Mr

Entrepreneurship is a well-known and well-studied phenomenon today. Since the inception of the term Ð''entreprendre' in French in the Middle Ages when it was translated as "between-taker or go between", entrepreneurship has received continuous and enormous attention in both scholarly and policy circles. It takes great courage and other exceptional qualities, or "aptitudes" for a person to venture out of the comfort zone. Such individuals are clearly entrepreneurial in that they have taken extraordinary risks and calculations to engage in businesses differently. Entrepreneurship is therefore more than the initial quality of owners to start business venturing; more importantly, it is about the exceptional qualities required in the processes of both creating and sustaining particular business ventures. In this paper, we will be discussing the issues and challenges that undergraduates may face if they choose the entrepreneurial route, now and three years down.

1. Time and Commitment

Burdened with ever-mounting tutorials, projects and reports to submit, an undergraduate's life is full of tight schedules and datelines. In comparison with a working adult, an undergraduate's workload is really not of much of a difference. And just like a working adult, the filial piety responsibility of looking after elderly parents and helping to ease the family's financial load may also lie on the shoulder of the undergraduate.

For some undergraduates, a source of financial income for university tuition fees and daily pocket allowance may come in scholarships or part-time jobs. For those undergraduates who accepted a scholarship, the company may call on the undergraduate to work for the company during the holidays, and after graduating, he will have to serve an average bond of 4-6 working years with the company. Additional to that, some companies may terminate an undergraduate's scholarship if the undergraduate is found to be building up a business (moonlighting) while serving the scholarship bond.

For the other undergraduates who do part-time jobs for income, most of their available free time would be spent on earning money for their daily allowance and pay for their reference study materials. The remaining time available is really too scarce to even consider setting up a business.

Among the odds there are still some who would consider setting up a business. Some have decided to start by selling their own invention. The process of getting a valid patent for their invention is time consuming and often frustrating. The undergraduate will have to sieve through the thousands of registered patents and draft a valid patent which does not infringe an existing patent. Additional to that, the undergraduate will have to regularly look out for other companies infringing or creating a similar yet uniquely distinct patent to ride on their invention's concept. The time needed for such protection isn't what most undergraduate can afford, thus most undergraduate turn to retailer sales as their main business.

Though retail business does not require time in getting and protecting a patent, it does require time to build, startup and run. Building and setting up a business will require a substantial amount of time and effort. Undergraduates will have to frequently do research on their competitors and suppliers, so as to stay ahead of the competition.

Therefore the time spent on setting up a successful business is something that few undergraduates can afford, nevertheless it is essential for potential business starters to know and understand the time and effort needed to build and sustain a business, before even making their first move while pursing their education. The entrepreneurial student would have to balance time spent on the business and his studies well so as to do well in both.

2. Financial Factors

Another challenge that faces undergraduates of today as they start off as an entrepreneur is the capital required to start off their business venture. Fuelled only by passion and creativity, undergraduates come to a sudden jolt realizing that seed money is hard to find. This seed money is money that they would need to commercialize their company, giving their huge dreams a small baby step.

Capital is needed in all areas. As the old saying goes Ð''' Money is needed to make more money''. If one is looking to get into a conventional business such as retail, money is needed to first rent the shop space, then to buy the goods to stock up the store and even money to advertise their new business or the products that they are carrying. If the venture they are looking to get into is a service business, then money would be needed to create the necessary infrastructure for their business to run. Money may also be needed for them to patent any of the ideas and products that they have.

But as we all realized at a very young age, money does not grow on trees, one has to work to get it .So where does the average undergraduate with no financial backing look to fulfill their entrepreneurial dreams?

Many would first turn to their wealthy parents. In the hypothetical and optimistic scenario, most parents seeing the dreams and fire burning in their children's eyes would help however they can. At this time, most of their parents would be in the prime of their lives already but would go to the bank and draw out whatever amount they can afford to spare. This interest-free loan is appealing and is normally promptly followed by a quick promise to return the money the moment that the venture starts making money. But most businesses do not become successful, which is especially if it is the first one the entrepreneur is starting. Undergraduates after a while could find themselves in a predicament when their business drops or even fail but more importantly, their parents' retirement fund could be reduced.

Secondly, they may turn to the bank. But banks do not just lend money to anyone. The bank would require at least a minimum annual income to determine how much loan they would lend to a customer. But an undergraduate probably does not have that. He has no or little income and little working experience. A second way, they would lend a customer money is if the undergraduate can find a guarantor or put something down as a guarantee. Looking back to their parents would be a normal response.

Some may consider investors. That may sound like "playing" with other people's money. However, investors have much to worry when their money is in the hands of a young undergraduate. Those with little experience in business and no track record with only a paper qualification and a good idea would normally find it hard to get capital

...