This story appears in the
August 1999 issue of
Entrepreneur.
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Should you start a business in college? In the best-case
scenario, you get a thriving small company and answer the
inevitable question--What are you going to do with the rest of your
life?--before you even graduate. On the flip side, you may
end your school years with a failed business, substantial debt and
an embarrassing grade point average.
I started a free travel e-zine called Student World
Traveler (www.studenttravels.com) during my junior year at the
University of California, Irvine. It did take a lot of courage and
late-night coffee breaks, but the advantages a college campus
affords a start-up entrepreneur could save you thousands of
dollars.
*Technology. Virtually every college campus has computer
labs (many of them open 24 hours) and desktop publishing labs
complete with scanners and Zip drives. And you can get your own
e-mail address, FTP converter and Web-page space--all for free.
- Library. Not many community libraries can boast the
online and print resources for research materials, government
files, microfilm and books that many colleges have.
- Mentors. Your professors can become the mentors who help
kick your business into gear. I've found college professors not
only recommend starting your own business, they'll help you
through the important start-up stages, such as writing a business
plan and creating cash flow. Of course, professors are extremely
busy individuals, but if you bring them your business plan, you
might gain several semesters of expert
consulting . . . and possibly your first
investor.
