types of business insurance plans Some of the biggest companies in the world started in dorm rooms. Students started Google, Facebook, Reddit, Snapchat, and WordPress. Young people surrounded by new ideas, new connections, and new technology can come up with remarkable business ideas that end up changing the world. So why not you? Here are some key tips that can help you turn an idea into a money-making venture while still getting top grades in your classes.
1. Make Friends and Connections
School is a great place to meet people, and that’s a lot of what business is – meeting people. If you don’t know how to start online business as a student, a great place to start networking is in online business and startup groups, where you’ll find people with the same mindset. Universities often have formal and informal groups like this, online and offline, to help students who are starting a new business.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google fame met when they were at Stanford together, and developed the first iterations of the search engine from their dorm rooms. They met on a campus tour – Brin was assigned to show Page around, and the two hit it off. There is no perfect way to meet people and expand your network, so cast a wide net. It’s a great idea to seek out groups where people are talking about types of business insurance plans, marketing growth, and sale solutions – but you might also meet your next business partner at a first-year student mixer, a comedy show, or a sports game.
For business or pleasure, use your status as a student and the resources you have to build a network. Be friendly, ask lots of questions, and try to remember names and faces. Someone else might know how to start online business as a student, and you never know who you might end up working with down the road.
2. Look For Problems to Solve
Business is about problem-solving. When people hit a roadblock and they can’t achieve their goals or attain their desires, they turn to businesses to help them. Yelp was created because people wanted unbiased reviews of local businesses. Amazon helps people buy pretty much anything and have it delivered quickly to their door. Facebook was invented because… well, Mark Zuckerberg wanted to see pictures of all his Harvard classmates online. If you can solve problems for people, monetizing your solution is a simple next step.
Ask yourself about the problems you face in your own life. What is inconvenient, frustrating, or limiting for you? What might open doors, and create new opportunities? Brainstorming business ideas often begin with the problems you face in your own life. These are the problems that you understand best. This is how to start online business as a student.
However, don’t make the mistake of thinking the problem you are trying to solve needs to be original. Kentucky Fried Chicken, Subway, and Olive Garden all solve the same problem people have had for millions of years: hunger. Likewise, there are plenty of problems out there that could use a different, unique solution. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel.
3. You Don’t Need to be a Unicorn to Make Money
Popular culture points to startups and multimillion-dollar corporations as examples of businesses. Many founders have the goal of starting a ‘unicorn’ company – one of the rare few companies that reaches a billion-dollar valuation through multiple rounds of funding and exponential business growth. However, recent years have seen the rise of ‘solopreneurs’ – individuals who know how to start online business as a student by themselves, without seeking funding, hiring large teams, or incorporating. Many solopreneurs make more than a million dollars each year, with more control and fewer headaches, by solving everyday problems.
Online business growth relies on Internet marketing, which is a skill set you can learn to make nearly any business more visible and successful. You could market your skills as a copywriter, website designer, graphic designer, or programmer to help other businesses grow sales and revenue. You can do these jobs in sweatpants and a T-shirt in your dorm room – no business apparel required – and have instant access to an ocean of customers.
4. Test and Validate
If you have a business idea – whether it’s a unicorn startup or a simple solopreneur business selling a product, or your skills – you need to validate it, to ensure that it is worth your time and energy. If a business idea is promising and there is a good market fit, people will be ready to hand over their hard-earned dollars. If your idea is a flop, people might say nice things, but they’ll keep the cash in their pockets. To validate your idea, ask people to pay.
If you have developed a new cloud based VOIP service that will allow teams to communicate more easily and securely, selling it is the ultimate way to validate the idea. First, you make sure that companies really have the problem that you think they do, and verify that they are willing to spend some money to fix that problem. Second, you get an opportunity to test your product and collect feedback, which can empower you to make changes and improvements or pivot to offer more value.
Validation is how to start online business as a student – and get your first infusion of business funding. Thankfully, it’s not that hard. You don’t need to be a website designer to throw up a quick sales page where customers can enter their email or payment details in exchange for a product or service. Tools like LeadPages, Wix, and Squarespace make it easy to validate business ideas with customizable templates in just a few hours. Whatever your idea is, you can set up a place for people to pay for it online, and direct traffic via social media, forums, and word of mouth to test your idea.
