5 Things To Do As An Aspiring Entrepreneur

Written on 28 January 2014

By Alfred Lua

For students who aspire to be entrepreneurs but do not feel that you are ready to start a business yet, here are 5 things I do as an aspiring entrepreneur, which have been helpful to me.

1) Read relevant articles and news

Just like reading the world news makes you more aware about what is happening around the world, reading articles and news about startups enables you to learn about the community. In particular, through reading up in this area, I get to know about new and innovative startups, the problems they are trying to solve, their creative solutions to the problems, unique business and revenue models and pick up tips shared by experienced entrepreneurs. With more knowledge in this field, I can then try to adapt and apply them to my business. For example, when I think of pricing, I know that apart from commission model, there are also subscription model and freemium model (most features are free but some premium features has to be paid for. Eg. LinkedIn)

Here are some sources I read articles from:

Apart from reading these articles, I subscribed to some entrepreneurs' blogs. However, beware that signing up to too many mailing lists can make you unproductive. Here are some blogs I follow:

2) Surround yourself with like-minded friends

To me, a great way to be inspired and motivated is to hang out around friends who are aspiring entrepreneurs too. I remember clearly how Lean Startup Machine Singapore and Global Graduate Entrepreneurs Festival made me feel so inspired and motivated. I was constantly surrounded by people who also want to start a business or have already started their businesses and the energy level and desire to do something were just incredible. Look out for friends who want to start a business too or like to create new things or have pet projects. Hangout together, share interesting articles and discuss about startup and business related topics. Perhaps you will find someone who can work with you on a project or business idea.

3) Attend startup events / meet ups

Linked to the previous point, attending startup events and meet ups puts you in a context where you are surrounded by entrepreneurs, experienced and aspiring. Apart from meeting like-minded people, you will be more in touch with the topics discussed in the startup community, such as the Lean Startup concept, and take away valuable knowledge shared by others. One of such meet ups I attended in Singapore is the monthly Singapore Lean Startup Circle, which I highly recommend if you want to learn more about Lean Startup and meet Lean entrepreneurs (entrepreneurs that believe and use lean concept, not that they are lean). There are Lean Startup Circles in other parts of the world too.

4) Have a pet project

As a student, I'm pretty sure you have quite a bit of free time every now and then. Instead of always going to the club every other night, or scrolling through your Facebook/Instagram/Twitter newsfeed for hours, start a pet project. It does not have to be a business idea or something that makes you money. It can be a blog where you share about things you have learnt (I have a friend who learnt photoshop and created tutorials on his blog), a weekly meet up to talk about designs, a community service project, organising mini concerts, cookouts, etc. It does not need to take up a lot of time too. Say a few hours a week?

I would suggest that you start something based on your interest because you will not be able to sustain doing something you do not like. For example, if you like to cook, you can take photos of your food and post them on a Wordpress blog or Pinterest, or organise small dinners with friends to get feedback about your cooking. So first, think about what your interests are.

5) Develop a skill

Finally, instead of trying to make your CV look impressive by doing many many many things, focus on developing a skill that you want to be good at. First thing first, it does not need to be programming! While programming is a very useful skill, especially with the current trend of tech startups, there are many other skill sets that are required in a startup; for example, design, marketing, growth hack, finance, business development and data analysis. You can develop a skill by reading up online and, if possible, practising it. There are many free resources online such as YouTube, Udemy and Coursera.

I have a friend who wants to be a data specialist so before university started, he interned in the department of Zalora which dealt with regional data and he learnt so much about analysing data and using Excel proficiently. Although university has started for him, he is still constantly learning about data and data analysis. Also, he practises by creating small projects and tools with Excel such as his own expenditure tracker. Another great example is my sister who started The Cake Issue. She likes to bake so she tried to improve her skills by attending courses, watching YouTube videos and practising. Now, she is running her cake business online.

In conclusion, if you really want to do something now but still feel that you are not really to start a business, there are 5 things that I recommend you to do:

  1. Read relevant articles and news
  2. Surround yourself with like-minded people
  3. Attend startup events / meet ups
  4. Have a pet project
  5. Develop a skill
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