Entrepreneurship for Creatives is a small program, and we have gotten very close in the last year. We have helped one other build our businesses every step along the way. Our cohort has decided to walk together in this May’s commencement ceremony. We will have two classes to finish in the summer semester after we walk, and that will wrap up our program! It all went by so quickly, but every class in the program has really helped us build our businesses from the ground up.

Columbia Graduate Commencement 2018

As graduation is just around the corner, we are all trying to finalize our business plans and put those plans into action. Walking away from this program, I am very thankful to solidified my business plan, budget predictions, funding options, SBA Loan documents, legal documents, strategic leadership plans, and more! I found the most helpful courses to be the financial forecasting class and the legal class. Financial forecasting helped us to analyze what we needed to start our business and calculate our monthly costs, our break-even point, and how much of an investment was required. In our legal class, we completed a number of documents we would need for our startups, like employee handbooks, non-compete agreements, membership agreements, LLC form application, name registration, and more. 

Overall, I have loved the program. I was able to fit the class meeting times and homework into my schedule while maintaining several other jobs on the side. We have been meeting in person about every three weeks for night classes. I really appreciated the hybrid schedule, and the fast-paced, relevant classes we have taken. Each professor provided a variety of videos, readings, and links to resources to help us get through the weekly content asynchronously. As a musician, my schedule is quite busy with late night studio sessions and last minute events to attend. Being able to complete my homework and all class content on my own has really helped me to be efficient and to balance school, work and music. 

What is next? I have been utilizing Columbia’s Career Center to try to secure a solid job after graduation that I can maintain while finalizing all the details for my business launch. I wasn’t planning to launch my business for a few years, but now I have all the documents and knowledge that I need! Columbia has great resources to help both graduate and undergraduate students find their way through their careers.