(Editor’s note: Aditya Mahesh is a sophomore at UC Berkeley and the founder of SnipBids. He submitted this story to VentureBeat.)
While some of the world’s most innovative and successful companies have been started by undergraduate or graduate students, anyone who has attempted to launch a business as a full time student knows it’s far from a simple task.
It’s more than the obvious juggling act of staying on top of your academic properties and getting your startup off the ground. It’s akin to having two full-time jobs – and, perhaps not surprisingly, many student entrepreneurs suffer academically as they focus on their business.
I started my first company as a freshman in high school and have worked on numerous web start-ups over the past six years. Along the way, I’ve learned a lot about time and resource management and have developed a few useful tricks to help balance the dual loads.
Plan your schedule carefully - It should probably go without saying that the key to successfully balancing your academic workload with your commitment to a startup is to plan ahead. At the start of every semester, look at the deadlines for all your classes and enter them in a calendar program. Create checkpoints for long term projects to make sure you stay on track and set aside study days before major exams.
Once your academic schedule is nailed down, get to work on your business schedule. Although it’s virtually impossible to plan four months ahead, you can set up checkpoints for goals you hope to accomplish in the coming month or two. See what action-steps you need to take to reach these goals and create a schedule for the next two weeks.
Taking an hour or so to plan will keep you more focused and productive during the week.
Schedule Your Classes in the Morning - If you are able to schedule your classes early in the morning, do it. While no student likes 8am classes, taking them forces you to get up and start your day early. Sleeping in until 10 or 11 means 10 to 15 hours lost every week. If you can start your classes at 8 and be done by noon, you will have the rest of the day free to work on business.
If you can’t schedule all your classes in the morning, schedule them in groups (i.e., 2-5pm) instead of 2-3pm and 4-5pm. That hour between 3 and 4pm will be lost time – and a lost opportunity to advance your startup.
Schedule Days Off - It’s difficult to coordinate meetings and conference calls in-between classes, especially when they require any degree of travel. So it’s important to try and schedule one or two days per week with no class, letting you be completely dedicated to your business.
If possible, schedule these “no class” days in the middle of the week so you not only get a break from your academic schedule, but are also available when other professionals/partners are open to meetings. Further, it allows you to catch up on business and academic work you may have fallen behind on.
Take Electives Related to your Company - Electives give students the opportunity to explore fields outside of their major – but if you’re able to find something that’s related to your startup, it can be a win-win. You not only learn ways to improve your business, you also get college credit for it.
For example, Jon Burgstone, founder of SupplierMarket (a startup he sold for $1.1 billion), is a professor at Berkeley. As part of his class, students much create a business plan. I was able to integrate my own startup into the assignment and get both class credit and feedback from a highly successful entrepreneur (as well as over 100 other students).
Make no mistake. Juggling an academic career with a startup is not an easy task. But with planning and focus, it’s a little more manageable.
Photo by Cayusa via Flickr