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Starting a business in college sounds simple, even fascinating, right? The freedom to experiment, the optimism of youth and an abundance of resources at your fingertips. But in reality, there is an overwhelming flood of conflicting advice on how to spend your time and prioritize tasks when you are just starting out and trying to get your business off the ground.
I founded my business – BONDa mobile app for remote and hybrid teams – as a student at Babson College. During the launch and growth of my venture, I realized how much time I initially wasted trying to do everything instead of focusing on what really matters.
Here are four lessons I've learned building my business and what I would do differently if I could start over.
Use your time effectively
In the early stages of starting a business, you will encounter countless thoughts about what to do. But the truth is that it all depends on two things: understanding your customer and build your product as fast as possible. That's it.
When I was just starting out, I didn't have the technical skills to build my own product – and that was a blessing in disguise. It forced me to think of creative, non-scalable ways to prove the concept. For example, in the first version of BOND, I manually sent requests and responses to more than 80 users every day via WhatsApp for 206 consecutive days. At 9am, I would send the requests and at 9pm, I would send the results. By day 150, when I had 89% daily active users, I even considered building a technical solution, a minimum viable product, to start scaling those necessary daily tasks.
Doing things that aren't scaled in the beginning it forces you to understand your customer on a deeper level and refine your product with real-world feedback, ideally forcing you down the right path.
Surround yourself with the right crowd
If you want to fast track your growth, surround yourself with people who are on the same journey. For me, living in eTower—a founding student house at Babson—was the best decision I ever made. Being around entrepreneurs 24/7 transformed the way I work. I quickly realized that successful entrepreneurs share a few key traits: resilience, delusional confidence, and a relentless work ethic.
Persistence comes from being deeply connected to the problem you're solving or a burning desire to do it no matter what. Delusional confidence, which may seem strange at first, is also useful. Confidence comes from many sources, but maintaining it during difficult times is all about having the right people and support around you. It's about surrounding yourself with those who truly believe in you, while not being afraid to give you the tough, honest feedback you need. You need people who love you challenge your ideasthey push you to improve and still have faith in your ability to build something truly impactful. And finally, consistently working hard and smart is a skill that is honed by learning from others who have been in the game longer than you and applying their hacks — while also developing some of your own.
Having like-minded entrepreneurs and other experienced supporters in your corner provides constant guidance and direction to help your venture improve and grow.
Take advantage of funds and resources
As a college student, raising money can feel like climbing a mountain with no summit in sight. But here's the thing: not growing up too early is actually a blessing. You don't want a large amount of equity when you're still figuring out what's worth paying for and what you should own first. outsourcing.
Learning to be wild is a superpower for student founders. There are countless resources – pitch competitions, accelerators and funding opportunities – just waiting for you to tap into them. Pitchingin particular, it is one of the best investments you can make for yourself. It forces you out of your comfort zone, teaches you to think on your feet, and helps you hone your storytelling skills.
As a CEO, you must be able to convincingly answer three key questions: Why you? Why this? Why now? Ownership of the art of pitching it has helped me raise over $50,000 from the races alone.
Related: 5 Strategies to Build Your Business Fast
Don't expect your product to be perfect
Here's the key: Your product will never be perfect. The worst thing you can do is keep waiting for perfection while delaying the opportunity to learn from real customers. I wish someone had told me earlier that it's okay to start charging for it before you think it's ready, because it's actually a great sign that you're on the right track and provides valuable timely feedback real.
When I first started BOND, I was terrified of rejection. I delayed the launch for six months, thinking I needed everything to be perfect before I asked someone to pay for it. What I learned is that the feedback you fear hearing is often exactly what you need to hear.
My advice to anyone with an idea: just start. Starting BOND has been the best decision of my life because it has been the fastest way to grow my knowledge, skill set and network. Remember, for entrepreneurs, “The only failure is not trying.”