Starting a business?
5 things to consider when starting a business
The idea of a side-hustle is a very on trend concept at the moment with every student having either considered it or even drunkenly come up with their own ‘million-pound idea’ to keep them going on the side of their studies. However, gripped predominantly by the idea of failure, over 80% will never act on their ambitions and remain in the concept of ‘what if’. But do these individuals have a point?
Here are 5 factors that a student must take into consideration before they commit to a side-hustle.
Time management
Since an average student spends 21 hours a week at timetabled lectures etc, that combined with independent studying, socialising and sleep makes adding a functioning successful business into the mix a challenging prospect without sacrifice in a few departments. To add to the equation, at the beginning of a side-hustle the individual should commit 8-9 hours a week to get the operation off the ground before varying it depending on success. Since ironically the only reason most side-hustles are started to create funds for socialising, that inevitably becomes the one aspect that gets sacrificed.
As the owner of Blue Moose, master’s student Sarah Allan understands how important it is to balance both university and running her business to a point where it is worth her time: “As I hand-make pillows and cushions, each one obviously takes time to make. I do have to sacrifice socialising and sleep every now and then, but it helps that I love what I am doing”
Investing financially
Only a fortunate select few have the luxury of not relying on their student loan during their studies and living in the overdraft is something way too many of us ae sadly familiar with. The whole purpose of the side-hustle might be to avoid this, however at the same time it is physically impossible to not invest in your new project one way or another. Students with the ambition of supporting their studies with a business must consider the extra strain their bank account will take and only remember the long process to potential financial success that they have committed to.
Picking an unsaturated market
Predominantly a factor of 21st century technology, any aspiring entrepreneur will struggle to produce an original idea without any reference or aspects from an existing concept. It remains a leading factor in why so many student entrepreneurs give up. Nevertheless, inspiration remains one of the best things an entrepreneur can have and will provide the foundation for highly successful ideas.
A representative from Treb Uk expressed how the company saw inspiration in a very popular drink amongst Newcastle students, the Treb, and has turned it into the North Easts fasted growing drinks company:
“The blue treb in is probably the most popular drink for student nights out in Newcastle so we took advantage of this by producing it ourselves and then making it available outside of clubs. We then figured we could address a problem people have at the same time. The can as opposed the plastic cups obviously stops spilling your drink in the club while making our brand stand out at the same time”
Success of the Business
Everybody has a right to feel optimistic about something they have a passion for and its always worth reminding yourself as a young business owner of the success you could produce from your passion. Therefore, it is always worth asking yourself the big questions and planning for that success should it come so suddenly. You have started a business relating to something you have a passion for but only as a hobby and to support University. But what happens when that business becomes bigger than your degree ever could? Are you willing to leave your university to pursue that business as a full-time occupation? What are the chances of you committing to that and then it turning south?
Rainy days
Every business could have a rainy day or a long period of slow sales. The question is what is in place for that day? Is your business financially supporting itself? Could you happily pause your business ambitions during busy periods at university and how will that impact both? The fear of a rainy day is a necessary one and will make you ask the question of whether your passion is big enough. If it is not as big as when you started, it could be time to head back to the drawing board.
Sarah Allan believes that being honest about her ambitions with the business before it started helped her a lot. “I would say that right now given how much I am occupied by my masters, it helps a lot that I see it as a hobby before a business. As it is primarily a hobby, I am aware that it is not that deep when I have slow periods and I can always put more effort in when university is not so intense”