Run a Business As a Student
Any college student can run a successful business doing what you love to do. Make more money than you would even after college, get high grades, and have enough time left to party and enjoy your life. It’s not impossible, or extraordinarily hard to do; thousands of college students, living around the world and right here at home, have taken this head start on life, their matters in their own hands, controlling their own destiny, and run successful businesses.
Contents
Steps
- Ask yourself, “What do I love doing so much that I would pay to do it?” Imagine that it is Saturday afternoon and you have nothing to do. Sitting on your couch, inspired by the task-less day, you feel relaxed and comfortable. After you spent the whole week living in an overloaded schedule, spending countless hours in classes, dealing with various day to day dramas, and working to make those few hundred bucks so you can enjoy life more, today you’re free. You do whatever you truly love doing. Suddenly, your mood happy, light, and energized, time begins to fly and you find yourself in your own world. What are you doing? Do you want to get paid for it?
- Ask, “How can I help someone by doing this? Who would pay me for the help? And, how much would they pay?” Answer as specifically as possible; for example, instead of saying “people who want their kids to have better grades,” say “families who make over $100,000 a year, and want their kids to get all A’s, would eagerly pay me $50 an hour to help their kids learn my favorite subject.” Check out CraigsList to see roughly who’s paying for what kind of help. Don’t you think helping more and more people, over and over, for more and more money can help you live the way you want to live?
- Get your first clients. Talk to your friends, family, and coworkers first. Don’t try to “sell” anyone, to try to convince everyone you run into that they need you. Rather, knowing that there are people out there who will eagerly pay for what you have, and all you have to do is find them, let people know what you do, who usually would use your help, and ask them if anyone they know has expressed a need for such help.
- Ask everyone you talk to, “What problems have you had with a person who does what I do? What would you like people like me to do better?” Eliminate the problems, and do what the people want you to do. You will immediately be smarter than 95% of businesses that are operating today, and will become infinitely more successful. Remember the fundamental law of Economics, people will happily pay you to give them something they truly want and can buy.
- Master the S.M.O.B. There are four major parts to running a business, Sales, Marketing, Operations, and Billing. Sales, is getting people to buy from you. Read “You Can’t Teach A Kid To Ride A Bike At A Seminar,” by David Sandler to get really good at sales. Marketing is getting people interested in you, so that you have the opportunity to help them buy from you. Study Rich Harshaw's “Monopolize Your Marketplace” system for Marketing. Operations is doing whatever they’re paying you for. Read “E-Myth,” and “E-Myth Mastery” by Michael Gerber to learn how to build a “World Class Company” and get your operations down to a process you can reproduce and sell. Billing is getting them to pay you. Set up Quick Books and get Quick Books training to build a bullet proof billing system, and get paid.
- Say, “What else would I need to learn to help people even better and to reach my goals?” It is a fact that 95% of new businesses close their doors within their first 5 years. What if you could guarantee your success? With a dedication to learning everything you can about reaching your goals and dreams, reading books, actively seeking advice from others who have succeeded, striving to do everything even better, you will literally guarantee that you will get to where you want to go.
Tips
- Get a friend or two to help you out.
- Always set clear and challenging goals, and find motivation to meet them.
- Find a mentor who has walked the walk and is willing to discuss openly about what the possibilities are in business.
- Collect all supplies needed.
Warnings
- Watch out for getting complacent with your situation - this is when you don't care whether or not you improve your life.
