by Adhvith Dhuddu, Collegiate Times Regular Columnist
Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007
Being your own boss is a great feeling. Entrepreneurs thrive on the freedom, and many times that freedom is the stimulus to go solo.
Although owning your own business and choosing the entrepreneurial path early is a great responsibility, the perks involved are irreplaceable. You not only decide when and how you work but you also get to choose whom you work with and how much you get paid.
Despite being a tech-heavy institute, our reputed business school churns out top-quality financial analysts, accountants and economists. Many students from the Pamplin College of Business, as well as the engineering school, will go on to become entrepreneurs.
Like investing, exploring entrepreneurship early is always advantageous. And for all of us in Blacksburg, the job is made easier by the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center (VTCRC). This exceptional resource is truly an entrepreneur's dream and a one-stop-shop for all your start-up needs.
The VTCRC helps individuals with technology, service and product ideas to solidify their fragile concepts and calibrate them to suit business needs. Many times ideas look good on paper, but to transform a product or service into a business that is financially sound and organizationally well-structured with good growth creation techniques, an expert's touch is often needed.
The VTCRC also assists in essential aspects like financial planning and helps locate potential venture capitalists who might want to invest in your business. Various legal issues, like favorable ways to incorporate a business for your product or technology, local and international patent issues and partnering with international corporations are also addressed by the VTCRC.
It's widely known that close to 80 percent of all business start-ups fail within the first five years. The primary reason for this is lack of consistent cash flow from revenues. Cash flow, or revenue stream, is the most important aspect of a business (at least in the initial phase) and the number one reason start-ups fail.
A common misconception is that you need to be extremely smart and ambitious to start your own business. It does not require financial or business acumen to become an entrepreneur.
The first and only step is to identify a hole in the system and see how that can be filled. Think of all the successful businesses around you. Those businesses are successful because the founders identified some sort of vacuum and provided a product or service to fill that space. Ordinary people can do extraordinary things just by using common sense.
Once you identify that gap or opportunity, it is of paramount importance to put your ideas on paper. This helps you keep a record and helps you realize that just thinking of an idea does not solve the problem; many intricate issues must be handled. It's a fun process, and you will learn a lot along the way.
Looking to outside sources is also a great way to prepare yourself for the trials and issues of starting your own company. Some great books that every budding entrepreneur should read before starting a business are, "Harvard Business Review on Entrepreneurship," Robert Kiyosaki's series, "The Magic of Thinking Big" and "The High Performance Entrepreneur."
If you think you posses an ingenious idea, don't be afraid to put it into practice! The best ideas can never be stolen, and if you are waiting for the perfect time to start your venture, it might never come. So, think big, start small and act now.
Online link to this article:
http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/2007/10/02/money_whizdom__changing_from_engineer_to_entrepreneur
Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007
Being your own boss is a great feeling. Entrepreneurs thrive on the freedom, and many times that freedom is the stimulus to go solo.
Although owning your own business and choosing the entrepreneurial path early is a great responsibility, the perks involved are irreplaceable. You not only decide when and how you work but you also get to choose whom you work with and how much you get paid.
Despite being a tech-heavy institute, our reputed business school churns out top-quality financial analysts, accountants and economists. Many students from the Pamplin College of Business, as well as the engineering school, will go on to become entrepreneurs.
Like investing, exploring entrepreneurship early is always advantageous. And for all of us in Blacksburg, the job is made easier by the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center (VTCRC). This exceptional resource is truly an entrepreneur's dream and a one-stop-shop for all your start-up needs.
The VTCRC helps individuals with technology, service and product ideas to solidify their fragile concepts and calibrate them to suit business needs. Many times ideas look good on paper, but to transform a product or service into a business that is financially sound and organizationally well-structured with good growth creation techniques, an expert's touch is often needed.
The VTCRC also assists in essential aspects like financial planning and helps locate potential venture capitalists who might want to invest in your business. Various legal issues, like favorable ways to incorporate a business for your product or technology, local and international patent issues and partnering with international corporations are also addressed by the VTCRC.
It's widely known that close to 80 percent of all business start-ups fail within the first five years. The primary reason for this is lack of consistent cash flow from revenues. Cash flow, or revenue stream, is the most important aspect of a business (at least in the initial phase) and the number one reason start-ups fail.
A common misconception is that you need to be extremely smart and ambitious to start your own business. It does not require financial or business acumen to become an entrepreneur.
The first and only step is to identify a hole in the system and see how that can be filled. Think of all the successful businesses around you. Those businesses are successful because the founders identified some sort of vacuum and provided a product or service to fill that space. Ordinary people can do extraordinary things just by using common sense.
Once you identify that gap or opportunity, it is of paramount importance to put your ideas on paper. This helps you keep a record and helps you realize that just thinking of an idea does not solve the problem; many intricate issues must be handled. It's a fun process, and you will learn a lot along the way.
Looking to outside sources is also a great way to prepare yourself for the trials and issues of starting your own company. Some great books that every budding entrepreneur should read before starting a business are, "Harvard Business Review on Entrepreneurship," Robert Kiyosaki's series, "The Magic of Thinking Big" and "The High Performance Entrepreneur."
If you think you posses an ingenious idea, don't be afraid to put it into practice! The best ideas can never be stolen, and if you are waiting for the perfect time to start your venture, it might never come. So, think big, start small and act now.
Online link to this article:
http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/2007/10/02/money_whizdom__changing_from_engineer_to_entrepreneur
1 comment:
Interesting post. I want to run my own business and become an entrepreneur someday, so this is very useful. I'm mostly interested in buying a business instead of starting one from scratch, but I haven't had much luck looking for one. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks.
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