I would be surprised if you weren’t immediately skeptical. Allow me to explain. There are a number of reasons why starting your own business is an excellent sign of leadership and actually much simpler than it appears. Here are 3 reasons you should undertake this seemingly daunting task.
In the past years, it has entered the public consciousness that the best way to demonstrate impressive extra-curricular activities is to volunteer. To be sure, this is definitely an excellent accomplishment and looks great on your application. Let’s take a closer look, though. Your alleged goal when volunteering is to “help people.” Altruistic goals such as this are sure to impress application reviewers. However, these reviewers are people just like you and me. Reviewers have realized that most high school students’ main reason for volunteering is to get accepted to the college of your dreams. They’ve caught on to this fact in their observation of the steady rise in the number of altruists among teenagers. The bottom line: volunteering doesn’t make you stand out nearly as much as it used to. Starting your own business, on the other hand, immediate shows your hard-working nature and your leadership ability, both incredibly valuable and impressive traits.
2. Starting a business isn’t nearly as difficult as you think.
Today’s generation of applicants lives in a very different environment than that of their parents. In the past, starting a business meant something along the lines of opening a hardware store. This involved securing a large loan, leasing space, purchasing and stocking inventory, hiring employees, etc. Compare this to today. In this age of the internet, the steps are as follows: 1) Come up with an idea/niche; 2) Create your website. Whether your product is a good or a service, all you need is a website. You can use this site to sell t-shirts that you’ve designed and printed, report local news, or import and resell cheap plastic toys from China.
3. What if your business fails?
This is a large concern for nearly all small business owners. The answer is, so what? Remember, starting a small Internet-based business requires an investment of nothing but time. Your goal is to signal leadership to admission committees, not to become the next Donald Trump. Whether your business succeeds or fails, you’ll have achieved your true goal. Furthermore, it becomes an excellent topic for an application essay.
Think about these tips. In today’s world, there is no reason not to give this a shot. Standing out means being unique. There is almost no risk involved, and it is a far superior time commitment than volunteer work or the debate team. Let me know how it goes!