Being a student entrepreneur, who has had to go through the difficult journey of launching a startup while studying, I have faced a myriad of obstacles and learned so many lessons that I wouldn’t have learned otherwise. The article that I have written in this regard is a profound one as I will chronicle insights gleaned through being my own informant and the student entrepreneur’s knowledge that we have gathered to help future startup owners realize the root of the most kept downfalls, if any, and set themselves up for success.
Doing Background Research:
One of the errors commonly done by student entrepreneurs is to settle without proper market research. In other words, we are passionately intent on being the hosts of light-bulb moments by not knowing the audience, and that is our major sin.
For example, my second year brought with it the app that I designed for meal planning for college students. But I was hasty to inspect what was there already before plunging into the plethora of existing solutions. The realization of the fact that the market was already flooded with many familiar applications and that customers were loyal to them contributed to the surfacing of the problem as my project could not take off.
How to avoid this mistake:
- Carrying out surveys and face-to-face interactions with the consumers of your potential product
- Scrutinized already-available products and discovered a vacuum in the market
- Google Trend data and reports from the industry should be considered as some of the options of tools to see if there is a demand for a product you are considering
- Find a better way to validate your business idea – learn from those who have done it before
Underestimating Financial Requirements:
It is one that every student entrepreneur, including myself, has plunged headfirst into-the myth of survival on meager resources while I certainly ran into the problem of underestimating the resources that were necessary for these funds to come to be and exist. We make the terrible mistake of forgetting that in addition to the initial development “kitty,” there are expenses such as marketing, legal fees, and operational costs.
According to this classmate of mine, the initial phase included a business that was doing jewelry sales via the internet. However, he did not pay attention to the costs of inventory storage and shipping. These components led to cash flow problems in the first few months of its operation.
How to avoid this mistake:
- Make a detailed financial plan that includes the estimated costs for the initial launch as well as ongoing maintenance expenses
- Have a buffer fund for anything that might come up
- Investigate funding sources, too, like grants, contests, or angel investors
- Consider having a minimum viable product first to test your idea
Non-complaining Legal Issues
In getting caught up with thinking about the potential of our ideas, we tend to forget about the reality that surrounds it, which can sometimes have negative legal implications. This is a very common mistake that student entrepreneurs make, which can lead to serious issues such as intellectual property disputes and compliance hazards.
An example of my suffering was that I had squandered resources and flooded the market with ads when my highly profitable business was already in financial trouble. It turned out that I lost my brand name by not paying a small fee. Sadly, I left the situation to be expensive to solve.
How to avoid this mistake:
- Hire a lawyer who specializes in startups to be your advisor
- Look for and adhere to the rules set by the regulators in your industry
- Safeguard the rights of your creations by resort to the formalities of patents, copyrights, or trademarks
- Make employment, partnership, and other documents easy to understand and sign
Trying to Solve Problems Alone
Most of the time, students are supposed to be able to complete every task of the startup on their own. But such a mindset more often than not turns into a situation of burnout or a sizable drop in the figures regarding the customers and consequently a lack of growth of the business.
A classmate of mine tried to handle not only product development but also customer care and marketing for her own online tutoring platform. However, she could neither offer her service of high quality, and that is why she encountered some difficulties scaling her business until she mastered delegation and created a team.
How to avoid this mistake:
- What are your strengths and weaknesses?
- Form a team in a way that you complement each other
- Become a good manager yourself
- Networking with those who have already gone through the trenches of startup life and asking for guidance
Neglecting Academic Responsibilities
The actual credit in this respect goes to the startup, which takes up huge signals resulting from the fear of failure from the students, and the idea of moving on without cataloging this drawback is the approach often resorted to. However, this procrastination of studies may cost us our academic status which is the backbone of our future.
As I can grapple with this matter the most, I was my own obstacle. My participation in extracurricular activities became more important to me than the reason I am in school in the first place, and as a consequence, I could not keep a perfect academic record. Therefore I had to prioritize my tasks sensibly and settle down with a structured timetable that encompasses the two aspects of life I have.
How to avoid this mistake:
- Create a timetable with fixed hours for school and a separate area for starting up a business
- Goal setting and prioritization of tasks also go a long way in this respect
- Dialogue with teachers on the business and what you are planning to do and ask for their backing
- Consider reducing the number of credits you have in a semester or taking courses that focus on entrepreneurial activities
Scaling too Fast
As the enthusiast of the initial phase-which we all are – can lead us to make the mistake of scaling on one side without looking at the impact on the other. Such fast expansion leaves the company with not enough resources and lower product features on the other hand.
