Many students have student owned businesses, and many others may want to create their own. Students who may want to create their own businesses and manage it may not know where to start. Sophomores Nicole Shou and Anisha Nanda both have their own business, and have shared their experiences with it.
Nicole Shou started her business, Shop Lumeria, in March of 2020. She sells clothing through her Instagram page. She had always had an interest in businesses, before she decided to create Shop Lumeria.
Shou sells clothes with her business, Shop Lumeria. Screenshot taken by Pratha Ravani from Shop Lumeria’s instagram page.
“I had always started tiny businesses, in both elementary school and middle school,” Shou said. “In elementary school, I had created an origami “basketball game,” in which students could pay me in sticky notes to participate for a prize. In middle school, I had sold tiny stars and had donated them to an animal shelter. In seventh grade, I had created a career project on being an entrepreneur, and had crafted scarves as a display. In ninth grade, I saw my bank account slowly draining, and I wanted to make my own source of income. I soon after created my business.”
Anisha Nanda had started her business, Layered Inc., in July of 2020. She bakes and sells her desserts, and has both a website and an Instagram page for her business. She was inspired to start her business by her parents, who are both entrepreneurs.
Nanda sells desserts with her business, Layered Inc. Screenshot taken by Pratha Ravani from Layered Inc’s instagram page.
“Both my parents are entrepreneurs, so growing up I was able to see a lot of firsthand entrepreneurial traits,” Nanda said. “Being your own boss, operating in your style, and really being able to do something you have a vision for with barely any limits is what really inspired me to start a business. I was inspired to start my baking business because of my passion and love for baking. Combining baking and business felt like a dream to me so I executed the idea and have been growing Layered ever since!”
Both Nanda and Shou have learned how to manage their business with school, and figured out how to handle both.
“Managing my business during school can get pretty difficult at times, but I have worked to find a balance between my schoolwork and running my business smoothly,” Nanda said. “If I need to bake for a collaboration, I will usually plan a day or so in advance and bake during any free break I get during the school day. If I know I’m pretty packed, I wake up before school around 7am to bake and prepare the dessert.”
Both Nanda and Shou have shared some tips that they believe helped them be successful with their business.
- Build a platform and make connections
The first tip they had was to create a platform, and to make connections. It takes experimenting and may take a while, but it is important for a business to grow.
“I first created an Instagram account in order to build a platform,” Shou said. “I experimented with different lighting, and organized drops to promote my page. I created partnerships with similar pages, widening my target audience and my reach. Through analyzing current clothing trends, I was able to expand my insights, and gain more of a platform. Gradually, I continued to do partnerships between other businesses, and my business began to grow.”
- Stay organized
To make sure that you stay on top of your business and you schoolwork, it’s important to stay organized. There are a variety of ways to do this, with apps and checklists. Time management is a huge part in creating a successful business, and staying organized is the first step, according to Shou and Nanda.
“Trello is an app and is the main way I keep my business organized,” Nanda said. “I have so so so many ideas floating around in my head that if I don’t write them down, I will most definitely forget them. I also keep a calendar which helps me plan what to post on what day. I do this either on a monthly or weekly basis.This really helps me stay on schedule! If something does not go according to plan, I just pick up where I left off and catch up as soon as I can!”
- Stay consistent
To make your business successful, Shou recommends that you stay consistent with your work.
“I recommend staying consistent,” Shou said. “Running a business while managing school can be stressful and tiresome, and I took a couple breaks myself to relieve. As long as one stays consistent, a trend of growth in the business should be visible.”
- Go for it
The last tip they have is to go for it, and try! It may take a while, but you need to experiment in order to figure out how to run your business.
“My #1 tip would be to just go for it,” Nanda said. “You can discover a lot by simply just experimenting and trying new things. Don’t be scared of failure, it’s better to try something and fail than not try at all! It does not happen overnight. You have to be patient and trust the process, and things will start working out eventually.”
Visit Shou’s business, Shop Lumeria, here: https://www.instagram.com/shoplumeria/
Visit Nanda’s business, Layered Inc., Here: https://www.instagram.com/layered.inc/
