Most people know Seton Hall for its Education, Nursing, Diplo, Law and/or Business Programs. Lately I have encountered many students that are in Business and literally have no idea of what they entirely want to do, besides wanting to create their own business/company, or at least have an amazing idea for their own business, but don’t know how to get started. Personally, I am a Special Education and English major. So as you may expect I LOVE learning, and that isn’t even slight sarcasm. Since I’m someone who always wants to help others achieve their dreams in anyway I can, I try to be their teacher outside of the classroom. As any teacher would, either in a classroom or out, when they see a situation arising for multiple people struggling, I have this need to help them create and come up with plans for their future.
With that being said, when a handful of my business major friends struggling with how to start or what to exactly create for their business, I decided to write this with my own advice that I have learned about starting your own business from people I have encountered in different places. I have also reached out to some people that I know are fairly new to the business life but have been doing amazing to help some others and maybe give them the advice they are too afraid to ask for.
One of the first people I thought of was Walter Powell Jr, who is a former NFL wide receiver. He played professional football for four years; The Arizona Cardinals, Buffalo Bills, and New York Jets. He played college football at Murray State. He recently retired from the NFL when his passion for football shifted to something new. When I talked with him, he expressed that he wanted to bring something to the world that has not been thought of. He is now an app developer, and teamed up with his brother, Brandon Williams, to create the app Politiscope. Brandon Williams is also a former NFL player; San Francisco 49ers and St. Louis Rams. The Politiscope App, launching this winter, was created to bring politicians and their ideas to the fingertips of the people. This helps voters and soon to be voters learn about Politics accurately, which is truly something different than the rest of the apps out there. When I asked him what advice would he give to a future entrepreneur he said, “Network Network Network Network”. Which honestly is probably the best advice because a lot of entrepreneurs forget this simple task. He then also added, “If you don’t have something that truly sticks out as a product or tool networking will definitely help you build strategic relationships to help build your company”.
Another person I thought of was, Frank Beltre.
Frank Beltre is former NFL Defensive Lineman for San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders, and New York Jets. He is also the former Canadian Football League Defensive Lineman for Calgary Stampeders, and currently a Canadian Football League Defensive Lineman for Toronto Argonauts. Along with being a football player, he runs his own business on the side, DSGApparel. It is a workout clothing line with the slogan, “Sacrifice & Grind to Achieve your DREAM.” Some shirts say “Trust the process,” while others say “Grind and Pray.” Personally, I love the clothing line, and although I do not own any item yet, I truly have admired them. There is a women’s and men’s line. He started it all on his own. So I decided to ask him what his advice would be for others who wanted to start their own business. He said, “With my apparel company (DSGApparel) I just went for it. Sometimes that’s not the smartest idea but in my case I just believed in it. Even after I wasn’t getting any sales, I still didn’t give up on it. Instead I studied other companies upgraded my marketing strategy and it became a success. You have to be willing to take criticism; you aren’t always right just because it’s your company. I also made sure I was doing something different.” This is very good advice especially because it is the other side of Walter Powell Jr.’s advice. There is always more than one way to approach making your own business, it just depends on you and your preference.
Both of these companies are still on the uprise, but they both came from nothing. The big similarity with both companies is never giving up. No matter what happens no matter how many roadblocks that may have came their way they kept pushing, they kept at their goal, until they had what they wanted. Now that they both created what they wanted they are still grinding.