How to Get Ahead: Smart Business Ideas for Students

If I were in college and wanted someone else to write my paper for me, I would tell them to do a few things. First, the basics: spell words correctly, use proper grammar, don’t plagiarize. Please and thank you. But then I would insist that my hypothetical essay writer strive for originality. I wouldn’t just want them not to plagiarize, but to actually offer interesting ideas that leave readers with strong impressions of my work and capabilities.

If you’ve ever aspired to work in business, or even just asked yourself how to start a business as a student, the search for originality is probably relatable. Maybe you have favorite entrepreneurs, men and women of industry who offer to the public a unique good or service that makes the world a better, more convenient place. But the key is to be unique. The sharks on Shark Tank don’t want to hear small business ideas for students that they’ve already heard before, much less something with no financial future. Additionally, anyone who envisions themselves as a future businessman doesn’t want to feel like a copycat, someone who might make a profit, sure, but doesn’t inspire anyone in the process.

That’s why, in this article, we’re going to help you kick off that process with smart business ideas for college students. We’ll go over how to start a business, manage one while balancing academic life, entrepreneurial skills, and how to use campus resources to your advantage. Remember that at the core of any successful business career is the passion to make your idea a reality. However, it never hurts to have some guidance along the way, and our hope is to hand you just a few tools so as to match your entrepreneurial spirit with actionable steps. You already have the former; keep reading for the latter.

Taking Steps Towards Starting a Business in College

Whether it’s setting up a physical stand, designing your own custom merchandise, or carving out a niche in online business for students, you have enormous freedom when it comes to deciding how you want to become an entrepreneur. That’s why the following list, comprised of 15 business ideas for college students, is so varied in its recommendations. Mixing practical business options with versatile advice, its goal is to inspire the aspiring businessperson and shape their business acumen all at once. Therefore, consider the following suggestions a launching pad for both concrete plans and the wherewithal required to make them in the first place.

Draw Up a Business Plan

Just as with an essay or math problem, the best thing you can do for yourself, right away, is to get your ideas for businesses in writing. That’s right; even if it’s a simple bullet-point list, jot down what’s on your mind before it escapes and you lose motivation.

In the end, a comprehensive business plan will have much more than your initial idea for a business, including elements like market analysis and financial planning. However, none of those things will take shape without a strong summary of what you want to do: a mission statement both for others and yourself.

Create a “Business Block” in Your Schedule

Anyone thinking of businesses to start in college quickly must figure out how to balance their entrepreneurial ambitions with academic life. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up choosing one and neglecting the other. That’s why we recommend, right now, that you set aside one or two hours a day that are strictly for building your business. Just as authors treat their “writing time,” think of your “business time” as sacred. That way, you won’t feel the pressure to study during it; conversely, you won’t need to spend your academic time thinking about your business! Time management is critical for any businessperson, so consider it practice.

Don’t Be Afraid to Network

Even the best product ideas for students don’t get very far without other people’s support. But that’s the great thing about college campuses: you’re surrounded by thousands of peers and professors who can either connect you investors, suppliers, or other entrepreneurs to make your vision a reality. Believe it or not, great businesses aren’t the result of geniuses whiling away in the dark like mad scientists. Most of the time, they take off when they have robust networks. If socializing isn’t your strong suit, then it’s time to step out of your comfort zone! Selling your vision is half the battle here.

Fake It Until You Make It

On that note, let’s talk about personas. In business, confidence is key to any presentation or negotiation. Nobody wants to invest in someone who doesn’t believe in their own idea. Furthermore, unscrupulous colleagues will notice when you don’t stand up for yourself.

So what if you’re socially awkward or naturally introverted? As an entrepreneur, it will improve your prospects, especially early on, to make others believe in your product with knowledge and showmanship. Politicians don’t have the luxury of reticence when they give their vision for the country, and you don’t either when you’re selling your ideas. Put on a brave face!

Know the Market Inside and Out

Part of the process of “selling yourself” is, to put it plainly, doing your homework. How do your school business ideas fill a gap in their specific market? Is the market lucrative right now? What do employees, customers, and brand advocates think? What’s your potential customer base?

If you want to know how good your idea is – and, just as importantly, if you want potential business partners to know – you should be able to present your findings and answer questions like these. Conduct statistical analysis, make presentations, and assess from the outset if your product is likely to succeed. Think smarter and harder.

Look for Grants on Campus

Did you know that many universities actually give out money for strong business ideas for college students? Go online and look; whether the grants are federal or come from the college itself, your ability to demonstrate entrepreneurial prospects can help you procure the seed money you need to get started. These early-stage investment opportunities allow students to develop, commercialize, and license new technologies that could launch their careers even before graduation. With a strong application, prototype, market research, and compliance with eligibility standards, which vary depending on the award, any aspiring businessperson can use campus grants to break into their industry.