5. Look for Mentors
Most people don’t know how to start online business as a student and are too scared to ask. Articles, videos, and books can give you some amazing information and first principles to guide you in your business journey, but there is no replacement for a skilled and experienced mentor who knows and understands the business landscape in your field. While it can be intimidating to introduce yourself to someone successful, respected, and (let’s face it) probably rich, and ask them for their time and attention to mentor you, this simple ask is what separates many successful founders from the wannabes.
The truth is that most successful entrepreneurs want to help students and newcomers to business – but they are busy, and don’t have time to waste on people who won’t put in the work, or pay back the energy. Mentors are not intellectual ATMs that you can withdraw knowledge and help from, without giving anything back. A mentor/mentee relationship is about mutual benefit. Before you start asking for help, think about what you have to offer, and be ready to go the extra mile to show up.
Your school or university may be able to assist you with finding a mentor. You could also attend networking events locally, trade shows and conventions in your industry, or entrepreneurial meetups. If there is someone in your network who could be a potential mentor, don’t be afraid to reach out and discuss it with them. A mentor’s business coaching can immediately upgrade your thinking and perspective on the problems you are trying to solve, and potentially save you years of effort in reaching your business goals.
6. Find Funding – or Bootstrap
Do you need money to build your company? How much do you need? These questions will fundamentally shape how to start online business as a student.
If you go the solopreneur route, and sell your skills hourly, or a digital product that cost you next to nothing to make, you might not need funding at all. Your profits could potentially be enough to pay for both your living costs and the costs of expanding your business. This is referred to as ‘bootstrapping’, and it’s an attractive option because it allows you to maintain 100% ownership over the venture. However, if you want to build the next Google or Facebook there is no way around it – you need some cash.
There are plenty of banks, institutions, and businesses out there who would love to give you funding – in exchange for a piece of your company and your success. Venture capitalists (VC) firms are specifically focused on looking for the next unicorn startup that will change the world. They are okay with sinking plenty of funds into risky companies because they are betting that at least one of them will hit it big. If you can explain to a VC how your product will change the world, you could get some seed funding to hire employees, pay for software, and purchase equipment and inventory.
However, VCs will take a piece of your company for each round of funding they provide. While your company might grow by leaps and bounds, the percentage of the company that you own will tend to shrink. You’ll also have to listen to your VC investors when it comes to some business and marketing decisions. They’ll have their own opinions.
If you can start making money without asking for a loan or seeking VC funding, you should probably go that route. There are many answers to ‘How to start online business as a student’ but any company that makes money from day one is more secure than a company betting everything on future profits. However, if you have an idea that is going to take serious money to implement but has a high potential for growth and revenue, dilution of ownership might be the last of your concerns. A unicorn company is riskier, but the potential profits are much higher.
7. Don’t Hustle. Flow.
University students are infamous for pushing their limits. Drinking and partying are bad, but so are cramming and all-night study sessions. If you are figuring out firsthand how to start online business as a student, you need to be careful that you take important time for health, rest, and relaxation – otherwise, you could get burnt out, and both your grades and your business could suffer.
The ‘hustle culture’ you find in online business is mostly toxic and counterproductive – especially for university students. Being productive and accomplishing business goals is important. There is no question about that. However, the evidence that you can improve your business by sacrificing your physical and mental health is thin, at best. Just like it’s better to get a good night’s sleep before a test, it’s a good idea to have a balanced life outside of school and entrepreneurship, including rest and time to socialize and see family.
Instead of putting in a lot of low-quality ‘hustle’ hours, when you are tired and burnt out, try to spend less time on your business, but make that time very high-quality. The work you do when you are in a joyful ‘flow state’ will end up making a much bigger difference to your business than hours of staring at spreadsheets with bleary eyes. Try working on your business when you have the most energy. For many people, this is either first thing in the morning or late at night.
There is no single answer to how to start online business as a student. Some people will gravitate towards big ideas, startups, and VC funding. Others will be more than happy to sell a book, an online course, or their writing skills to make a good living doing stuff they enjoy. As a student, you’re in the perfect position to network with other potential entrepreneurs, find funding and mentorship, experiment and validate your business ideas, and accomplish your goals. Take advantage of these opportunities to create the life you want to live – but don’t forget to hand in that paper for class, too.
