One thing that many entrepreneurs find themselves thinking, somewhere down the line, is “I wish I’d started on this business years ago.”
One of the axiomatic truths of entrepreneurship is that there are no real “shortcuts” to speak of. In order to make a business successful, you need to invest plenty of time, energy, and work into it.
An implication of this is that the sooner you can get started on a business, and begin the process of trial, error, and learning, the better.
Many students are not necessarily sure what they want to do with their lives. They have a vague sense that they want to be successful, and achieve great things, but they’re not exactly certain how to set about it
Well, why not start by working on your own entrepreneurial toolkit while still a student?
Here are some tips on how to do that.
Begin honing your ability to do some “deep work”
“Deep work” is a term that has been coined and popularised by the academic and author Cal Newport, in his book titled – fittingly enough – Deep Work.
Newport’s basic observation in Deep Work is that the constant flow of distractions present in modern life – as well as in the modern working world, through technologies that permanently connect us to our email inboxes, work messages, and so on – fundamentally inhibits our ability to do effective and productive work.
Rather, these distractions prime our minds to be impatient, restless, and to jump from one topic to another at a rapid pace.
The problem? This makes us all liable to be superseded by increasingly advanced machines and computer technologies.
“Deep work” is a skill you develop by working for long periods of time, without any distractions. That means not even checking your social media accounts for a few seconds, or doing anything other than sitting down and working.
The payoff for developing this skill is that you will be able to engage far more effectively with your work than the average person. This will give you a massive competitive advantage.
Get started with a “home-based”, low-entry-investment business scheme, as early as possible
In the world of the entrepreneur, there is no substitute for experience. Many of the most successful self-made businessmen and women had to go through plenty of trial and error, before finding success. Even Richard Branson has more than a dozen failed businesses to his name.
As a student, one of the best ways to begin honing your entrepreneurial skills is to start your own business.
Of course, you should focus on business ventures that have a fairly “low-entry-investment” threshold.
In other words, focus on things like web start-ups, that don’t need a bunch of venture capital to get off the ground, and that can rely on tools like the perfect presentation software for students.
Work on integrating productive systems into your life, while still studying
Famous cartoonist and polemicist Scott Adams has commented on the importance of “systems” for success in any endeavour in life.
By systems, Adams is essentially referring to the daily habits and routines that we engage in that increase our likelihood of achieving success.
As a student, there are few things you can do that will set you up for future entrepreneurial success more than integrating productive systems into your life while still studying.
These could be things such as waking up early or spending a certain amount of time each day on a professional venture.
In any case, this will not only help your future entrepreneurial prospects but also do a lot of good for your studies, too.