Work With a Small Business Development Center

Just like campus grants, small business development centers (SBDCs) are also designed to help small businesses get off the ground. SBDCs provide a variety of services, including workshops and training programs, cash flow analyses, business counseling, and financial projections. If you’re unsure of how to make your business materialize, there’s no shame nor harm in going to one for assistance; each is staffed by trained business advisors whose entire job is to guide entrepreneurs who don’t already have all of the answers. Like we said, socializing is half the battle; asking for help is an important part of that process.

Get Involved With Campus Centers for Entrepreneurship

Along with SBDCs, college centers for entrepreneurship provide another institutional guidepost for would-be businesspeople. Sometimes these centers actually review and administer those wonderful campus grants we mentioned above. However, they also help students build their team, find their network, license technology, and create tangible business plans. Whether it’s through webinars, in-person programs, or one-on-one meetings with their staff, campus centers show students that knowledge is power when it comes to business. They also serve as proof that successful entrepreneurs use all resources that are available to them; with counselors right on campus, there’s no reason to try to do it all alone!

Seek Advice from Your Professors

Speaking of counselors right on campus, there’s another crucial resource that you can turn to for advice. Just as professors won’t help you buy college papers online but will give you college paper help, so will they also steer you in the right direction even if they don’t do your business planning for you.

What students often don’t fully appreciate is that their professors are relatively accessible. Most of them have drop-in office hours, and many will be understanding if you arrange a one-on-one meeting with them on a different day. As always, just be respectful, act maturely, and don’t arrive late.

Grasp the Fundamentals of Business

We’ve been talking extensively about using all resources at your disposal, but we also want to stress that strong businesses are built upon strong educations. If you’re a business major, you’re likely taking the courses you need to have a solid grasp of things like economics, analytics, and operations management. But if you’re studying something else, and if you’re still interested in business, it’s not too late! Even if you don’t want to switch your major, there’s no harm in taking or, with the professor’s permission, auditing business classes. Consider it part of the balance between your entrepreneurial and academic lives.

Take Courses in Leadership and Management

On that note, part of mastering the fundamentals of business is learning how to be a strong leader. Employees have the luxury of taking direction from others; entrepreneurs have to be prepared to give that direction and create their own schedules. The good news is that it’s easy to find online courses, including from institutions like Harvard Business School, that teach students about management principles, strategy execution, and the art of negotiation. Consider taking these courses during your blocked-off “business hours,” or, if you have the time, after your academic classes are done for the day. The hard work will pay off eventually!

Start Reading Business and Technology News

We believe that entrepreneurs are more successful when they can immerse themselves into their business role. When that doesn’t involve networking or other social interactions, it means staying up to date with what other entrepreneurs are doing. These days, that’s not so hard. All you have to do is get ahold of a newspaper and flip (or scroll) to the business and tech sections. There, articles will keep you informed about how markets are doing, significant business interactions, and new legal regulations. Plus, the more you read, the more business terminology will become familiar. Better readers make for better entrepreneurs!

Learn from Titans of Industry

There’s no shortage of seminars, interviews, and Ted Talks from prominent businesspeople who have already made it big. Just as artists are inspired by their predecessors, so captains of industry can help future entrepreneurs develop their own business acumen.

What’s most inspiring, in our opinion, is listening to successful people who originally came from modest means. Not all of us were born with silver spoons or can look forward to sizable inheritances, so it can mean more to hear “new money” entrepreneurs describe the importance of building a business project from the ground up. They serve as proof that there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

Take Advantage of Student Database Access

While you’re still in college, make sure you understand exactly what your institution can provide. Not only do many universities cover student subscriptions to financial sources like the Wall Street Journal; they also grant students access to business databases that compile market transactions, stock data, financial information about public companies, and more. Remember how we said to read business and tech sections in the newspaper? These databases allow students to find them for free and complement their learning with other sites. Before you, our aspiring businessman, graduate, you should take advantage of your university’s online resources while you still can.

Practice Metacognition

This final piece of advice is sort of a curveball. What is metacognition? It’s essentially “thinking about thinking”: the process of reflecting upon your choices and actions, especially in order to improve your problem-solving capabilities.

When you start a business, many things are still uncertain. In these ambiguous early stages, self-awareness is key. We recommend that you keep track of your thought processes to make sure you’re not only putting your best foot forward, but that this is the right path for you. Think about what you’re doing right and keep doing it. Think about your weaknesses and make conscious efforts to remedy them.

Small Steps Make Big Strides

In this article, we’ve gone over not just how to facilitate business ideas for college students but how business ideas for students can take off with the right resources at their disposal. Of course, none of these recommendations will just “come to light” on their own; they will require hard work and passion to prove useful to any future entrepreneur. The good news is that those two elements, if practiced to effect here, will take you far in your business career. With good business fundamentals, a strong network, and unapologetic pride in your ideas, you have nothing to worry about.