Ultimate Guide For Entrepreneurial High School Students Who Want To Know How To Start A Business In High School
Creativity, innovation, and the desire to be successful are the key traits of today’s young generation and students are very keen on using it to their strength. With the recent entrepreneurship wave in India and the increase in government aid to promote it, this is the right time to venture into start-ups and new businesses for people of all ages – especially high schoolers, because of their age and the ability to handle financial shocks better.Let's talk about How To Start A Business In High School
Here are a few things high school students should look into before they dive into their entrepreneurial pursuits:
1) Assessing Risks
Starting your own business can be very tricky as getting a return on your investment becomes the most pressing expectation. In order to increase your chances of recovering your investments and earning profits, it is crucial to assess your risks first. Since every business is part of its own field of expertise, risks faced by different businesses vary drastically.Nevertheless, every budding entrepreneur must analyse his or her business risks during the planning phase and gauge potential hiccups that might affect the business from achieving its ROI. No successful business succeeded without first forecasting the setbacks that they could face in the future and find possible solutions for the same. Assessing risk is one of the most crucial steps while understanding How To Start A Business In High School.
2) Finding Your Mentors
The business world is filled with people who've made it to the top and want to "send the elevator down" to pass on the knowledge, lessons, and insights they’ve gained on their climb to success. It is very important for young and new entrepreneurs to seek such people out who can advise them on the different facets and nitty-gritty of doing business. Depending on your industry and expertise level, you can have mentors who’ve achieved success in the same industry or from a completely different industry but who have an immense amount of knowledge.There are various ways to find a mentor for your business: you can approach your parents, a successful relative or family friend; connect with people over LinkedIn; approach a local business owner; and so on… as you might have guessed, the possibilities are endless. Furthermore, entrepreneurs should actively seek out and ask for mentorship throughout their lives as business owners as they will always be in need of people who are supportive, honest, and neutral, to turn to for advice.
Always remember, the right mentor is vital while understanding How To Start A Business In High School.
3) Following Your Passion
Never start a business in something you don’t truly love. Reasoning such as the “industry is booming”, the “market is attractive” or the “profit margins are high” are not weighted as these are short-term gains. Some other industry will prosper soon, new competitors will enter the market, prices will go down, and so on. Unless you’re pursuing your passion, you won’t be able to succeed in that venture in the long run.But once you’re following your passion, you will love your work and thrive in it; you will easily be able to keep up with industry updates, and you won’t give up on the business even during the difficult phases. Following your passion is vital while understanding How To Start A Business In High School as it will give you an unending drive.
4) Setting Goals
It is important to set SMART goals i.e. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound goals before you go full-throttle on your business idea. Take a note of all the goals - right from short-term goals to your long-term goal/vision that will be achieved via completion of the short-term goals.
Then, identify exactly what needs to be done in order to achieve each goal. Goal-setting leads to clarity and organisation of ideas, crucial for multi-tasking entrepreneurs. Identifying and working on short-term goals can make a difference between successful and failed businesses.
5) Developing Your Skills
Every business needs a certain set of skills – this is a no-brainer. Apart from having the right technical skills specific to the business, entrepreneurs are also expected to have managerial and entrepreneurial skills in their basket. As a new business owner, it is vital to undergo all the relevant training and courses required to acquire the necessary skill set for the success of your start-up. Even after you have set-up your business, it is necessary to keep updating your skills.“The more you learn, the more you earn.”― Warren Buffett
6) Identifying Your Ideology
Every business runs on the owner’s set of (said or unsaid) ideologies. For some entrepreneurs, customer satisfaction is a priority, for some quality of work is paramount, while for some employee happiness takes precedence. Seek and find out what your intrinsic values are that you would like to project on to your business.Having a set of business values or ideologies is essential in order to keep your business running on the right track, training your employees, differentiating your business from your competitors, and making decisions. To identify your ideology, just trust your gut feeling. Don’t try to imitate popular business styles or follow the bandwagon as what may work for other businesses may not work for you.
Knowing your ideology is a crucial self-assessment factor while understanding How To Start A Business In High School.
7) Getting the Experience
It is a good idea to get your feet wet before you dive into the pool of working full-time. This not allows you to change your frame of mind from “studying” to “working”, it also allows you to develop soft-skills such as communication skills, teamwork, self-confidence, problem-solving skills, time management, etc.The experience you gain from your first job is almost always invaluable, provided you do it seriously. Try working in a job that is in - or similar to - your business industry to gain deep insights into the workings of that industry. Another benefit of starting a job is to accumulate some sort of capital to open up your new venture.
8) Preparing for Failure
Every business fails in its initial stages or does not do as well as you expected it to. While a lot of it has to do with lack of industry experience, some of it is just dumb luck. That is why it is important to prepare for failures and foresee potential problems. Keep in mind that failure is just a stepping stone to success and the only thing that separates established businesses from failed ones is sheer perseverance! So, make it a point to not give up and keep taking your journey forward.
“Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new centre of gravity. Don’t fight them. Just find a new way to stand.” – Oprah Winfrey
Related: Real Success Stories Of Young Entrepreneurs In India
Being an entrepreneur sounds very exciting and is probably the ‘coolest’ career option for the youth today but a path you must tread cautiously and one that requires a lot of perseverance and diligence. There are endless opportunities and success stories to draw inspiration from but you need to be equipped with the right skill set and attitude to reach your goal. Hope this article has been helpful to all the budding entrepreneurs. Good luck for your future endeavours!Check Out Columbia Business School's Summer School Programme At JBCN International Parel
