How to think up a great business from your dorm room
If you think starting a business from your dorm room is impossible, keep in mind that several business titans started out just like that. Bill Gates and Paul Allen started Microsoft from a Harvard dorm room. Michael Dell started Dell Computers with a capital of $1000 from his dorm room at the University of Texas. Even more recent successes such as Napster and Facebook were built from a college kid’s dorm room. Here are some tips on how you can generate great business ideas between study sessions:
Think simple. Great ideas are often the simplest ones. Insomnia Cookies was born when Seth Berkowitz spent late nights baking cookies for himself and friends. He then realized that there was money to be made from late night deliveries for students who were used to burning the midnight oil. By thinking of your simplest recurring need and how you can fulfill it, you can easily come up with a business idea that also fulfills the needs of others.
Aim high. Don’t limit your goals to just what you need or what you think you can accomplish. Think of how much money you want to make, and aim double that! (This might even be a conservative figure for some, so by all means aim quadruple your original goal) Alex Tew started the Million Dollar Homepage as a solution to how he can pay for college without incurring debt. True, his tuition, books, accommodation, and other needs won’t be amounting to a million dollars, but that didn’t stop him from aiming high.
Be socially conscious. Don’t just limit your ideas to what you need, the latest trends, and what will make the most money. GreenPrint founder Hayden Hamilton came up with the idea for the GreenPrint software after seeing an excess of printed materials while working for Ford. This program reduces the ink and paper needed to print documents. Not only is it a successful venture for Hamilton, but GreenPrint helps the environment in its own little way. They’ve also taken steps to work with Fortune 500 companies to use their earth-friendly program. If you’re going to aim high in a financial sense, why not try and help save the world too?
These three principles - thinking simple, aiming high, and being socially conscious - can be used to generate great business ideas. You can use just one principle or a combination of two or three while you’re brainstorming. By focusing on these three things, brainstorming a great dorm room business will be much more attainable.
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