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The Insider’s Guide to Student Entrepreneurship

Published on August 31, 2022

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The Insider’s Guide to Student Entrepreneurship

The idea of entrepreneurship among students has been increasingly common nowadays. Whether it’s for honing their future skills or financial security, one thing’s for sure: learning the fundamentals of entrepreneurship as early as now will help enhance their critical and analytical, time management, communication, leadership, negotiation, and collaboration skills. 

Studies show that some employers still think students aren’t prepared for a job, no matter how well they do in school. Companies demand critical thinking, emotional intelligence, problem-solving, and cultural agility—attributes that are impossible to teach in a classroom. 

However, among these benefits, student entrepreneurship also comes with disadvantages. Students will juggle academics and managing a business, which could lead to a decline in the quality of their work. 

So to help you get a better understanding of this approach, here’s an insider’s guide to student entrepreneurship.

Why Is Learning Entrepreneurship Important for Students

Students aspire to run their businesses mainly because of the autonomy and financial security that comes with it. They may launch a startup that can lead to a career that generates income and can help pay for their expenses. 

At the same time, some students seek the vocational flexibility it offers, hoping to fortify their skills for the future. The need for startups is increasing in the community, and learning entrepreneurship for students will help them innovate, lead, collaborate, and persevere. It will also improve their pricing strategies, employee management, and negotiation

Lastly, learning student entrepreneurship paves the way for them to pursue their passion. Many students already see themselves as managing their own business in the future, but they don’t have the avenue to explore their skills in the traditional classroom. With student entrepreneurship, they will be able to take on the path more excitingly and refreshingly. 

Still, even if you don’t intend to pursue a career in business, student entrepreneurship will help you develop the skills you need for your chosen career

Advantages

We should consider that the advantages of entrepreneurial studies benefit anyone from any background. Here are some of them:

Collaboration

Since entrepreneurial students frequently collaborate in groups, they share responsibility and develop active listening skills. They also often have the chance to prepare and deliver intelligent presentations. As a result, they learn how to effectively communicate in all facets of life and across all professions.

Entrepreneurship is crucial for students as they prepare for life and the workforce. And students in entrepreneurship programs acquire respect, empathy, camaraderie, and trust as they refine their communication skills and work together, preparing them for leadership as they enter adulthood.

Adaptive to New Technologies

The young entrepreneurs of the future must be able to easily traverse a technological culture, given how quickly our environment is changing. Students should enroll in STEM classes that teach them how to create prototypes, write code, and design user interfaces. Since entrepreneurs frequently imagine goods or services that do not yet exist, acquiring these technologically sophisticated skills in high school might provide them a considerable advantage over their counterparts in the workforce.

Persistence

Students should take entrepreneurship courses for various reasons, perhaps most importantly because they help students cultivate grit. This quality is necessary for everyone to thrive in life.

Persistence, enthusiasm, and resilience make up grit. It’s the drive to accomplish long-term objectives, the confidence to try again in the face of failure, and the determination to improve.

Successful business people know how challenging life can be, but they also realize that careful planning, taking calculated risks, and working hard can result in discoveries that change a company’s course. Problems might derail some people but can also give others a sense of resolve.

Disadvantages

Starting a business while trying to keep up with academics can be difficult. Each of these circumstances is hard on its own. When combined, the pressure can be tremendous.

Additionally, they might not be able to function at their peak levels on the job or in the classroom. The quality of their job may suffer as a result of juggling so much. If so, that could hurt their business and college reputation, possibly failing on one or both fronts.

Sometimes juggling academics and entrepreneurship leaves little, if any, time for anything else. Students may stop participating in extracurricular activities, clubs, or other forms of social interaction.

However, this is surpassable if approached in the right way. 

4 Ways To Be A Successful Student Entrepreneur

Let The Idea Flow Naturally

It shouldn’t be a student’s ambition to start their own business that drives them in that direction. Forcing an innovation or an idea rarely produces good outcomes.

Instead, stumbling onto a typical issue and coming up with a workable solution is frequently the route to growing their business. It is known as having a “light bulb” moment. As a result, students shouldn’t pursue entrepreneurship for its purpose because it’s frequently preferable to wait for inspiration to come to them.