Some of the biggest companies in the world started in dorm rooms. Students started Google, Facebook, Reddit, Snapchat, and WordPress. Young people surrounded by new ideas, new connections, and new technology can come up with remarkable business ideas that end up changing the world. So why not you? Here are some key tips that can help you turn an idea into a money-making venture while still getting top grades in your classes.
1. Make Friends and Connections
School is a great place to meet people, and that’s a lot of what business is – meeting people. If you don’t know how to start online business as a student, a great place to start networking is in online business and startup groups, where you’ll find people with the same mindset. Universities often have formal and informal groups like this, online and offline, to help students who are starting a new business.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google fame met when they were at Stanford together, and developed the first iterations of the search engine from their dorm rooms. They met on a campus tour – Brin was assigned to show Page around, and the two hit it off. There is no perfect way to meet people and expand your network, so cast a wide net. It’s a great idea to seek out groups where people are talking about types of business insurance plans, marketing growth, and sale solutions – but you might also meet your next business partner at a first-year student mixer, a comedy show, or a sports game.
For business or pleasure, use your status as a student and the resources you have to build a network. Be friendly, ask lots of questions, and try to remember names and faces. Someone else might know how to start online business as a student, and you never know who you might end up working with down the road.
2. Look For Problems to Solve
Business is about problem-solving. When people hit a roadblock and they can’t achieve their goals or attain their desires, they turn to businesses to help them. Yelp was created because people wanted unbiased reviews of local businesses. Amazon helps people buy pretty much anything and have it delivered quickly to their door. Facebook was invented because… well, Mark Zuckerberg wanted to see pictures of all his Harvard classmates online. If you can solve problems for people, monetizing your solution is a simple next step.
Ask yourself about the problems you face in your own life. What is inconvenient, frustrating, or limiting for you? What might open doors, and create new opportunities? Brainstorming business ideas often begin with the problems you face in your own life. These are the problems that you understand best. This is how to start online business as a student.
However, don’t make the mistake of thinking the problem you are trying to solve needs to be original. Kentucky Fried Chicken, Subway, and Olive Garden all solve the same problem people have had for millions of years: hunger. Likewise, there are plenty of problems out there that could use a different, unique solution. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel.
3. You Don’t Need to be a Unicorn to Make Money
Popular culture points to startups and multimillion-dollar corporations as examples of businesses. Many founders have the goal of starting a ‘unicorn’ company – one of the rare few companies that reaches a billion-dollar valuation through multiple rounds of funding and exponential business growth. However, recent years have seen the rise of ‘solopreneurs’ – individuals who know how to start online business as a student by themselves, without seeking funding, hiring large teams, or incorporating. Many solopreneurs make more than a million dollars each year, with more control and fewer headaches, by solving everyday problems.
Online business growth relies on Internet marketing, which is a skill set you can learn to make nearly any business more visible and successful. You could market your skills as a copywriter, website designer, graphic designer, or programmer to help other businesses grow sales and revenue. You can do these jobs in sweatpants and a T-shirt in your dorm room – no business apparel required – and have instant access to an ocean of customers.
4. Test and Validate
If you have a business idea – whether it’s a unicorn startup or a simple solopreneur business selling a product, or your skills – you need to validate it, to ensure that it is worth your time and energy. If a business idea is promising and there is a good market fit, people will be ready to hand over their hard-earned dollars. If your idea is a flop, people might say nice things, but they’ll keep the cash in their pockets. To validate your idea, ask people to pay.
If you have developed a new cloud based VOIP service that will allow teams to communicate more easily and securely, selling it is the ultimate way to validate the idea. First, you make sure that companies really have the problem that you think they do, and verify that they are willing to spend some money to fix that problem. Second, you get an opportunity to test your product and collect feedback, which can empower you to make changes and improvements or pivot to offer more value.
Validation is how to start online business as a student – and get your first infusion of business funding. Thankfully, it’s not that hard. You don’t need to be a website designer to throw up a quick sales page where customers can enter their email or payment details in exchange for a product or service. Tools like LeadPages, Wix, and Squarespace make it easy to validate business ideas with customizable templates in just a few hours. Whatever your idea is, you can set up a place for people to pay for it online, and direct traffic via social media, forums, and word of mouth to test your idea.
