The Keys to Growing Your Startup While in College

Running a startup while in college can be the doom of death or it can be life changing. We started Study Abroad Apartments while we were finishing our degrees at Syracuse University and Ohio State University. It was a small choice that turned into a much bigger responsibility than we ever anticipated. The thoughts of having a successful startup, graduating, and working on something that we are passionate about made working not seem like work. While finishing up our degrees in business, marketing, and technology the idea of a startup was not something that we really considered. Our first semester we were trying to get traction from our first student users in Barcelona all while learning the core components of the real estate industry, overseas business relationships, foreign exchange market, and the international education industry. We had our hands full with finishing capstone courses, having social lives, managing a startup we genuinely did not know much about and learning on the go.

However, some of the best companies that exist today such as Facebook, Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft were all founded in college environments, so the college atmosphere can be the best place to start a company. Here are some things that helped us build Study Abroad Apartments while balancing a chaotic and fun college life.

1. Decide 3 things that matter today and focus one at a time

As a college student, it is easy to procrastinate, postpone work, and fall short of completing projects or assignments. Often things are punted from one day’s to-do list to the next, to the next and so on. By focusing on 3 – 5 important tasks to do in a day that are both manageable and realistic, finishing assignments and moving forward with a startup idea becomes easier. Cognitive awareness and organization is key to staying efficient and effective.

2. Stamina

College is the perfect time for all nighters and crazy work hours. We worked on Study Abroad Apartments whenever we had a chance during our work day. This included before class, during class (thank you teachers who allowed us to your computers in class), and late nights. As much as starting a startup can be considered a marathon….it’s more of a sprint. You want to get to the next milestone (revenue, new users, new product line, new application) as quickly as possible.

3. Colleagues

Universities are the best places to get early essentials such as logos, wireframes, customer surveys, blogs, web developers, professor feedback, free consulting, and many more. College campuses probably have the largest concentration of potential co-founders you will ever experience. Take advantage of this.

4. Lack of money

Being used to not having a lot of money aligned us with extremely competitive pricing when we first launched Study Abroad Apartments. It costed students $99 to book an awesome apartment abroad in our first year. For us at the time we wanted to test the market and the idea…it was not about making money. However, you may think $200 is a lot. Pricing a product usually $2,000 at $200 makes you very competitive. Perfect time to not be tied down to too many expenses.

Founding a startup is no small task. It can be daunting, especially with a college workload, but there is no better time to try! College gives you the opportunity to thrive and be innovative while getting support from peers, colleagues, and professors to help hone your business model and plan.

Ryan Blum and Brett Newman

Co-Founders of Study Abroad Apartments