So I've been talking with some people.
Having held leadership positions in two of NUS's better-established entrepreneurship clubs, (1) NUS Entrepreneurship Society (NES) and (2) StartIT for a semester, I've had the opportunity to interact with various different individuals.
A common topic seems to arise during our chats.
I have to admit I'm personally one of these individuals as well, despite already having moderate success in my side hustles. There's no doubt it's difficult to build something in University. There's just so much to do and focus on, be it keeping up with academic content, vying for resume-padding roles, or maintaining some semblance of a social life.
A project (with some chance of success) just doesn't rank too highly amongst these other commitments and often gets shoved to the sidelines. This then leads to huge regrets at the end of University, as individuals realise that they have failed to utilise the most well-protected years of their life.
It's tough. Sometimes, no matter how strong our entrepreneurial ambitions may be, we fail to prioritise. After all, there is a reason why only 1% of entrepreneurial individuals do, while the other 99% dream.
And so, I'd like to propose a community to help tackle this issue and get students to actually take action and pursue their ideas.
The Concept
A Community of Action-takers + Mastermind Groups
Summary
A community where every individual is working on an entrepreneurial project. It will be broken down into mastermind groups/partnerships that compromise of 2-5 individuals with similar aspirations, who will meet regularly to discuss project developments and hold each other accountable for their progress.
No resume-padding fluff. Spend the bandwidth taking action and building something instead.
Vision
To be a platform for entrepreneurial individuals to actually take action
Here are some of the key talking points.
1. Every member champions a project
This is the foundation of the club. It will be compulsory for every member to own a project at all times. The only criterion for the project is that it should provide value. Other than that, it doesn't matter how big or how small. Maybe you want to start a YouTube channel, get more customers as a freelancer, or build the next unicorn. It doesn't matter. What matters is that you get started and you keep working on it to value and beyond. Quality is the name of the game - no community dilution with dreamers. We want do-ers.
2. Stay accountable and grow your network with a mastermind group/partner
In the club, you will be part of a mastermind group/partnership consisting of 2-5 individuals who share a drive and commitment that matches yours. Collectively, you will possess a diverse set of skills and views, so as to be able to help each other present solutions from different perspectives. The group will meet regularly to discuss project developments and hold each other accountable for their progress. You'll get the opportunity to bounce ideas off each other, vent about issues and grow together towards success.
3. Learn from others in your niche
Communication will be managed in the almighty Slack, which means that we'll be able to utilise channels. Each channel will be segmented to compromise individuals who are working on projects within the same category (eg. eCommerce, freelancing, etc.). Share resources that you find useful, seek help from others in the same field who have more experience, and celebrate your milestones! As time passes, it will eventually become a repository of resources and frameworks for everybody to reference. Furlough is a good source of inspiration.
4. We'll (maybe) run events that are useful + relevant
Our last priority will be to plan events. Members' bandwidths should be focused on building out their projects, not discussing where a sponsorship talk should fit into the itinerary. However, that being said, we do want to run events that will be beneficial to members.
For example, if we have a substantial group of members who are trying to grow their eCommerce business, we'll bring down a successful eCommerce business owner to have a chat. The key here is that there is context. The information the owner shares won't be going into storage for future use. It'll be applied proactively in the "now" because that's what members will be working on. Members will also be to articulate actual issues they are facing, instead of theoretical ones, and seek actual feedback.
Other ideas: • For those without projects, we'll have a separate group where individuals can meet up to brainstorm and ideate. • Event concept: we'll have one person pitch their idea to the entire society every month. It'll be an opportunity for them to practice their pitch and get valuable feedback from their peers.
Additional considerations: • The initial project criterion was for it to have the long term goal of generating revenue, but there were concerns of how well received it would be by the student community. • Matchmaking individuals and forming mastermind groups will probably require some trial and error. It might be worth getting an experienced mastermind group host to mentor and guide us in the initial stages.
Just from these past few weeks alone, we have already grown to a directory of 20+ action-takers, who are a mix of start-up founders, business owners, and people starting on their idea.