Before You Start a Business, Do an Internship

Filed in archive Bootstrapper Tips on April 4, 2009

Before you start a business, you can gain a lot of insight into you new industry or market by doing an internship in a business in the same sector of your economy. That was the advice of Karen E. Klein at BusinessWeek last month. She called it an "inexpensive way to avoid mistakes when you launch your own venture."

The problem, however, is that internship hiring is "tanking," according to Lindsey Gerdes in that same issue of Businessweek.

Klein quotes UVA's Dr. Edward Hess:

"You will learn about the industry supply chain, the key industry financial metrics, why customers buy certain products, and the competition's products," says Edward D. Hess, professor of business administration at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business. "You will learn about the plumbing of a business: The infrastructure of quality, financial, HR, and customer management processes, controls, and information systems. All of this will make your transition to entrepreneurship easier. Work hard and learn everything you can," he says

Gerdes says that there are still paid internships out there, and that some companies are actually increasing internships as they cut back on permanent hires.


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