Don’t Overlook The Pre-Requisites

The idea of launching a business can be exhilarating that students may overlook certain essential things that come with it. To avoid this, your students must have a written plan to understand their goals, how their product or service fits into the market, and what it will take to launch it.

A straightforward company plan is typically an excellent place to start. It aids them in evaluating the viability of their business and provides a mechanism for them to arrange their thoughts. The latter might be a crucial stage because it enables them to determine whether the goods or service could be profitable before expending excessive amounts of time, effort, or money.

Moreover, it is also vital to arrange licenses and permits beforehand. It ensures that their business follows all the guidelines correctly to avoid shutdowns in the future.

Prepare for Taxes

Taxes are another area of paperwork that students must manage. Many times, companies need their tax ID. At the federal level, they require an EIN. Students should check with their local small business office for details on state taxes because the regulations may change.

Embrace Learning Opportunities

Entrepreneurship among students is educational. In an ideal world, students would explore subjects that could help their businesses, welcome criticism from diverse sources, and use trial and error to determine the best courses of action. If a mistake occurs, learning from it could also be advantageous because it might help them decide which way to go the next time or prevent making the same mistake.

In the end, being entrepreneurial typically requires having a learning attitude. Your learner will get the most from the project in this manner.

Conclusion

Being an entrepreneur is one thing. But being a student and an entrepreneur is another. It usually takes long hours and plenty of rejections (both academically and professionally) before getting that success you have been aiming for for the longest time. But learning student entrepreneurship can walk you through every aspect and may help you develop every skill you need—from critical thinking and analytical skills to collaboration and negotiation. All it takes is to do it in the right approach, and everything else will follow.

But remember, you are still a student. It is still essential to take a break and approach everything in a slow-and-steady phase to maintain balance in your academics and professional life.

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blog Entrepreneurship | 3min Read

Entrepreneur Skills – The Three-Time World Cup Winner Turned Entrepreneur – Ricky Ponting

Published on June 29, 2022

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Entrepreneur Skills – The Three-Time World Cup Winner Turned Entrepreneur – Ricky Ponting

The Three-Time World Cup Winner Turned Entrepreneur – Ricky Ponting

“I think sports and businesses have a lot of parallels and I think I have a good grasp of what makes businesses successful”, says Ricky Ponting – the three-time world cup winner. The former captain of the Australian Cricket Team, who is regarded as one of the best captains to ever play the sport, has now turned his eyes toward the field of entrepreneurship. 

Apart from being the head coach of successful IPL teams like the Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians, the former skipper boasts a 500+ crore net worth! The ‘Punter’ also has several multi-million real estate investments to his name and has even made it to the board of a reputed sports recruitment company – NSR Australia. He believes he is ready to take on new challenges outside of sports and make his mark in the world of business and entrepreneurship.

The Former Athlete Turned Businessman Trend:

It is not unheard of for pro-athletes to turn out to be great business owners or entrepreneurs because the very qualities that make a successful sportsperson also form the foundation of a great business leader. Athletes that compete at a very high level adapt to performing under a lot of pressure and in extremely competitive environments. Michael Jordan, the star basketballer is the owner of the Charlotte Bobcats basketball team and is the face of Nike’s Air Jordans; Venus Williams, the former world number 1 in tennis, owns her own fashion line and co-owns the Miami Dolphins football team. 

Numerous Indian athletes have also set foot into the world of business! The Haryana Hurricane – Kapil Dev –  boasts a 5% stake in Zicom Electronics along with a luxury hotel in Chandigarh. India’s very own captain cool – MS Dhoni – co-owns the ISL Champion team, Chennaiyin FC, along with his lifestyle brand, Seven. The Indian Captain and run machine – Virat Kohli – also has a long list of successful businesses and brands built by him including Wrogn, One8, FC Goa, etc.

Why Do Pro-Athletes make Great Entrepreneurs?