5. Look for Mentors
Most people don’t know how to start online business as a student and are too scared to ask. Articles, videos, and books can give you some amazing information and first principles to guide you in your business journey, but there is no replacement for a skilled and experienced mentor who knows and understands the business landscape in your field. While it can be intimidating to introduce yourself to someone successful, respected, and (let’s face it) probably rich, and ask them for their time and attention to mentor you, this simple ask is what separates many successful founders from the wannabes.
The truth is that most successful entrepreneurs want to help students and newcomers to business – but they are busy, and don’t have time to waste on people who won’t put in the work, or pay back the energy. Mentors are not intellectual ATMs that you can withdraw knowledge and help from, without giving anything back. A mentor/mentee relationship is about mutual benefit. Before you start asking for help, think about what you have to offer, and be ready to go the extra mile to show up.
Your school or university may be able to assist you with finding a mentor. You could also attend networking events locally, trade shows and conventions in your industry, or entrepreneurial meetups. If there is someone in your network who could be a potential mentor, don’t be afraid to reach out and discuss it with them. A mentor’s business coaching can immediately upgrade your thinking and perspective on the problems you are trying to solve, and potentially save you years of effort in reaching your business goals.
6. Find Funding – or Bootstrap
Do you need money to build your company? How much do you need? These questions will fundamentally shape how to start online business as a student.
If you go the solopreneur route, and sell your skills hourly, or a digital product that cost you next to nothing to make, you might not need funding at all. Your profits could potentially be enough to pay for both your living costs and the costs of expanding your business. This is referred to as ‘bootstrapping’, and it’s an attractive option because it allows you to maintain 100% ownership over the venture. However, if you want to build the next Google or Facebook there is no way around it – you need some cash.
There are plenty of banks, institutions, and businesses out there who would love to give you funding – in exchange for a piece of your company and your success. Venture capitalists (VC) firms are specifically focused on looking for the next unicorn startup that will change the world. They are okay with sinking plenty of funds into risky companies because they are betting that at least one of them will hit it big. If you can explain to a VC how your product will change the world, you could get some seed funding to hire employees, pay for software, and purchase equipment and inventory.
However, VCs will take a piece of your company for each round of funding they provide. While your company might grow by leaps and bounds, the percentage of the company that you own will tend to shrink. You’ll also have to listen to your VC investors when it comes to some business and marketing decisions. They’ll have their own opinions.
If you can start making money without asking for a loan or seeking VC funding, you should probably go that route. There are many answers to ‘How to start online business as a student’ but any company that makes money from day one is more secure than a company betting everything on future profits. However, if you have an idea that is going to take serious money to implement but has a high potential for growth and revenue, dilution of ownership might be the last of your concerns. A unicorn company is riskier, but the potential profits are much higher.
7. Don’t Hustle. Flow.
University students are infamous for pushing their limits. Drinking and partying are bad, but so are cramming and all-night study sessions. If you are figuring out firsthand how to start online business as a student, you need to be careful that you take important time for health, rest, and relaxation – otherwise, you could get burnt out, and both your grades and your business could suffer.
The ‘hustle culture’ you find in online business is mostly toxic and counterproductive – especially for university students. Being productive and accomplishing business goals is important. There is no question about that. However, the evidence that you can improve your business by sacrificing your physical and mental health is thin, at best. Just like it’s better to get a good night’s sleep before a test, it’s a good idea to have a balanced life outside of school and entrepreneurship, including rest and time to socialize and see family.
Instead of putting in a lot of low-quality ‘hustle’ hours, when you are tired and burnt out, try to spend less time on your business, but make that time very high-quality. The work you do when you are in a joyful ‘flow state’ will end up making a much bigger difference to your business than hours of staring at spreadsheets with bleary eyes. Try working on your business when you have the most energy. For many people, this is either first thing in the morning or late at night.
There is no single answer to how to start online business as a student. Some people will gravitate towards big ideas, startups, and VC funding. Others will be more than happy to sell a book, an online course, or their writing skills to make a good living doing stuff they enjoy. As a student, you’re in the perfect position to network with other potential entrepreneurs, find funding and mentorship, experiment and validate your business ideas, and accomplish your goals. Take advantage of these opportunities to create the life you want to live – but don’t forget to hand in that paper for class, too. While you’re looking at types of business insurance plans, keep up with your current study plans as well. Balance is the key!