LET'S JAN BEDNAR IN FULL!

A couple of years ago,/ I visited the Immigration Museum/ at Ellis Island, New York. // I saw a quote on the wall/ that somehow stuck with me/ until this day.// And it goes something like this. // Before I moved to the U.S., / I've heard that the streets are paved with gold. //When I got here, / I found out three things. // First,/the streets were not paved with gold.// Second, / the streets were not paved at all. // And third, / I was expected to pave them. // The reason why the quote resonates with me so much is because it reminds me of how difficult a life can be when you move into a foreign country without speaking the language, having any friends, / or having any... knowing the culture.// When I was 17 years old,/ I had a huge dream of moving into the U.S.,/ finish school, / and start a business. // And now I am happy to say that I finally fulfilled my dream / of starting a business,/ as I've run my business for about a year.//// I now employ 15 people,/ and we've just hit $1.5 million in revenue. // I'm not the most seasoned entrepreneur out there, /but I do want to share three key pieces of advice that have helped me/ succeed / as a college entrepreneur. // The number one thing/ to starting any business/ is to find a problem.//// Might... It might sound easier than it is. // But finding a problem is the key ingredient/ to starting any business. // Now, you might wonder, / how do I find / a problem?// Well, start with yourself.// Start with your hobbies and the things you like to do. // Do you like traveling? // Do you like sports?/ You like video games? / Either one of these things, there's/ a bunch of challenges that surround that particular hobby / that might be waiting for your business idea. // When you do come up with a solution,/ you want to talk to the community / and your friends,/ and see if they would use it,/ if they would like that business,/ and how much they would pay for it. // Once you get to that point,/ you've got something.// I was lucky.// When I was a sophomore in college, / I was approached by a friend of mine who's asked me / to buy an Under Armour t-shirt for him/ here in the U.S. and ship it to the Czech Republic.// I didn't really understand why he's asking me to do this, / so I started doing some research.// It turns out / there's a lot of businesses here in the States that don't ship products internationally/ or don't accept foreign payments. // On the other hand, I knew there's millions of people /that don't have access to the same products,/ and so I started a business.////I paid a friend of mine a hundred dollars/ to create a very basic website for me / that would basically explain to people / how to buy from the U.S., / and I would ship it to them overseas. // I ran that business for a couple of months,/ and it wasn't until four months before graduation / where I've heard of the FAU Business Plan Competition / and the $250,000 prize pool/ that you can win. // At that point,/ I knew I'm in. // The problem was / I had no idea how to write a business plan or how to present in front of a large audience, / so I knew I needed to get help.// I found out about the free seminars that / Florida Atlantic University was offering / to young startups / to help them write business plans.// So I started attending these seminars, and that's where I came across/ a very strange term to me at the time/ that's called mentorship. // The reason why I say it's strange is because /mentorship is a concept of/ experienced business people that have been there, they have done it,/ they have successfully / started, launched, exited businesses, / and now they want to help/ people, young people like myself,/ to get their business to the next level/ for free.// Now that's the biggest catch. / That's the thing that I couldn't understand. // I couldn't understand / how somebody would volunteer their time for free / and not want anything for it. // The reason why I don't understand it or didn't understand it / was because coming from a post-communist country, you get nothing for free,/ and then when you do, /there's usually a catch.//

LET'S UNDERSTAND!

1. What were the three things the speaker discovered upon arriving in the U.S.?

2. According to the speaker, what is the number one thing to consider when starting any business?

3. How did the speaker come up with the idea for their business?

4. Why did the speaker find the concept of mentorship strange initially?

5. In your opinion, how beneficial is it for college students to start a business while still in school?

Do you think it's a feasible option for most students?

LET'S RECAP!