This is a piece of advice I wish I had taken myself when I was in college.
College is your last handheld step before hitting the working world. It’s also one of the greatest times in the world to figure out whether you’re the kind of person who wants to own their own business. In your last years of college, you’ve holding all the cards. You’ve likely got an abundance of extra time, minimal responsibilities, and a strong network of friends that you know very well. You’ve got firsthand experience of the services or products that would be in demand in your little world. You’ve got some academic knowledge that your professors want to see you apply to a more pragmatic solution. And you’ve got an undimmed optimism that can enable you to go as far as you want.
So consider starting a business while you’re in college. Look around and see what people need at the moment, what they value. Maybe you can provide a service copying material for others for a fee. If you’re a top student, maybe you can create study guides to sell. Maybe as an experienced student you can create “welcome to college” guides for incoming freshmen. Maybe you can run courier services for grad students, or pickup takeout food from places that don’t deliver. Get your friends involved in it to make things a bit more fun. It doesn’t have to be your future career; you just want to get your feet wet, learn a little more about yourself and make some extra money.
Most importantly, learn from the experience. Can you deal with the uncertainty? Do you plan well? Lead others well? Manage other workers well? Do you see unlimited potential, or do you figure it’s a failure before you ever get started? Learning these answers are going to go a long way toward understanding where you want to go after school.
And you never know – a lot of successful businesses started during college. You might execute the idea that changes the world.
