Finally got that business idea you have always been searching for, but afraid it will clash with your workload as a student? Running your dream business while at university, but feeling the pinch? There are many ways to balance your business with university, without compromising either or losing the motivation to study.
Put the hours in during the university holidays
There are many aspects of a business that can be automated and prepared in advance, leaving a lighter workload to be completed during the semester.
Schedule Social Media Posts and Newsletters
Social media and email newsletters are essential for all businesses to grow. They can be used as a free way to continually be relevant in a consumer’s mind, to showcase products and for social proof of value in the form of comments, likes and reviews. These assets can help build a brand, and find and maintain a loyal customer base.
Fortunately, social media posts and stories can be automated using the platform Later, developed for social media management. This service allows a company or individual to plan their posts months in advance, then automatically publishes it on the selected day and time. Images, captions and hashtags can all be saved. The platforms available for automation include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and many more.
A savvy student and business owner can pre plan an entire semester of social media content during their university holidays, and only reply to comments while studying.
There are many providers that enable email newsletters to be drafted in advance, and for a small cost, can be sent out remotely at a specified time and date. These include MailerLite and MailChimp. These companies also have great templates for email creation. The analytics available on email open rates, link click rates and subscriber engagement can all be processed during the university break.
Set Advertising Campaigns in advance
Paid adverts are another crucial marketing aspect for a business of any size. It reaches new audiences across a vast range of platforms, including those that cannot be targeted with social media activity alone.
A few examples include:
- Amazon Ads – these typically show up in search results amd category pages
- Google Ads
- Social media platforms – Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest
The marketing content for these kinds of ad campaigns can be set ahead of time, and switched on or off when they are needed. Analytics can be reviewed when time is found between university requirements or during holidays.
Managing stock for sale
You might ask, what producing or sourcing products for sale?
If yours is a maker business, perhaps you sell polymer clay earrings or hand knit merino wool jumpers. Create the majority of your art during the semester holidays. This doesn’t mean you cannot continue to produce your stock or take up custom orders while you are also studying, but it can definitely help to take the pressure off.
If you source products from china to sell through your local, online business, try to get ahead during the times that university pressure ease off, so you can cruise through the exam period without worrying about stock options.
Run a business that is relevant to your degree
There are many ways you can save on time and energy, and effectively kill two birds with one stone, by aligning aspects of your business and studies.
Align business campaigns with university assignments:
- Art students can design university assessments to be pieces that can later be sold
- Graphic Design and Web Design students could incorporate client orders into the university projects they will be marked on
- Photography students could include their professional work in their university portfolio
Use your university community
Take full advantage of the community on campus. It is a rich and niche resource to be tapped.
Hire first year students
If your business is expanding, but you still don’t have the returns to hire fully qualified staff, take on first-year students in a mentorship role. This is an arrangement that could benefit everyone, the student could get valuable work experience in their field and be paid at a lower, junior rate. This could work especially well if your business aligns with your degree.
Approach a lecturer as an unofficial business mentor
Mentorships can be incredibly beneficial for anyone starting or growing a business, but they also are extremely costly. University lecturers are veterans of their industry and have a wealth of knowledge that they are passionate about sharing. Bring your business to your teachers and you will get tailored advice for free.
Connect with other students as a client base
Put flyers about your business on community boards. Talk to other students and get them excited about your products, and you might recruit some enthusiastic customers and brand ambassadors.
A caution about burnout
Put your physical and mental health first. Individually, growing a business and undertaking a university degree can be very taxing, put together it is a balancing act. Remember, you have paid a lot of money for the opportunity to study at university, and you want to get the most out of your education. If the combined workloads start to affect your mental health, it is ok to take a step back. Perhaps studying part time may suit you better, or running less adverts and selling less products, but also reducing the number of products you need to create, manage and package.
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