The most outstanding entrepreneurs, be they Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, or Larry Ellison, all have one thing in common. They were all college students who dropped out of their university to pursue what they were passionate about Entrepreneurship.
While brilliant ideas were a common theme, their innate drive, backed up by skills, made them into some of the most revered entrepreneurs of all time. The skills they needed to survive in the cut-throat world of business.
If you are a college student reading this, here are five skills to succeed as an entrepreneur. And you don’t have to drop out of college to chase your startup dream!
Use Available Resources To Learn Entrepreneurship
Sure, you have a million-dollar dream. But your frugal college lifestyle may not allow you the generous budget to finance your first startup. The good news is that university campuses are breeding grounds for startups.
College students should leverage the resources at their disposal—the vast library system, intelligent and experienced professors who could become valuable advisors and a strong peer network for support. Today, several universities have on-campus incubators or business incubator partnerships to help students launch their startups and seek mentoring and networking opportunities.
College years are the best years to take risks and be fearless with your entrepreneurial vision. More often than not, college projects become a startup idea for budding entrepreneurs. Larry Page and Sergey Brin were students at Stanford University when they conceived the idea of BackRub, which led to the birth of Google, one of the most valuable tech companies in the world.
Learn, Learn and Master Your Skills
Entrepreneurship is no cakewalk. It teaches you life lessons that take work to come by in your college curriculum. As a budding college entrepreneur, you need to acquire new skills and find innovative ways to learn about your startup’s industry and the business landscape.
If you are passionate about building a company, leave your comfort zone and be hungry to learn about new sectors and innovations. Take the example of Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon. From building an e-commerce empire, his sights are now set on launching people onto the moon through his new startup, Blue Origin.
Tata Group patriarch Ratan Tata exemplifies what it takes to be a lifelong learner and industry disruptor despite the humongous success and laurels that have come his way.
Tata’s post on Instagram at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020 captures the true essence of his entrepreneurial zeal: “In past difficult times, entrepreneurs have displayed farsightedness and creativity that could not have been believed to exist. These became the flagpoles of innovation and new technology today. I hope that the ability to find another way to build a product, run a company, run operations better will emerge as an outcome of the current crisis.”
Collaboration Can Be the Key For Entrepreneurs
Collaboration is an essential skill for college students because while a single person may be able to find a startup, it takes a village to run a company.
Entrepreneurs should be willing to work with others and embrace fresh viewpoints to scale their company. The most vital entrepreneurs are those who value the ideas and opinions of others and try to implement them in the larger vision for the company.
One might be a brilliant college student, but that doesn’t necessarily make the person a brilliant entrepreneur if they oppose collaboration and teamwork. Indra Nooyi, the former Pepsico CEO, believed in placing her team on a pedestal. “People are everything,” she once said. “The success of an enterprise usually comes down to one thing: the team.”
College students are used to collaboration when they work with others on projects or land their first internship. They should know how to leverage their skills as a team player in their role as a startup founder.
Become a Hustler First, Entrepreneurship Will Follow
If you are a fan of the T.V. show ‘Shark Tank,’ you may know that Mark Cuban, a serial entrepreneur and one of the ‘sharks’ on the show, lauds entrepreneurs willing to hustle and be tenacious enough to make a mark in business.
Budding entrepreneurs who are still in college should be enterprising enough to put themselves out there to pitch their business ideas to whoever is willing to listen. Hustlers understand the importance of aggressive networking to get ahead in business. The more people you know, the better your chances are to pitch your product, get funding, or find new market opportunities. Essentially, the power of the hustle lies in growing a thick skin and keeping one’s chin up in the face of rejection. And, yes, there will be plenty of rejections.
But if you adopt a ‘hustler’ mentality it will help you think on your feet, grab the right opportunities and make your startup dream a reality.
Failure is the Key to Entrepreneurship
Show us an entrepreneur who hasn’t failed, and we’ll show you a leopard without spots. Industry titan N.R. Narayana Murthy had launched Softronics before he founded Infosys. Though the venture didn’t take off, Murthy refused to give up his entrepreneurial spirit—and the rest is history.
According to serial entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala, co-founder of upGrad, entrepreneurs who stick it out when they get hit are likelier to taste success.
Clichéd as may sound, failure is often the stepping stone to success.
Budding entrepreneurs should be prudent and strategies for potential failure. The intelligent thing to do would be to have Plan B ready as a fall-back option. The setback will prepare you for future growth even if your first startup doesn’t take off. If you give room for failure, you will become more resilient and eventually pave the way to success.
College students should note that entrepreneurship will take them from the classroom to the real world, compelling them to acquire new skills. However, what cannot be taught in a school are the innate abilities budding entrepreneurs need to succeed in business.
If you can see the bigger picture before chasing your unicorn dream and have the skills above to tackle on-ground challenges, you are already on your way to creating startup history.
Alt text – Utilise resources around you to learn more
alt text – Upskilling can better your entrepreneurial journey
alt text – Collaborations can give birth to great ideas
alt text – Hustle Culture is Real and Important
alt text – Failure Opens the Roads to Success
