Edited by Tasmiyah Randeree
Being in college is certainly a stressful but gratifying experience. Every student makes the most out of the experience in their own way. There are people that change majors or join Greek life to get the most of their college years. For a select group of students, their college years are shaped by creating something of their very own like their own company.
Many Forbes 500 fortunes companies came from instant noodles cups and college dorm rooms. Now, how does that feel? Creating something out of nothing and turn it into a profitable business? A college start-up CEO shared all the insights on managing an entirely new business while trying to pass all your subjects.
Initially, we asked the first question that would pop up in your head if interviewing a CEO and college student: How to do you manage both college responsibilities and business tasks?
“It is not an easy mission to accomplish. College is hard and adding to that the weight of running a profitable business is quite hard. In my case, it all about having your priorities well established from the beginning and setting realistic objectives based on that.”
It is clear to see that having both an active social life and decent grades is a challenge, but for this college start-up founder, having a social life is no problem.
“Creating a company in your dorm room would be hard if you didn’t surround yourself with the right people. When you create a start-up, you spend so much time working in a group that your work turns into social life. Long days searching for distributors or designing a logo with someone becomes less of a chore and more of a social outing.”
We asked for advice for other college students who want to start their own company within the constraints of their dorm room. Our college CEO gave us one of the best answers, applicable to anything in life.
“Really, it a matter of just starting. We are always stuck in time analyzing all the possible outcomes. As students we love, and to an extent, are obsessed with planning everything all the time. If you want to start doing something, anything, just go out there and start. Get out of your comfort zone, jump to the other side, and go for it. This is the moment to do so”.
It was quite amazing and interesting to see someone of just 19 years who has his own company and is still managing his college responsibilities. A final word from his part was, “Remain humble. Humble and simple people go the longest and furthest. You don’t have to be a know-it-all to be successful in life”.
The start-up founder preferred to remain unrecognized during the entire interview to protect his company and personal privacy.