A project by a peer of mine, with its design of a highly sought-after campus app, made the mistake of quickly adding other colleges to the list of campuses without first addressing app glitches and putting an unbreakable administration in place for the app. The app was faced with innumerable bugs, and the satisfaction of users saw a continuous downward trend.
How to avoid this mistake:
- Aim at making your product reliable first and only then expand it.
- Introduce your organization to a smooth recipe for success by designing it from a solid counterpart.
- Using the right information collected through analyzing data for scaling decisions can be an easy way to grow your business.
- Scale step by step and experiment on different regions before fully expanding.
Ignoring Customer Feedback
Besides this roadblock and struggle, over our strong affection for the original creation, that can lead to the invalidation of good customer responses as a result of the main product’s incorrect approach.
Without accepting feedback, the software that my friend had built on his study use case (trick physics problems on demand) never got the results he expected. This is because the app was designed based on his preferences instead of those of the potential users and as a result, the customers showed no interest in the product.
How to avoid this mistake:
- Implement software that records and analyzes client feedback
- Carry out regular user-testing and polls as frequently as every week if your client feedback is frequent
- Change the game plan as per customer feedback
- Do not postpone the necessary chores when customers request necessary actions
Underestimating the Importance of Marketing
One of the common measures, as it turns out, that disappointed the student entrepreneurs including me was the belief that a unique product is enough and will do the marketing part for itself. Development was the utmost prioritization, so real marketing was sidelined to the last position.
One striking experience is during the startup of a productivity app for students that I failed to generate the required usership owing to the lack of proper marketing strategies to the app
How to avoid this mistake:
- Drop-in social media campaign development, too, when making your product
- Create brand visibility through social media marketing and campaigns
- Strategize to be on top dealing with finance, quality, and marketing at the same time
- Think about getting support from influencers or brand ambassadors in your target market
Failing to Set Up Co-Founder Agreements
The inception of a startup with friends can cloud the vision of someone not to create formal agreements. But the lack of understanding of managing, sharing, and distributing the equity and the consequent conflicts down the road can lead to some situations beyond what can be resolved
A partnership that has the same founder ended as a split in a quarrel between them caused by the disagreements over the workload and how to deal with the financial privilege. The break-up could have been predicted when they signed a valid founder agreement.
How to avoid this mistake:
- Diction and documentation of roles, responsibilities, and expectations should be drawn to co-founders in the process of making agreements
- Create a fair distribution of equities
- Establish togetherness of the board in addressing the decision-making on some moves across the business operations process
- Either by invitation refund, or by default, put in all kinds of clauses that the company might encounter one of the founders leaving the company even before it financially stabilizes
Neglecting Self-Care and Work-Life Balance
The combination of high stress levels in the startup training, and college obligations can lead to student startup workers undermining their emotional and physical state which in turn can lead to increased burnout and decreased work output.
I started losing grades when my business was doing pretty well only because I lacked academic self-discipline. That is why I prioritized and created a discipline that involves all the activities I have to be about my business, school, and my private life.
How to avoid this mistake:
- Choose activities that are health-giving for you like sports, healthy meals, and sleep
- Draw a circle around the day with clear lines between your job, study, and private time
- Relaxing methods of stress reduction include mindfulness, deep breathing, and meditation
- Lean on your friends, parents, and professionals for support if needed
Final Words
Entering the world as a student entrepreneur is a challenge and a really exciting thing at the same time. We, the newcomers, are blessed with the experience that the veterans transmit to us through their writings who tell us severe difficulties website security audit.
When you embark on the journey of student entrepreneurship, use these lessons:
- Screen the market carefully before inventing your venture
- Make sure that you know beforehand what will be your expenses and then go to look as much as possible for your fund
- Set off the legal process as a priority
- Develop a powerful team and understand the power of delegation
- Remember that your studies come first
- Think before you grow and expand your company in the acceptable timeframe
- Listen and consider act on the recommendations of your customers
- The buzz of the marketing is an area that should not be overlooked when choosing investments
- Make a clear deal with your co-founders
- Be wise to take care of you and support yourself to keep going adaptability productively
By eliminating these common mistakes, and getting inspired by other student entrepreneurs, you are better equipped for a successful business while staying in college until you run over unexpected cracks. Keep in mind that mistakes are a primary ingredient in any entrepreneurial activity, but they will not be a hindrance that you can’t move through with.
