Why should you start a business in college?

Disclaimer: This post is generalized to fit the most college students possible. There will certainly be exceptions and differences for some situations.

College - commonly referred to as the time of your life - is filled with class, partying, studying, and extracurriculars. But what if it could be more than that? What if instead of learning about money in finance classes, you went out and made some yourself? I’m here to tell you that it’s possible, especially in Real Estate, where no degree or license is needed. A RE wholesaling business is what I chose, as the little risk or upfront cash aspects drew me in. While I still believe wholesaling is the easiest and safest business to start, these principles apply to any business you may want to start. These are the four reasons why college is the perfect time to start a business.

1. 1. Leverage of a Brand

When you go to college, you become part of a family and a community. In a college town, chances are anyone who lives there either went to the same school, or knows someone who did. This is an automatic conversation starter and rapport builder. Not only are you coming in with your own impressiveness, but you also ride the coattails of every other graduate from the University. The name of your college will open doors for you in the community that couldn’t be opened otherwise. You will be surprised at the amount of people willing to help you simply because you are a college student, and they remember what it was like.

1. 2. Employees / Professionals everywhere

College is perhaps the best place to find part-time and commission only employees. I would recommend hiring your first few employees as commission workers, as you want to keep your overhead low and make sure your employees aren’t taking advantage of a salary they don’t have to earn. Adults looking for work will likely turn down a 5 hour a week job with a college kid with no sales as their boss. However, college students will be more willing to only work a few hours a week, because they don’t have the time (or so they think) for a full-time job. And, most other part time jobs available to students involve manual labor or minimum wage retail / restaurant jobs.

In addition to being surrounded with kids who would love an easy part time job, you have a host of professionals on the same campus. If you’re like my college (Vanderbilt), you won’t have any Real Estate classes, but there may be a REI club, and there are definitely business professionals and professors that would be thrilled to help a young kid start his/her career. There should also be a career / entrepreneurship center that could help you wade through the financial and legal details of a business.

1. 3. No Dependents

This reason was my “epiphany” moment in college. After hours and hours of research on Bigger Pockets and Youtube and telling myself I would do it after college, it finally dawned on me that there is absolutely no reason for me to be scared in college. In fact, it will be less scary in college than after college. After college, you will have true risk. Housing expenses, Insurance, a spouse, kids - all depending on you to make money. But, in college, it’s likely that you don’t have any of those things. Most of your school expenses should be leveraged (financial aid, student loans, parents’ money). So really, the only person depending on you is you. The only person who suffers if you fail is you. And, if you choose something like wholesaling (and follow the law), there is essentially no risk at all. “Failing” as a beginner wholesaler just means you’ve lost time, not money, as your overhead should be very close to zero.

1. 4. Hands on learning / Resume slam dunk

Say you like Real Estate, but don’t see it being your future, or maybe it’s just something you want to do on the side or passively invest in in the future. That’s still no reason not to give starting a RE business a shot. Who do you think is more impressive to future employers? Student A who went to college, or student B who went to college AND started his/her own company. Starting and operating a company is as big of a resume booster as you can get. Beyond the optics of it, the tools you get from running a business can’t be taught in school. For the rest of your life, you will understand how to run a business front to back, giving you a plethora of employment opportunities and the confidence to pursue entrepreneurship in the future.