Ponting, a legend of the sport, has always had a knack for business and believes that the work ethic and the hard work that comes naturally to top athletes like him will bring him success in building businesses. Ricky has made the headlines again recently after he made his first major move since 2012 when he retired from Test Cricket by launching Ponting Wines – a manufacturer of a premium range of fine wines.

So what is it that makes these athletes successful in the field of business?

  1. Discipline: Training diligently for 5-8 hours a day and following a fixed regime for years requires superhuman will and mental strength. The training required to remain a top athlete makes a person more confident and prepared to take any challenge head-on!
  2. Teamwork: Leaders are made by the team behind them which is why building/working with the right team is a necessity if one strives for business success. All team sports require every single member to function as one single unit which is a practice that carries on to building a skilled and reliable workforce as well.
  3. Learning from Failure: This has to be one of the most critical qualities an entrepreneur must possess as failure molds people into success stories. In any sport, defeat is inevitable and top athletes are well versed in dealing with situations where one is faced with a roadblock. Therefore, they learn from it and come back as a better and more experienced individual.

Conclusion

Every year we hear stories about renowned athletes breaking into the world of business by engaging in roles both inside and outside the sports industry. The sports industry which is valued at $350+ billion dollars is flourishing and has created multiple roles and opportunities across areas – marketing, media, management, etc. Are you a sports enthusiast? Do you want to explore the business aspect of this multi-faceted industry? If yes, then apply for The Big Red Group’s – Business of Sports 101 and combine your passion for sports with business!

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11 Successful Teenage Entrepreneurs in India

Published on May 26, 2022

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11 Successful Teenage Entrepreneurs in India

An entrepreneur is someone who forges ahead even when there is only a small chance of success! They find thrill and satisfaction in succeeding against the odds and do not let the voices of nay-sayers drown out their own inner voice. By having the courage to follow their dreams and intuition, entrepreneurs chart the course of their magical journey.   

Passion and opportunity guide the entrepreneurial journey. Young entrepreneurs exemplify this the best. They’ve proven that it is more important to do your best rather than being the best – success then will be consequential! It is their journey that now inspires others to create a success story of their own! Here are eleven successful entrepreneurs from India who started their journey as teenagers and succeeded because they had a vision, the drive and a strong belief in themselves!  

1. Ritesh Agarwal

Passionate about travelling, 17-year-old Ritesh realised the need for affordable hotels that offered good services. His unique drive for identifying, understanding and solving the problem helped him create a huge empire that was built on the concept of fulfilling the requirements of the travellers – affordable rooms with standard facilities. His venture, OYO (On Your Own) is valued at more than $10 billion and Ritesh’s net worth is more than $1 billion, which makes him the world’s second-youngest self-made billionaire.  

2. Advait Thakur

Advait is a young tech entrepreneur who is changing the world. He founded his own tech company Apex Infosys when he was 12 years old. The company is now a global technology and innovation company that specialises in IoT- related services and products, AI and Health Tech sectors. Advait is also the youngest Google, Bing and Hubspot Certified Professional.  

3. Vinusha MK

A simple cake baking task to surprise her mother on her birthday led Vinusha to start an enterprise of her own – Four Seasons Pastry. She was 9 years old at that time. 

Vinusha bakes and sells cupcakes inspired by the four seasons. She is scaling up her business and has already launched a baking kit that comes complete with ingredients and recipes, homemade chocolates, sandwiches and more. Needless to say, every order here is baked with passion.    

4. Tilak Mehta

Inspiration for a startup can come from anywhere. Nothing illustrates this better than Tilak Mehta and his success story Paper N Parcels. The story goes something like this – 13 year old Tilak needed some books urgently from the other part of Mumbai city. But despite waiting all day for his father to return from work so he could go and get them, young Tilak was left disappointed – his father was just too tired. Instead of sulking or throwing a tantrum, Tilak struck gold from the situation. He conceptualised a startup that could deliver small parcels within the city on the same day. His venture, Paper N Parcels immediately found traction and took off. It now employs over 200 workers and 300 dabbawallas and handles over 1200 deliveries in a day. Tilak is among the youngest Forbes panelists, a TEDx speaker and a Youngest Entrepreneur awardee in Logistics Sector.  

