Entrepreneurship for Graduate Students: Key Takeaways from Expand Your Career Options: One Entrepreneur’s Journey

From studying in graduate school to starting your own business, the path can be filled with invaluable gains, adventures, as well as uncertainty. This semester in the event series, “Expand Your Career Options” hosted by UConn Center for Career Readiness and Life Skills, Sylvia Pu, PhD ‘20 in Sociology, shared her growth and insights into starting her consulting business. She also offered advice for current graduate students who are interested in entrepreneurship.

Below is the recap of Sylvia’s sharing.

Enjoyable Aspects and Challenges of Entrepreneurship

  • You have autonomy and flexibility to choose how you work and when you work. Taking a full month off at the end of the year or in the summer is not uncommon in the consultant culture.
  • You can build a project or product from zero.
  • Financial instability as a one-person business is real, as you are often uncertain about when the next client will come, who they will be, and what the scale of the project is.
  • Coping strategies for these challenges include taking a leap of faith and staying positive. Your own mindset is important. Also, it is helpful to have an honest conversation with people (e.g., spouse, partner) whoever is financially connected with you to discuss the expectations of your contribution to the household. Additionally, it’s recommended to have savings that cover six months of living expenses.

Starting Your Business

  • Figure out your niche, know your expertise and what you want to try out.
  • Don’t underestimate how much you know.
  • Consider joining professional organizations in your field and volunteering to serve in a leadership role.
  • Make use of peer support groups or peer mentoring groups.
  • Practice talking about yourself, your niche and expertise.
  • Build genuine connections, and let people know you are looking for subcontracting opportunities.

Winning Clients

  • Finding clients is similar to job searching because in both you benefit when you develop relationships with people.
  • Know your business model– B2B (business-to-business) or B2C (business-to-customer).
  • Building relationships is crucial for establishing credibility and winning trust, which can lead to your next client.
  • To find connections, make use of LinkedIn. Browse people’s profiles in your second-degree connections and reach out to those with whom you share common interests and ask for a virtual coffee chat.
  • During your informational interview (also called “coffee chat”), it’s important to connect on a human level and find shared interests rather than focusing on pitching your business. Wait until the end of the call to let them know your search for partnership. If they are interested, then set up a follow up meeting to discuss how you can partner. At your meeting, practice active listening to their needs, and suggest solutions as needed.
  • To maintain connection, consider free offerings to make a good reason to reconnect. Pick a free offering such as a workshop that aligns with your own interests and personality to ensure it feels authentic.
  • As long as you consistently do marketing or outreach, you will get a client.

Gains from Grad School That Are Helpful for Entrepreneurship in Consulting

  • Skills include technical skills, critical thinking, problem solving, content area expertise, writing skills, public speaking, and teaching.
  • Facilitation skills, which are developed from teaching experience through facilitating group discussion, are useful for leading strategic planning sessions in board meetings to help clients clarify their thoughts and goals.

Unlearning from Your Grad School Training

  • Avoid being overly critical and focus on leveraging the client’s strengths to help them achieve their aspirations.
  • Value things about yourself that are not always valued in graduate school.
  • Use your client’s language to communicate in ways that resonate with them.
  • It takes repeated efforts to practice how to transfer your dissertation to something that makes the client click.

Other Tips

  • Contracts are often drafted by the client within their policies. It’s worthwhile working with a lawyer for the first few contracts until you understand and feel comfortable negotiating the legal terms on your own.
  • To learn about the jargons and cultures common to the field, reach out and ask people, recognizing that people are also learning, and they are happy to help.

Resources on Entrepreneurship

By Damiao Zoe Xu
Damiao Zoe Xu Graduate Assistant, Graduate Student and Postdoc Career Programs and Services (She/Her/Hers)
Send Email