Making The Grade

The thing many college entrepreneurs miss after graduating and taking their business full time is, well, everything--from free access to computers, office equipment and work space to advisors available 24/7. William D. Bygrave, director of the Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, offers these tips for going full time:

• Don't buy anything you can lease or rent. If you need office furniture, buy secondhand.

• Consider renting office space in a facility where you can share the cost of office machines and a receptionist.

• Keep your personal expenses as low as possible. Months may go by before you'll be able to pay yourself a salary.

• Network with contacts who have given you useful advice in the past, including former professors and classmates.

Contact Sources

William D. Bygrave, bygrave@babson.edu

Cover-It, (617) 232-6500, fax: (617) 232-6511

This article was originally published in the November 1998 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Making The Grade.