Every year, countless students from all majors flow through the IDEA office, looking for advice to jump-start their plans for a venture startup. From business plans to investment options, all parts of a student-run venture are crucial for liftoff.

To start the semester, we put together a list of 12 venture “must-dos” for rising student entrepreneurs!

1. Talk to customers.  Many entrepreneurs are in love with their product ideas. They trick themselves into believing that the world will beat their way to their door and purchase their products.  There is nothing more humbling than a conversation with a target customer who does not NEED what an entrepreneur spends his or her nights dreaming about.  But that input will sink in and with time, will come better and more innovative products.

2. Gotta have team.  Great products and great markets are not enough. Every venture needs to have a strong core team and a network of trusted suppliers who can accomplish all of the milestones that lie in front of it. All members of the team need to have a clear understanding of their roles. Strong teams accept the leadership of the CEO because he or she has empowered the team to do their jobs.

~ Dan Gregory, IDEA Faculty Advisor

3. Conduct as much market research as possible.  Identify your typical consumer and quantify how many there are, how many you can reach, and how much revenue can be generated from this consumer base. Also, know your competition. Understand the facets of their business that differentiate them from you and other competitors, their prices, costs, and offerings. 

4. Know the cost. Knowing the cost of pieces that go into the product or service is crucial. This will allow you to know whether you are paying too much for a component when buying from a third party and give you a huge competitive advantage.

~ James Gorman, Head Coach

5. Hire people smarter than you. There is no shame in not being the smartest person in your startup. Hiring people or recruiting people smarter than you can only continue to drive your venture to the top.

6. Don’t be afraid to tell others about your idea. People are commonly afraid to let others know about there idea. The chances are very slim that they will run off and try to compete with you. Realistically, they will let you know things that you may not see yourself.

~ Chris Wolfel, CEO

7. Network with others. Surround yourself with people you find interesting. Conversations with this group not only develop your own thoughts, but tap massive collaborative potential as well. If they can’t help you, they probably have a friend that will. Invest in these relationships today.

8. Persist. At first, the best ideas typically don’t make sense to most people. Don’t let this deter you. Work hard to gain traction. Success is a function of effort and failed attempts. Keep at it.

9. Listen. It’s easy to only notice what we want to notice. Do your best to remain objective. A slight tweak in your target market or product utility might be holding you back from exponential success.

~ Matthew Saitta, Investment Officer

10. Build and test the product. Most ventures make the mistake of building a product or service they want to make and assume will be a hit. Instead they should be focused on building an idea, testing that idea with consumers, and then building an evolved product or service around what the market demands.

11. Finance. Finance. Finance. Many new ventures fail to grasp the financial side of building a business model. Explosive growth or unrealistic revenue and profit projections is not what is important to potential investors.  Having conservative projections that show a long-term path to profit, but also fit in line with the strategic goals and milestones of the business model is much more important.

12. Passion goes a long way. Technology today has created a resurgent entrepreneurship spirit across the world and has thus created a very competitive environment full of great ideas. The environment makes it even harder and scarier for a new venture to become successful. But one thing stands true – there is no substitute for passion and hard work. Staying determined and undeterred when hardship likely comes can sometimes be the difference of a successful venture.

~ Mark Ferrara, Investment Analyst

IDEA: Northeastern’s Venture Accelerator was featured on MSNBC’s ‘Your Business’, presented by American Express OPEN Forum. The five minute segment, which aired on September 23, featured members of the IDEA management team, as well as ventures influences@, Annie Mulz, and Willō Cocktails.

The MSNBC crew visited Northeastern this past July when they interviewed IDEA CEO Chris Wolfel, Faculty Advisor Dan Gregory, and founders of several IDEA ventures over a period of three days.

After airing nationwide, the segment was published on American Express’ YouTube and OPEN Forum channels. They highlighted IDEA by saying:

Each week MSNBC’s Your Business features experts to share their secrets for improving your business. This week, there are quite a few educational opportunities available for current and future entrepreneurs, but one program in particular stands out. It’s a venture accelerator at Boston’s Northeastern University that’s run entirely by college students. The organization has the right idea when it comes to advising small business owners and getting them some funding to grow their companies.

Click here to view the segment!

“There’s nothing we would rather do than escape the day-to-day routine, take off into the unknown, and travel.”

Sounds like a dream, right? Escaping from everyday life and into the wonders of the universe has become a daily reality for the creators of Off The Grid Excursions.

After graduating from college, OTG founders – Jaclyn, Jen, Nick, and Charlie – found themselves settling into what they describe as the “real world.” They soon found the thing they cherished most was missing: travel. Sharing a passion to show other young Americans that traveling off-the-beaten-path is a necessity for life, the five founders left their day jobs and made a huge leap of faith: to create an exotic travel company.

Off The Grid Excursions was born.

They jumped head first into creating the business – literally. The founders selected four of their favorite destinations and spent a month in each one tasting the food, meeting locals, and discovering the top sights and hidden gems. This set the stage for crafting the best experience for their future customers.

Three key components set Off The Grid apart from other tour companies:

Truly local experiences: Local leaders who were born and raised in the areas lead all trips. With the expertise of the tour guide, travelers have the opportunity to visit the best places to eat and sites to see – those that only locals know of. OTG makes sure the experience isn’t just visiting, it’s getting the “inside scoop” and exploring!

