I was in 3rd year of business school. My GPA was good. One day I was doing my university project with my friends.
My other classmates were also working on other projects. So after few days, we all submitted our projects. Fortunately, our project was declared the best. We all celebrated. Our professor throws a party at McDonald’s.
We were busy enjoying our meals. One of my friends came up with an idea, to make it a reality. We thought, that she was joking. We laughed for a while. But she said she was serious. She recommended us to work on it.
So we all sat down, for it in after our lectures. So let’s take us through our journey:
1. Time Management
It was a challenge to take both, our degree and the new venture together. We just took a look at our daily routines. We reduced our recreation time, gradually.
We started giving more time to business strategies, identifying our potential target market. We even took help from our professors. They also helped us, in giving important advice us.
2. Students’ Resources:
Luckily, we used our college’s resources, initially. We used office internet. We also allocated some of our time in a public library. We searched and found good books for starting a business. They help us to learn about other people, who successfully are running new companies.
It was important for us to take, valuable lessons from their failures. So we planned accordingly.
3. Selection of the Courses:
We all took courses, which were related to our business. Since we were launching an eCommerce website, so took courses like WordPress, which will make it easier for us to set up our online store with ease.
Some of my friends also took interest in marketing courses, while others studied finance subjects. This helped a lot in our business later on.
4. Networking:
Lots of our college mates were busy enjoying birthday parties. But we apologized to them and booked, different exhibitions, in our city. In this way, we exchanged our business cards. It was great to meet them in their offices.
We also met our potential suppliers, in trade shows. We were able to meet them face to face, which otherwise is difficult to do.
5. Finding the Investors:
We started floating our ideas, on LinkedIn and other professional websites. Some people from other cities contacted us and had meetings on Zoom and Skype.
Some angel investors also showed interest in our business idea. Within, few months, my friends and I started working, on different options. Some of them were shortlisted. We had a final word with them.
We went and registered our company. They all voted for me to lead the company. This news came as a pleasant surprise , I was happy, that they had trust in me.
6. Finding Mentors:
Our professors and other people, who were seasoned entrepreneurs, guided us along the way. We benefited, from their experiences.
They told us that, to make informed decisions, in business. They told us, to analyze each aspect of the decisions. The important lesson, which we all learned, was never to be carried away by emotions.
We also learned to take our investors into confidence, in every key decision we take, along the way.
7. Hiring the employees:
We placed ads on our LinkedIn page about different vacancies, like developers, etc. Lots of candidates sent their resumes. We sat together, screened them. We came up with some of the candidates.
All the interviews were done on Zoom and Skype. Some of them were highly experienced.
We took time and called them in star bucks café, near our college. Some turned up and came for the final interviews. After few days, we sent them the employment letters, through their emails.
8. Orders
We worked on optimizing our website, on different search engines. Some people placed orders. One of my friends, worked tirelessly, in the delivery of the orders.
Some of our customers referred to their friends and family. So our sales increased. My other friends also gave Christmas, New Year promotions. So this also increased our revenues.
It took us a year, to break even. We were patient, working harder. Sometimes, we had to skip our lectures. The initial, days were tough.
Conclusion:
We all celebrated our success, on our graduation day. It was so special. We all were smiling, hugging, and shaking hands with each other.
Our batch guys’ and girls’ eyes were shinning. They were happy for us. We wished them good luck. One of our investors offered them the opportunity for an internship, which they accepted happily.
We shared our photos of passing out on our website. Everyone was impressed with us. We were proud of ourselves.
