Want to know how to start a business? We caught up with the lovely Lizzie Fane, founder of Third Year Abroad, an awesome site for students who are taking a year out and what to know how to set themselves up in a new city.
What’s ThirdYearAbroad all about?
ThirdYearAbroad.com is a place for students to find and share information, help and advice before, during and after their year abroad from university. You can meet other students going to the same destination as you, create your own guidebook to your new city, keep an online journal and get all your questions answered in our Forum. We make the year abroad less scary by encouraging our third- and fourth-year users to pass on the benefit of their experience to future year abroad students.
Why did you start the business?
I started ThirdYearAbroad.com because my friends and I needed it so badly on our year abroad! We thought we would get a lot more advice and support than we actually received – it took me three weeks to get into the university because I kept getting pointed in the wrong direction and I got caught in a Catch-22 with accommodation versus tax codes; I needed someone who’d been through the process before to pass on their tried-and-tested insider tips and advice – so that’s TYA in a nutshell!
What’s your biggest aim with the business? Your end goal?
My aim is for the site to become the most invaluable resource of reviews and advice for students before, during and after their year abroad. I want to show people how worthwhile it is to have a Modern Language degree, to encourage students to make the most of every second of their time abroad, and to give them a place to pool the information they have collected over a whole year of trial-and-error which could make all the difference to the next year group of students to take the plunge.
Related article: What are the four hardest languages for English people to learn?
Did you always feel entrepreneurial?
No, not at all! I think that fundamentally there are two types of entrepreneur; those driven by money and the desire to work for themselves, and those who want to help people and have spotted a unique opportunity to do so. I fit into the second category. I simply identified a problem that I was in a unique position to solve, and I am now really, really enjoying spending my career finding creative solutions to problems and discovering my entrepreneurial side!
What did your friends think when you started? What do they think now?
I’m lucky because I started my business based on an issue that a large number of my friends had experienced, so they understood exactly what I was trying to achieve. Many of them very kindly answered questionnaires about their experiences abroad, which formed the basis of my initial market research. Now, they find it absolutely hilarious that I’ve turned into a techie social media fiend, when I initially toyed with the idea of art school!
What would you recommend to female (and male) students who are thinking about starting up? Do you think that it’s a better option than finding a job?
My top advice would be…
{AF template=round_quotes} I would definitely recommend doing work experience in at least one startup company before you go it alone. {/AF} Not only will you pick up a huge range of the skills you will need to launch your own business, you’ll also experience the working conditions and atmosphere of a startup, which are totally different to what you imagine. There is no routine; you need to be very motivated, self-starting and innovative, and to think on your feet in fast, high-pressure situations.
{AF template=round_quotes} It is unbelievably fun and rewarding though, and you will network with your chosen industry’s most intelligent, inspiring, creative and brilliant people. {/AF}
If you want to do something exciting instead of/before joining the rat race, this is undeniably it! And now is the time – while you’re a student or recent graduate and can afford to survive on little to no income for a while.
Best place to look for such a placement? Enternships.com.
Is money the most important thing when starting out? Do you need a revenue stream straight away?
You need to find a way to fund your startup business and support yourself at the same time – that’s the most important thing. {AF template=round_quotes} When it comes to your revenue stream, you have two options: the traditional route through providing a product or service, or by finding a problem and solving it for free. {/AF}
The number of people you help and who require your service will give your business a value and then you can work out how to make money from your already engaged audience – it doesn’t need to be straight away.
Lizzie’s top 3 business tips
1. Find a mentor straight away – not someone big and important in your industry (that will come later), but an entrepreneur who has been through it all already and can give you their tried-and-tested advice before you make any mistakes.
2. Secure your brand on social media channels. Your company needs to have a Facebook fan page and Twitter presence. Grab a unique name that you can use across the web, and then try to update your social media accounts at least once a day (smartphone apps make this a lot easier!).
3. Get some free help. Students need work experience; not just for their CV, but also to develop their skills and discover the career they’d like to go into – you could benefit from this too! Sign up to a site like wexo.co.uk or enternships.com and ensure you know exactly what the applicant wants to get out of their placement (PR experience, writing for their portfolio, etc.) so you can both get the maximum value.
Thanks Lizzie – great interview. Please check out ThirdYearAbroad.com!