Starting a Start Up Company

Recently, a couple of friends and I decided to start a SEO marketing company. The decision to pursue this venture was primarily brought on by all the recent buzz about college graduates starting companies rather than pursue employment or higher education. Well, so far i have realized three important things that every budding entrepreneur needs to consider before taking the huge leap into self employment.

"Where is the security?"
My entire life, my parents have been pushing me towards pursuing a medical degree and enjoying the lavish lifestyle enjoyed by doctors. In my parents mind, the medical field will always equate with job security and high salaries. But, over the course of my four undergraduate years i realized passion and happiness can not be replaced with a new Mercedes in the garage. But, thats HOW I FEEL. Not everyone places high value on the same career attributes. Personally, i felt as though i could not picture myself as a doctor. Thus, i felt as though i needed to find a new career and fast. So, my words of advice to any new college graduate considering the excitement of self employment would be to truly consider what makes you happy. If a startup entrepreneur is your perfect destiny....I say go for it. Personally, I am still applying to masters programs in neuroscience and microbiology with the intent of doing both work and school for the next year and a half. Who knows, one day i might end up applying to medical school. But, hopefully, it all works out and i can be happy running my own company.

"I'll start the company once i graduate."
Hell no! Do not even consider waiting to start a company until you graduate. I guarantee you will be living at your parents home for the first six months or longer. Who wants to do that? Start early, even if its baby steps, and have a detailed long term approach months before you graduate. Starting a company involves a lot of learning that takes months to acquire. The knowledge you have gained in your respective field must be at a substantial level before you can even dream of charging clients hundreds of dollars for a service. Thus, know your stuff and what it will entail before you even graduate. As of right now, our company just got our first client. They don't pay us, so i don't know if "client" is the right term. But, we hope to learn a lot from them about the steps our company needs to take with future clients. This is essential to the knowledge base we need to build up before approaching paying clients.

"I need to make money now."
Money is the sole reason for starting any company. Being the boss means you directly live off the profits from your business. So, money should be on everyones minds when starting a business. But, do not expect exponential growth of the money in your bank account. Starting a business might take minimal investment, but growing a business might involve pinching pennies for a while. Profit from any business should go back into growing your business during the initial stages. Who wants a business that makes $1000 a month for the rest of their lives? You need to keep investing to increase your annual profit. So, find other means of sustaining yourself and let your business grow.

With any startup, you need the drive and passion to want to make it work. Half-assing a startup will lead you no where. Put all your efforts into the company and hopefully you will see the benefits. But, as a last warning, never put all you eggs in one basket......