Written by: Rachel Puckett
The world of business is one that everyone participates in. Whether you are the consumer or the CEO you have an integral role in business. Many college students, both majoring in or not majoring in business, have taken action in the relatively new shift to online marketplaces.
According to Merriam-Webster, an entrepreneur is “one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise.” They are the people behind your favorite companies. After all, every business has to start somewhere. Notice within the definition there is no set age tied to an entrepreneur. Many assume that you must be older to have a successful business, but in actuality, you just need to have a decent product and market it well. This is a concept that many college students have come to realize.
College students across the world have harnessed the energy of social media to market their own businesses. Facebook, Instagram, and even TikTok have allowed these entrepreneurs to advertise on platforms they are extremely familiar with. ACU student Karson Tutt is the president of Founders Club, an organization for college entrepreneurs. She has 3,500 followers on her store, Karson’s, Instagram. Often she will do giveaways, advertise new products, and spread the word about her next pop-up shop through the social platform. Students across campus know her brand purely based on her social platform, and she is now opening a storefront based on the success of her online store.
The pandemic has limited the ability to meet and shop in person, so advertising websites have become that much more important. The forceful shift to an online marketplace has increased the opportunities for success for millions of people and has caused a dent in millions of consumers’ pocketbooks. According to CNBC and the New York Times, right now may be the perfect moment for entrepreneurs to start their business. Although thousands of small businesses are closing due to the pandemic, thousands more have embraced the change and created their own websites or gone to places such as Etsy or eBay to continue their sales.
During quarantine, many students took to Instagram to sell the clothes from their closets to make some extra cash. As a consumer, it felt like I was at a neighborhood garage sale while scrolling through my feed. Millions of people also took the extra time to learn a new skill that they realized they could market. In this day and age where there is a will, there is a way is a cliche but a true statement.
If you are a college student who believes you have a skill or product that the world should see, or perhaps you already have a business, use what you know--social media-- to advertise. The pandemic has caused a lot of issues, but perhaps this could be your time to take a risk and start something amazing.