“I started my own business in 2000, I became an entrepreneur and from a job seeker, I became a job giver. It has been a very fulfilling journey.”
Rajneesh Bhandari
Serial Entrepreneur
Former President TIE – Rajasthan
The overall startup ecosystem in India has seen a boom in the past couple of years. Other than the startups, there has been a tremendous rise in the number of supporting agencies like incubators, accelerators and there is a rise even in the number of angel investors and institutional funding. One of the most interesting areas that this wave has observed is the rise in the number of student startups. 10 years ago when this wave started, entrepreneurship was considered a career choice only by the people who have some work experience but with the support from Government and academic institutions, availability of quick funding, upgradation of IT infrastructure leading to better connectivity and better mobility, even students and freshers have embraced entrepreneurship as a full-time career choice. Some of the key advantages of ‘starting up’ in college are:
1. Access to resources, funds, network etc.
There are special funds available for student entrepreneurs. Students can also use resources provided by both college and government to build a business.
On top of it, students have free entry/access to a lot of startup events and conferences and they can start building their network, which will be of great value for them in the future.
2. Access to team members, mentors, and test market.
When you are in college there are a lot of people around you and most importantly they know and trust you because of the common connections involved.
It is easy to find people with whom you can collaborate and create teams. Also, if you have built an MVP or a prototype, you have direct access to so many people who can give you feedback about your product which will help you improve the same.
3. Start Early – Fail Fast
The best part of entrepreneurship is that it’s an endless road to learning – as the famous quote says “Startups Fail, Entrepreneurs Don’t” and earlier you start more you will learn. Even if your startup fails, there is a higher chance that you will have better career opportunities than your peers because companies prefer employees with better and diverse experience.
To strength and nurture student entrepreneurs and help them build their companies, an accelerator program was launched. The objective of ARCH Accelerator is to identify, build, accelerate and showcase startups based in ARCH College of Design & Business.
The Accelerator is an 8 week-long program, consisting of 7 exhaustive workshops, followed by a pitching event where startups from ARCH will pitch in front of mentors, jury, and investors to seek their valuable guidance, feedback and also a potential investment. Students with an idea or running their business can attend this program.
The following modules are a part of the program -a – Design Thinking
b – Lean Model Canvas
c – Go-To-Market Strategy
d – Financial Modelling
e – Customer Validation
f – MVP Development
g – Technology Best Practices
Dilnawaz Khan is a Jaipur based startup consultant & mentor, he is the co-founder and Chief Evangelist of Codesign Labs. Codesign Labs is a Digital Design Company, based out of Jaipur, with a handpicked workforce of freelance designers, developers, and copywriters from all over the country.