5. Sreelakshmi Suresh

Sreelakshmi began using computers at the age of 3, started designing at 4, designed her first website at the age of 6 and owned a startup at 11! Life has certainly been on the fast lane for her! She has often been regarded as one of the Youngest CEOs and Youngest Web Designers. Apart from her startup eDesign, Sreelakshmi also owns another company TinyLogo.

6. Akhilendra Sahu

‘World’s Youngest Serial Entrepreneur’. Not a bad title to have, right?  Akhilendra started at the age of 16 by doing freelancing work to gain experience. By sheer hard work and persistence, he achieved great success. He owns and runs ASTNT Technologies, ASTNT Hosting, ASTNT Media, Technical Next, ASTNT Newswire, StartUp199, and a slew of other companies. He is also the co-founder of Scoop Beats Private Limited. 

7. Rohit Kashyap

As a young boy from a small town in Bihar, Rohit did not have access to a lot of resources. Yet, he was winning Olympiads! He also ranked in the top 1000 in the ICAI Commerce Wizard. Not one to hog the limelight all by himself, Rohit offered to tutor others to achieve success. But the response he received overwhelmed him. This gave him the idea to start a school that will help young achievers and thus, at the young age of 14, he founded Maytree School of Entrepreneurship.

8. Deepak Ravindran

Deepak started his entrepreneurial journey when he was 17. Swades Solutions and just4sale.com were his early forays into the world of entrepreneurship. But it was his venture Innoz Technologies Pvt. Ltd. that really put him in the big league. The idea was inspired by a vegetable purchase interaction between his mother and a vendor. His innovation helped people who had no internet access data without having to go online. 

Through determination and hard work, Innoz today counts some of the biggest names like Airtel, Vodafone, Aircel, Idea, Wikipedia, Vuclip, Rotten Tomatoes, Zomato, Snapdeal, Bing, Worldweatheronline, etc., as clients. 

9. Farrhad Acidwalla

Farrhad’s entrepreneurial calibre was evident from the age of 13 when he created an online community about aero-modelling and aviation. When he was 17 he was interviewed by CNN and it was soon after that he started his successful venture Rockstah Media. Rockstah Media is a one-stop style destination for web development, marketing and beyond.

10. Nithin Kamath

Nithin Kamath began trading stocks when he was just 17. His passion led him to establish Zerodha in 2007. Zerodha has over 7 million users and Nithin Kamath’s net assets have swelled to $1.9 billion, making him the third-biggest stockbroker in the country, just after ICICI and HDFC.

11. Appalla Saikiran

A prosperous professional career before even crossing the teenage years – just what Appalla achieved with his pathbreaking idea and the right mentorship. Appalla, an Ivy Early Entrepreneur, founded SCOPE at the age of 17. The idea was inspired from his own struggle to find the right mentors, investors and connect with other entrepreneurs in his early days of entrepreneurship. SCOPE is a new-age holistic platform that brings together aspiring entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, investors and industry experts. Awards and accolades have followed Appalla since – Global Kids Achievers Award, a spot at the Junior CEO program certified by Brown University and an invitation by Google to visit their office, a few among the many.  

Conclusion

Age is just a number. Our young entrepreneurs have proven that and how! By thinking out of the box and by having the zest to fulfil their dream, they have launched themselves into the great 

heights already – and that’s not the best part – the best part is that they have just started out on their journey! 

The inspiring stories serve as a great motivator. With vision, determination and the right guidance, achieving success is just a matter of when and not how. Organisations like The Big Red group provide Ivy league counselling as well as several entrepreneur workshops in India like the Ivy Early Entrepreneur program which helps students in taking the first step towards their successful entrepreneurial journey and keeps them ahead of the rest of the crowd.

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The 16-Year-Old CEO of SCOPE – A Successful Teenager

Published on May 20, 2022

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The 16-Year-Old CEO of SCOPE – A Successful Teenager

“It’s wrong to ask for help in entrepreneurial circles. It feels undermining. But it shouldn’t.” 

