job done. In the beginning, every dollar needs to be spent wisely. Find areas where you can save money, whether it is doing some of the work yourself, using inexpensive software to replace the cost of an accountant, or renting equipment to save on overhead expenses.
Starting a business right after college is a grand step to take and a very courageous one for that matter. Many people built huge businesses from nothing and if you have the skills and determination to do so, you can achieve this too.
