{"id":12641,"date":"2021-11-11T18:25:54","date_gmt":"2021-11-11T18:25:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/?p=12641"},"modified":"2021-11-11T18:25:54","modified_gmt":"2021-11-11T18:25:54","slug":"top-tips-for-starting-a-business-from-a-student-entrepreneur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/2021\/11\/top-tips-for-starting-a-business-from-a-student-entrepreneur\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Tips for Starting a Business from a Student Entrepreneur"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In time for Global Entrepreneurship Week, third-year Marketing student <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/2021\/08\/how-aspire-gave-my-denim-fashion-label-the-x-factor\/\">Giovanni Morgan<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kent.ac.uk\/kent-business-school\">Kent Business School<\/a>\u00a0and founder of denim customisation service brand\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mgxjeans.com\/\">MGX Jeans<\/a>\u00a0has provided his tips for students open to starting a business. He said:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Start with your interests<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>The reality is that operating a business whilst in study isn\u2019t the easiest thing to do in the world. The study deadlines combined with the pressure of customers is more than enough to handle. Start with your interests and remember that a fully functional business isn\u2019t your only option. Freelancing services, content creation and even your favourite hobbies can all prove to be both lucrative and enjoyable!<\/p>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li><strong>Seek the advice that\u2019s available<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>So you\u2019ve assessed your options and have chosen a business. The next step is to seek advice. Your university will always have resources, communities and personnel dedicated to helping you. From the library, ebooks, open workshops, mentors to advisor programmes such as Kent\u2019s Business Start-up Journey, there\u2019s always something available to help you on your business endeavours. Seek and make use of all the advice available.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li><strong>Be passionate<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>You\u2019ll want to start your business in something you\u2019re passionate about or really enjoy. In doing so, not only will you enjoy the time spent on your business but you\u2019ll also reduce the probability of burnout or procrastination, ultimately allowing you to invest more effort and progress faster. As the saying goes, \u201cdo something you love and you\u2019ll never have to work a day in your life\u201d.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"4\">\n<li><strong>Research and plan<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Take time to thoroughly research everything about the business and market you\u2019ll be entering, including its demands such as financial barriers, possible licensing, skills\/experience needed and, of course, your competition. Once you\u2019ve done all the necessary research, you can create and execute an effective business plan.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"5\">\n<li><strong>Manage and prioritise time<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>The life of a student-entrepreneur is ultimately one of sacrifice as you\u2019ll quickly find that your business takes up a lot of that free time. Effective time allocation and management will help you to stay on course. Know your priorities and be prepared to make sacrifices for them. Learn to say no.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"6\">\n<li><strong>Remember funding &amp; budgeting<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>All businesses require investment; time investment, effort investment and, most importantly, financial investment. As a small business your sources of funding should initially come from your personal savings, but budgeting is also important. When your study books, travel and groceries are all taken care of, be sure to keep enough funds around to keep your business afloat during rocky months.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"7\">\n<li><strong>Integration with studies<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Most courses at university will allow you to have some freedom of choice in the modules you take. This is the perfect opportunity to merge your entrepreneurship interests with your course. Entrepreneurship, marketing, accounting, and more business related modules are typically available for second\/third year undergraduates and are a great way to bridge both worlds.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"8\">\n<li><strong>Network<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Networking at university is severely underrated. From the array of specialised students to the vastly knowledgeable lecturers, university is one of the most effective places to make business connections to help the journey of your enterprise. This all begins with networking, so connect with people and get to know more about them \u2013 they might be looking for someone like you!<\/p>\n<ol start=\"9\">\n<li><strong>Be resilient<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Being a student entrepreneur isn\u2019t easy. It\u2019s likely that there will be challenging times when you feel like giving up. However, it\u2019s often when we feel like giving up that we\u2019re closest to a breakthrough. Add that to the countless benefits of running a business whilst in studies such as the experience, standing out from the crowd, and you\u2019ll quickly understand that all the hard work is completely worth it! Keep going.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"10\">\n<li><strong>Enjoy your business<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Obviously the hard work of studies and your business are vital, but remember to take time to enjoy the process you\u2019re going through. You may look back on these early stages of your business fondly, so take the time every now and then to take stock and enjoy what you\u2019re doing and what you\u2019re achieving with every day you keep at it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Giovanni launched his business as part of his <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kent-business-matters\/2020\/10\/08\/what-is-a-selfie\/\">Selfie year<\/a> with the help of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kent.ac.uk\/kent-business-school\/facilities\/aspire\">ASPIRE.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In time for Global Entrepreneurship Week, third-year Marketing student Giovanni Morgan of Kent Business School\u00a0and founder of denim customisation service brand\u00a0MGX Jeans\u00a0has provided his tips &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/2021\/11\/top-tips-for-starting-a-business-from-a-student-entrepreneur\/\">Read&nbsp;more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74553,"featured_media":11477,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[124],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12641"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74553"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12641"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12641\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12643,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12641\/revisions\/12643"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}