mobile-apps, young-entrepreneurs, time-managementAlright, I know this is a popular question, however Ive been struggling with prioritizing school and business ventures for the past year or so since work has grown.
Im a high school student and running a startup and I want to know how others in my situation (who haven’t dropped out) divide their time between studying/hw and working on their products, etc because school, in theory, can lead to progress in business but hinders progress in the short term.
Both are a huge time commitment.
Dropping out doesn’t seem advisable because I want to attend college to gain contacts and work on projects with interesting individuals who tend to be drawn to universities, that whole idea.
This being said, Im a junior and I have started devoting majority of my time to building a product I am close to shipping and taking on new clients. Other young entrepreneurs are likely struggling with this also.
Its hard to view studying, which can be immeasurable because effort does not guarantee a certain score, as productive when I could be making measurable progress on an app, which is a productive use of time.
What have others’ experience been in this area? Does it make sense to devote time to studying for school with the hope of furthering a business venture later with contacts in college/opportunities from school?
Or would measurable progress in current projects be more advantageous for growing a startup as a young entrepreneur?
Although many would-be entrepreneurs may think it’s best to wait on their budding business idea until they graduate, some savvy entrepreneurs are jumping into a business while still in school. I am currently pursuing college, and run a startup having 3 Full-time workers and some freelancers. I manage the startup while developing Android apps parallely. How do I manage both?
Figure out your priorities. While some student entrepreneurs try to have it all (a high GPA and a profitable business), Stephanie Shyu, co-founder of AdmitSee.com, a peer-to-peer social network for college students to share advice about applying to school, campus fit and career opportunities, says something always has to give. “Running a business is, at a minimum, a full-time class if not a full-time job,” she says.
Because Shyu saw her company as a potential career path after law-school graduation, she prioritized it over, and sometimes at the expense of, her academic performance. “How you decide to allocate your time should be driven and informed by whether you see a future career with the business and your post-grad plans,” says Shyu, who encourages student entrepreneurs to remember why they’re at school in the first place: “To best position yourself and identify opportunities that will help launch a career.”
“You can always take time off from school to pursue a truly unique and viable business idea, but the reverse isn’t always true,” she says.
Create a schedule to manage your time effectively. As a student, you have the luxury of downtime which you will never have as a working professional to use to pursue a business idea. Nick Porfilio, CEO of Saveful.com, a tech startup that helps users save money on a range of products, designed his schedule so he could focus on either school or business at one given time, taking classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday only, leaving the other days of the week to focus on the business.
Take advantage of student discounts. Being a student also gives you access to free or discounted services. Porfilio was able to get a free operating system and office software simply because he was a student. “One class gave me a $100 credit to a cloud-computing service and another gave a license to expensive design software,” he says. Porfilio also received free printing and access to survey software, as well as free access to virtually expensive data sets.
Make use of university resources. As a student, you have access to a vast network that you will never see again in your life. Expert faculty members, academic courses and student organizations are all at your fingertips, so take advantage while you can. Professors often make great advisors and can be well-connected, helping to make introductions to contacts who can help grow your business.
Integrate your business into your schoolwork. Who says school and business have to be separate entities? Taking courses that support your business is a great way to gain the knowledge and expertise you need to be a more effective business operator. As a law student, Shyu took business school courses in entrepreneurship which helped her draft her business plan.
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