Small group sizes: To maintain the incredible experience travelers receive, groups sizes are kept between 4 to 16 people. OTG wants to provide a close group setting and ensure an “off-the-beaten-path” vibe.

Making travel affordable: OTG works directly with a variety of vendors in each of their exotic destinations. All restaurants, hotels, and transportation are coordinated individually by OTG. This way, prices are kept lower by bypassing travel agent fees and commission. And because this is group travel, it’s more cost efficient than adventuring alone.

Off The Grid Excursions was officially launched this year on July 25. To celebrate months of hard work and exciting opportunities to come, they held a launch party and gave away a trip for two to one of the four destinations. The event proved successful as they acquired nearly 2,500 new customer leads and sold 30 trips.

OTG says that none of this would have been possible without IDEA’s unparalleled support and resources.

“IDEA has been an instrumental part of the process in getting Off The Grid Excursions up and running. We have not encountered any other organization that provides holistic help for startups. IDEA introduced OTG and other entrepreneurs to sources of capital and secure financing. They also provided a network of business contacts, one-on-one coaching, opportunities to gain brand awareness, and a community of entrepreneurs to share ideas. Where else can you get all that!”

Off The Grid Excursions is currently offering a $100 discount per person for those traveling in 2013. Current destinations include Thailand, Belize,Peru, and Morocco. Visit Off The Grid Excursions to learn more!

Encore Realty, officially launching from IDEA yesterday, was built with a focus on educating undergraduates and young professionals throughout the real estate process.

As CMO Brian Kitchens explains, these groups are traditionally left unheard throughout the rental process, as many Boston real estate offices are “ineffective in relationship building within this target demographic.

While other offices may take advantage of these inexperienced renters, Encore sees the value of transparent real estate transactions.

In further contrast to their competitors, Encore has developed exclusive relationships with landlords throughout Boston, who are “pleased to accept educated clients, as expectations are clearly defined…avoiding any foreseeable problems.”

Encore’s relationship with IDEA: Northeastern’s Venture Accelerator began in the early stages of planning after another venture recommended IDEA’s services. Brian describes IDEA as demonstrating a “clear understanding of launching businesses”, as well as offering access to a variety of helpful resources. In fact, Encore’s team decided at that point to “stitch IDEA’S methodology into the fiber of their business.”

While confident with the talent of their team members, Encore was initially inexperienced with incorporating this talent into a working business plan. IDEA guided the team through a formal planning process that broke down the business into fundamentals, allowing the whole team to fully understand the business and thus learning to manage it efficiently.

Furthermore, the framework from the IDEA business-planning guide challenged the team to address and find answers for every facet of their business. Finally, working with IDEA allowed the team to “solve their role definition challenges,” forming the foundation for “sustainable and cohesive business operations.”

Since working on their launch, Encore has successfully completed their first season, “surpassing many milestones and further building the brand.” Their team of talented agents continues to contribute to their efforts. However, competing businesses and changes in the market environment can arise. For Encore, IDEA has become a “sounding board to help manage this challenge.”

With the help of IDEA, Encore’s team of motivated and ambitious business professionals was able to not only establish clear goals and objectives, but also to meet these goals within a much quicker time frame than they had originally anticipated.

Encore Realty was born when Brian and his team “identified an achievable industry opportunity.” IDEA served as a “catalyst” to help make this opportunity a reality and continues to provide support and guidance. As such, the Encore team is “quite excited” to continue working with IDEA throughout the next stages of their business and beyond.

Next month, Boston will be the center stage for the 3^rd annual Boston Regional Entrepreneurship Week (BREW). The 12-day event, hosted from October 15-26, is organized to involve and connect student entrepreneurs and professionals in the Greater Boston community.

BREW began in 2010 as a celebration of the entrepreneurial sector Boston has to offer. In October, nearly 100 events will be held during BREW, varying from breakfast sessions to panel discussions and networking sessions to ceremonies. All events with an entrepreneurial focus can be included on the BREW calendar.

IDEA: Northeastern’s Venture Accelerator, will be hosting NEXPO on October 17 at Northeastern’s Cabot Athletic Center. NEXPO is a great way for IDEA ventures to showcase their own work and bounce back ideas from other entrepreneurs – ventures will be on the floor, previewing their businesses to industry professionals and fellow peers. This event brings together not only those from Northeastern, but students from other schools and professionals in the Boston area. Visit nexpo.eventbrite.com to learn more!

IDEA is also helping coordinate the BREW CEO Lunch program. CEOs from Boston-based companies are invited to participate in a one-on-one session with a student or entrepreneur – this includes executives from Panera Bread, Constant Contact, Zipcar, and many more! Those interested can review the list of CEOs and submit a form to have the chance to learn from successful entrepreneurs!

BREW is also highlighting companies that are assisting local businesses succeed by introducing the Spotlight program. This year, they are recognizing Interise, NFTE, and Merrimack Valley Sandbox Initiative. On October 15, BREW will host a fundraiser with Contact Contact to benefit these three organizations.

The Boston Regional Entrepreneurship Week is dedicated to bringing the local entrepreneurship community together and cultivating the minds of young entrepreneurs. Keep up-to-date at brewboston.org for continuing updates and remember to mark your calendars for October 15!