At just 16 years old, Ivy Early Entrepreneur Appalla Saikaran was familiar with the difficulties of networking with mentors, investors, and other entrepreneurs. He knew intimately how nerve-wracking it could be to ask questions and find like-minded people willing to collaborate and invest in nascent ventures. To tackle this challenge, young Appalla decided to build his own application – SCOPE.

SCOPE is a dynamic and personalized network that connects entrepreneurs with like-minded people, content and opportunities. It aims to build a collaborative community where users can share their experiences, learn from each other and ultimately be successful. 

Appalla was motivated to build this platform because he realized that there are people out there willing to mentor young founders like himself. “But,” Appalla believes, “youngsters like myself should be willing to ask for help. It is never wrong to ask for help; but it is wrong to know that you need help and still not seek it. That was the main reason why I decided to create SCOPE.”

 


WATCH: Appalla talks about his journey

Since founding SCOPE, Appalla has received immense global attention, winning the monumental Global Kids Achievers Award, a spot at the Junior CEO program certified by Brown University and an invitation by Google to visit their office! 

But how did he get here?

Appalla is a student from Hyderabad. He finished his high school education at Birla School Pilani, and then moved on to Manipal University, Jaipur to earn his undergraduate degree in Data Science. In the winter of 2021, he participated in the Ivy Early Entrepreneur Program where he was afforded the rare opportunity to work on his fledgling startup under the guidance of real-life successful entrepreneurs including Forbes 30 Under 30 awardees Arun Saigal and Kristin Kagetsu, and BusinessWorld 40 Under 40 awardee Aman Gupta. Here, Apalla learned the ins and outs of essential entrepreneurial concepts like market research, competition analysis, design thinking and fundraising over a 7-day period, culminating in a start-up plan that included a mobile app prototype!

SCOPE’s mobile app prototype

Appalla believes, “If you want something you’ve never had, you need to do things you’ve never done.” 

He credits his success to many people and networks in his life, including the Ivy Early Entrepreneur program which he commends for offering him the opportunity to ask questions, receive feedback, and for platforming the startup ideas of young entrepreneurs like himself. By constantly hustling and staying determined to reach his goals, Apalla succeeded in taking his ideas and plans forward, and became the founder and CEO of his own start-up with SCOPE. The pilot version of his mobile app was downloaded by 5000+ people, and every day, the app is found and downloaded by more and more people — a commendable feat for anyone, but especially for a budding, teenage entrepreneur!

Have an idea and don’t know where to start? Join The Big Red Group’s Ivy Early Entrepreneur program to become a successful teenager.

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9 Tips From An Entrepreneurial Workshop for a Successful Start-Up

Published on October 7, 2021

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9 Tips From An Entrepreneurial Workshop for a Successful Start-Up

Entrepreneurial workshops have one thing in common – they are run by a set of successful  entrepreneurs. During the program, each of them has experiences to share, failures they encountered,  and how they made a start-up possible. They teach students of this century, how to actually mitigate  risks and elevate them to success.

Ideas are easy, implementation is hard.

An entrepreneur is someone who has a vision for something and a ‘want’ to create it. The best start-ups generally come from someone who dares to convert a perceived risk into an asset. But there is a reason why some start-ups take off while others crash and burn. Just passion and a clever idea are not enough to build yourself a great story. Diligence, hard work, efficiency, and resources all play a significant part in turning an idea into an epic success story that inspires others. And then there’s that secret ingredient.

It is not about ideas. It is about making ideas happen.

Entrepreneurs should have the gift of seeing things in the present, even if they are in the future. To start a
successful start-up three simple things are needed – An idea, people who want your idea, and a burning desire to succeed.

Here are 9 tips from an Entrepreneur Workshop that will help you in your entrepreneurial journey:

1. Time Management

Managing time efficiently is the hallmark of a successful venture. Judicious allocation of time and  resources implies a well-thought-out plan and a smooth-oiled work culture. Prioritizing time, resources,  and personnel based on the tasks at hand will also ensure that important tasks will get done.  Remember, time is money! 

