At University, the extent of entrepreneurial activity rarely surpasses idealistic conversations at the pub. On numerous occasions I've exclaimed "Why hasn't that been invented yet!" and promised a mate that we'd do it and be rich beyond our wildest dreams. But these dreams never become reality. So how can I move from over excitedly splashing Fosters onto my housemate's shoes to becoming a successful student entrepreneur?
There are four skills you need if you are going to succeed as a student entrepreneur: intelligence, hard work,  innovation and resilience. A healthy dollop of luck always helps too. But let's say you have all of this in abundance, where do you go next? Well, the first thing you have to realise is that you'll be sacrificing a lot in starting a new business. Creating a company is time consuming and will likely mean you'll have to cut down social activities. Once you've accepted this then you can move forward.

So where next? Grab a pen & paper, and begin making a chart with all your ideas (no matter how unrealistic or crazy you think they are) - then just carry on your normal day-to-day routine but at the end of every day try to add another idea to the chart. Once satisfied with the number of ideas on your chart, review each one and pick the three best. Now fill out a Business Model Canvas for each idea. As these business plans develop, one will hopefully stand out as the obvious choice for your new business. Once you have chosen one, work on a more detailed business plan.

Now all you need is the finance to make your business a reality, and also should start thinking about recruiting staff to help your company succeed!

Back to Entrepreneurship

Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs is a fantastic way to either develop your skills as a new entrepreneur in a small to medium-sized enterprise or to improve your business as a host entrepreneur through the presence of a motivated, new worker. Both parties benefit greatly from the programme and often gain invaluable lessons that can be carried forward in the participants' professional lives.

The criteria for applicants is based on two areas:

#1 New Entrepreneur: You have to be a serious budding entrepreneur looking to get some first-hand experience of a real-world entrepreneurial working environment. You also need to have a concrete business idea, reflected in a business plan, and be motivated to contribute to the development of your hosts' business.

#2 Host Entrepreneur: You have to be a person directly involved with entrepreneurship and a company that has been established for over 3 years. You must also be willing to mentor your new entrepreneur and give him/her the opportunity to contribute to the development of your company.

On the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs website, there is a clear guide about how to apply. To summarise this, there is a simple tool through which one must fill out the necessary information. After this you have to choose a local contact point - this is the place that you will be living during your year in industry. Here you will find the email address of the designated contact that you will have to get in touch with in order to sort out the logistics of your placement. On the website, you can also find other useful information about the programme, as well as success stories of people who have previously undertaken Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs.

Find out more information here: http://www.erasmus-entrepreneurs.eu/index.php#.Ui2a2mQpav8

Back to Entrepreneurship

Source: About.com

Choosing a college can seem very daunting for some, especially with the large amount of choices that exist. It is not to be forgotten however, you can make choosing a college into a systematic process, allowing you to come to a final decision through a much more controlled process. Many high-school graduates also have problems when choosing their college as the amount of different opinions that exist on each college one vary widely from person to person. It is often much easier and much more strongly recommended to build your own opinions through research of various kinds.

Top Tips to Choose Your College

• Visit - Hearing about colleges through other people even when it´s close friends that have gone their is never a good idea. You should always try and build your own opinion. By visiting multiple colleges you will begin to get an idea of what you want and do not want. For example you may start noticing patterns weather you prefer a smaller or a bigger college. Visiting a college also allows you to gain a first hand impression of their facilities and the people that are attending there. This is worth more than many think and visiting more than one college even if you are not sure you want to go there will help massively with college selection in the long run. 
• Don't base everything on rankings - Although it is a good idea to look at the rankings in order to get a feeling for how colleges have been compared to some others you know, it is not recommended to apply to one college over another because of it's ranking. Rankings, as done by the New York Times every year, often concentrate on the spending of a college on it's faculty, facilities, and classes or the amount of research undertaken. However, the colleges spending habits do not necessarily impact the quality of the education you will receive and the value of the people that you will meet while being there.  This is why visiting colleges is so important, you may wish to go to a certain top ranked college, however after visiting it, you may decide it's not for you after all or that you definitely wish to attend that school. Keep in mind, it is often far more accurate to search for college rankings concerning themselves with your course or major specifically.
• Apply to 3 ranges of colleges - It is a good idea to apply to some "reach" colleges which you believe are just slightly out of your reach when it comes to results. It is possible that you will be pleasantly surprised if you are not completely unrealistic with your choices. Then apply to two or three colleges which you believe that you would really like to go to, choose these carefully as they are the ones you will most likely end up attending. Also choose a safety school, make sure you still like this school as much as your others however it should be a sure thing that you are getting in.

Related links:

• College interview questions
• College interview tips
• Universities and colleges in the U.S.