3 LESSONS I LEARNED FROM BUILDING MY FIRST BUSINESS AS A COLLEGE STUDENT

Introduction

Being a college student is difficult. Add on a big ambition that has nothing to do with your graduation requirements, and BAM, you suddenly have a whole lot of work on your plate. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into when I founded Stylistic, but here I am, just moving through it still, especially when things get hard. Here’s a quick run-through of three things I wish I knew.

Start Before You’re Ready

The biggest regret I have with Stylistic is not starting earlier. I knew what the idea was, but I kept pushing the timeline further and further because I doubted my own skills. I thought I needed to be a mastermind at iOS development to even THINK about building my own app. But, that was wrong. Having that mentality wasted a lot of time. I could’ve been so much further ahead right now if I just let myself jump right in.

That’s not to say that I didn’t do that at all. I’m still continuously learning throughout this process. Everything from coding, marketing, project management and more, there is so much that I don’t know yet, but that just makes me excited for the unknown.

Feedback is EVERYTHING

You can’t just build a product or a business without knowing who your customers are and what they want. Luckily, I caught onto this pretty early on, but it still took me a while to get there. As an introvert, I naturally don’t want to talk to people, but that hurts my business in the end. Compromises are necessary in every aspect of life, and this was one that I had to make for Stylistic.

I still remember this one day where I went up to over a hundred college students on my campus, told them to scan a QR code on my phone, and fill out the survey I had made. The beginning was so scary. I did NOT want to talk to anyone, but once I got the ball rolling, I latched on. It was such a high. Just talking to random people, getting to know their interests, and asking them for their feedback was so valuable.

It’s always the starting point that’s difficult. But once you get past that friction, you will not want to stop.

Time Management is Gold

You can’t do anything without allocating enough time to it. That’s the biggest mistake I made last semester. Sure, I worked on Stylistic here and there, but it was not enough. It can be easy to get lost in the day-to-day aspect of life, but you must keep your eye on the prize. If you don’t work for it, you won’t get it. Be bold in what you do, but be strategic about it.

Manage your time wisely because that’s the one resource you can’t get back.

Conclusion

Building a business is not easy, and it’s not for the weak. I have failed so many times, and I know I will fail even more, but by using my intuition to start things without fear of failure, using feedback to build and iterate, and managing my time, I hope that those failures will eventually turn into gold.

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