Why YOU as a student should innovate during COVID-19
To all current students: now is the best time for you to become an entrepreneur. Now is the time to pool your skills and resources, identify the problems you or those around you are facing, and create opportunities to give back, heal, and learn about yourself along the way.
And here’s why…
It Starts with a Question
What have you learned over the past year? Maybe you picked up a new hobby during quarantine, spent much-needed quality time with your family, yawned your way through online classes, and binged one too many Netflix series just to escape the stress 2020 brought us. During times like these, it’s hard to take a break from sympathizing with the tragedies of the world and instead consider what you yourself could do to help address them. Yet, just like countless entrepreneurs this past year, reflecting and taking action is a step in the right direction.
Responses to the spread of COVID-19 have spurred immense economic and social issues that, as of the new year, have left our country mourning, bruised, and divided. Government lockdowns due to the pandemic forced tens of thousands of businesses to close in the United States. For many business owners, these prolonged temporary closures were simply unsustainable, and an estimated 100,000 have gone completely out of business as of September 2020. Atop these closures, many colleges were forced to postpone upcoming semesters or move classes to a virtual setting. Sports and in-person club meetings were canceled and young people were isolated from one another in an attempt to keep themselves and their communities safe.
However, these challenges have also been met with compassion and strength by essential workers, community members, and entrepreneurs alike. Entrepreneurship is rising in the U.S. at the highest rate since 2007 and the pandemic was fuel to the fire. For some, starting a business was an economic choice they had to make due to financial instability. For others, especially young students, the free time they gained from the pandemic opened them up to the prospect of entrepreneurship. Such imminent, large scale problems have sparked creativity in significant ways. Innovation, now more than ever, is necessary for us to adapt and overcome such drastic changes to our livelihood.
Americans above all else are resilient, and the hardships we have faced will not hold us down. How quickly we bounce back from 2020 is up to us…
Hardship drives innovation
Tough times call for tough people who can persevere through and come out stronger in the end. Venmo, WhatsApp, and Uber are all companies that were founded during the 2008 financial crisis. Even right now, pandemic startups are flourishing and making the most out of very uncertain times.
Stressors right now are far-reaching. As Forbes puts it, “The impacts go well beyond health — to unemployment, food insecurity, economic disparities, inadequate education systems, and more. We stand at the nexus of multiple, colliding crises.” The multitude of new pain points that were either created or exacerbated by the pandemic must be addressed.
Starting a business at the “right time” will not make or break your success as long as the business you are starting aims to solve the problems that affect the world in the here and now. A crisis like we are experiencing now calls for entrepreneurs to get scrappy and provide immediate solutions.
The Sky’s the Limit
People witnessing the day-to-day hardships in their households and communities are also discovering newfound opportunities to create solutions in the form of products and businesses out of pure altruism. With college campuses remaining idle and desolate, students are encouraged now more than ever to take action and act on their ideas. The fact is that school is still in session and colleges are encouraging students to stay involved with campus life, despite online.
While in-person meetups and events are indefinitely placed on hold, the sky has become the limit for the virtual accessibility of resources. The transition to virtual learning has eliminated the distance barriers and commute times in meeting with a group of people, visiting a professor’s office, or attending a pizza-filled information session. Now from the comfort of our computer screens, we are able to network with others, schedule meetings, and access recorded educational content at our own leisure. And innovation has been able to engage and excite students during an otherwise lackluster semester.
At Northeastern University, the Entrepreneurs Club has been built to thrive virtually. If you are curious about how to get involved with the Northeastern entrepreneurial community, learn more about what we are offering this semester.
Don’t Wait, Do.
Don’t wait. Be proactive. Think through the ways you have been affected this past year and start turning problems into opportunities for change. It is no longer the case where years of expertise and large investments are necessary to make a difference. Whether your actions take the form of a startup to help house families who were displaced from financial downturns, an educational resource to teach others useful skills that you picked up in a class, or a Depop account to recycle old clothing and reduce production waste, we all have the ability to take risks and create value.
In the face of hardships, rise to the occasion as so many Americans have done. Inspire yourself and others to do more and be proactive in your life and your future. Become an entrepreneur in your own right.