2. The Right Work, By The Right Person

Working on the right thing, by the right person is probably the only thing more important than working  hard. Trust your instincts and do not hesitate to delegate when the situation calls for it. Do not be afraid to  assert yourself. Have confidence in your abilities. Every time you state what you want, it is a message to  both you and the others about what you think is possible. In the end, nothing should deter you or your  team from giving the best. Each member of the team should work to understand exactly where their  strengths are and work together to ensure that every task gets completed by the person with the best  expertise.

3. Grow Intelligently

All that goes up must come down – but the time you spend staying up is always in your hands. Even  if you do not have the perfect idea to begin with, you can likely adapt. Invent and reinvent. Constantly. 

Grow intelligently and not just rapidly. Setting high expectations, especially of oneself, and living up to them is the key to success. Plan your growth, chart out your goals, and work towards achieving them.

4. Meet, Network, Share

 

 

The start-up community is a close knit group. Seek out fellow entrepreneurs and talk to them about the challenges and thrills you are facing on your entrepreneurial journey. Networking events and social media is a great platform to meet entrepreneurs and learn about their experiences. Networking also provides an opportunity to form valuable partnerships or collaborations. And an Entrepreneur Workshop like Ivy Early Entrepreneur is the best place to grow your network and find mentors.

5. Mentorship

A little help, timely advice and encouragement goes a long way in helping you do better. A good mentor  is a critical asset. Mentors share knowledge, valuable contacts and invaluable nuggets from their oodles  of experience that helps you hack through the thickets of start-up struggle. A mentor is your guardian  angel. Every start-up team and every seasoned entrepreneur needs one good mentor. 

6. Health Is Wealth

The importance of health cannot be overstated. With the obvious workload of running a fledgling start-up  comes the added burden of hopes, aspirations and expectations of many. All this can create a very  stressful environment that has the potential to impact your health adversely. But remember, your health  is what is keeping everything afloat. Take care of your health and everything else will take care of itself.  Eat healthily, take time-offs, exercise regularly, and meditate.

7. Look After Your Finances

While it is important to chase the vision and not the money, managing your finances is of paramount  importance. With increased revenue generation comes many temptations – increase the office space, hire  more resources, buy new machinery etc. But decide on the wants with a very level-headed why. Ensure that  your earnings can absorb the cost of growth. 

8. Execute, Execute, Execute

 

Preparation is important, but the execution is even more important. What sets apart a successful venture is the ability to execute an idea rather than just pitch the idea alone. Execution of an idea tests the concept and helps to critically analyze the plan. Execution also serves as a reality check and helps you to fine-tune your initial idea and incorporate improvements into the model. The best execution geared with the perfect timing results in a successful business.

9. The Secret Ingredient...

The value of an idea lies in the use of it. There are plenty of resources and technological support to help  budding entrepreneurs bring their idea to life. Start-up accelerators, specialized courses, mentorship  programs, and workshops help you to run before you even learn to walk.  

Entrepreneurial Workshops’ curriculum will help you develop an understanding of the major functional  areas of a business. They will also train you in managerial decision-making in a business simulation and  teach you important lessons on success and failure from an integrated case study. 

The Big Red Group and our Ivy Early Entrepreneur Program

In our entrepreneurial workshop – Ivy Early Entrepreneur, students go through the process of business development and leave the entrepreneur program having completed a business model canvas, competitive analysis, financial model, minimum viable product, and a pitch deck.

Students get an opportunity to learn from successful entrepreneurs who are alumni of reputed universities and are experts in their respective industries.

These experts serve as coaches guiding students through the processes of developing a business concept. Risk-Taking, Decision Making, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Communication &

Storytelling, Design Thinking & Innovation, and Opportunity Recognition are a few of the key learning areas of our program.

On successfully completing the entrepreneur workshop, the guaranteed internship will be extended to all the students within our partner firms and with most of the mentors teaching the program. Students will be provided with a certificate of participation by The Big Red Group. This certificate can be used for your college portfolio.

Ivy Early Entrepreneur

11th – 17th Jan 2022

Idea Generation | Market Research | Design Thinking | Pitching

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