3 Reasons why Starting a Business as a Student is a Good Idea
Starting a business is hard, but that doesn’t have to stop students from becoming successful founders. In Ireland, there are a myriad of supports available to support student entrepreneurs, so keep reading to find out what they are!
1. Access To Funding
Students have access to funding opportunities that many other entrepreneurs do not, many schools and colleges host start-up competitions, similar to University of Galway’s Start100 event hosted by IdeasLab last summer. These competitions often take place in the form of pitch competitions, business model competitions or new venture competitions, where the winners receive cash prizes to pursue their business idea or receive mentoring support. This also provides students with networking opportunities and the chance to optimize your pitch and to prepare for when the time comes to pitch to investors.
Enterprise Ireland also have a Commercialisation Fund Feasibility award which is designed to provide researchers with the ability to validate the commercial opportunity for their technology. Researchers can access a grant of €15,000 to procure an independent industry expert consultant to conduct a market opportunity assessment and explore potential routes to commercialisation for their technology.
2. Access to Business Incubation Centres
Most campus’ have a business incubation centre where students can go to fuel their creativity, ideas and innovation while getting real business support. Spin-out companies supported by Enterprise Ireland also have the opportunity to locate in campus incubators and will receive dedicated support and advice on access to venture capital, targeting and servicing new customers and markets.
Below we have listed some of the Campus Business incubation Centres based in the West & Northwest of Ireland:
- ATU Donegal — CoLab
- ATU Galway — iHUB
- ATU Mayo — iHUB
- ATU Sligo — The Innovation Centre
- TUS Athlone — Midlands Innovation and Research Centre
- TUS Limerick — Hartnett Enterprise Centre
- University of Galway — IdeasLab
- University of Limerick — Nexus Innovation Centre
3. Access to resources and networks
Students have a wide range of resources available to them, including funding, professional networking opportunities and classroom learnings. Universities often have state-of-the-art facilities, such as fast internet connections, free consulting from professors who often love getting involved in student run startups, meeting rooms, and many other resources which are otherwise very expensive. Students need to take advantage of the fantastic resources right on their doorsteps.
The university ecosystem is routing for student entrepreneurs, so make sure to leverage your network! It’s easier to reach out to businesses and industry leaders as a student, most of them remember being a student and will be willing to give back as an alumni. Make use of the community around you. Additionally, to validate your product, you need to talk to potential customers, by utilising the wider university network, you can validate your product across a variety of target markets.
Maybe you’ll get it right the first time, maybe you’ll pivot, or maybe you’ll start something new. The sooner you can test your ideas, the better. Even if your first start-up venture doesn’t take off as expected, a massive learning curve for future endeavours (and it’s a bonus point on your CV!). Starting a business shows proactivity, creativity, and ambition, these are valuable traits and transferable skills across any industry. Startup experience can put students on the fast track to leadership and intrapreneurial opportunities. Just remember, as Richard Branson said “Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them, and try again.”
Listen to the Entrepreneurial Story: Byowave Podcast to hear Brandon Blacoe and Eibhlin O’Riordan speak about starting a business while studying in University.
