You can be a successful entrepreneur. You’ve just graduated and are ready to put all of that knowledge and energy to use. Admittedly, a great deal of your practical knowledge was picked up outside the classroom – like the time you broke into the Dean’s office with.. how long ago was that? Nevermind, the statute of limitations hasn’t passed.
Anyway, you have an idea that will blow up the market. You are excited and ready to get started! Well, you were excited. It seems like so many people out here “in the real world” are down on life. The weight of the world must rest on the shoulders of the world’s post-graduate population. You are still learning, but now it’s things like:
- That’s not possible.
- It’ll take too much money.
- Amazon will put you out of business before you make your first dollar.
- The regulations are too difficult to get through.
- That will never work.
- Wait ’till the bills start coming in.
I want to tell you that it IS possible. You can be a successful entrepreneur! All of the things these voices are saying are true…for them – not for you. It will take a lot of work. It will involve some failures along the way. The startup funds you need are accessible. It will be worth it. You can make it happen!
Jon Acuff is a positive voice in the entrepreneurial world. A while back, he shared 20 Things Nobody Tells You When You Graduate College. Here are a few of them:
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The real world is more fun than grumpy adults have ever told you.Don’t listen to people in their 40s who act like the best part of your life ends the minute you get your diploma. Is the real world all cotton candy and unicorn rides? No. But sometimes, misery loves company and recruits it too. When you start a new job there will inevitably be a group of people there who don’t like their job and don’t like being an adult. Avoid these people like the plague. They’ve bought into the cultural lie that a “job is just a job” and that you should only work for the weekend. Nonsense. Your job can be meaningful. Your weekdays can matter.
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Your first job might not involve your major in a major way.
That’s only a minor problem though. You have 40 years to reunite your job with your major — or to find out your major may not have major bearing on what you do in life.
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Your generation gets unfairly labeled for entitlement. Don’t accept that.
Be humble at work. Show up with questions and a willingness to learn. Don’t act like you know everything already. You don’t, but you know what? Neither do we. People my age and the generations older than I am are a little afraid of you sometimes. We’re scared of the technologies you might know about that we’ve never even heard of. We don’t want to look dumb when we ask, “What is YikYak?” The truth is, we need you, just like you need us.
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Take risks.
You don’t have mortgages or kids or other responsibilities yet. Want to go abroad for a year and make a micro-salary teaching English? Want to start a business specializing in a heritage breed of rabbits for hipsters who are tired of suburban chickens already? Go for it. What’s the worst that can happen? You try it for a year, it fails and now you’re 23. You’ve got the rest of your life to play it safe.
As you move forward, do so with confidence. There are a lot of great mentors and resources out there to guide you. Go change the world.
Matthew Cleek
Matthew Cleek is a serial entrepreneur and is a co-founder of FundingSage, which provides valuable information, tools and resources to entrepreneurs seeking to start, grow and fund a business. Matthew's business ventures include Intellithought, theEclassifieds, Spectrum20, Theme Spectrum and more.
