But despite finding success as an academic breakaway, the business leader said it's not a path she recommends to other would-be entrepreneurs., referring to the many students who ask her if they should quit college to start a company.
"What people don't see is that we actually dabbled in this for a while before coming out to take that leap of faith to start," said theentrepreneur, who originally started Love, Bonito as a fashion blogshop with friends during her school years. I knew we had to strike while the iron was hot. And if the business were to fail, back then, I was still young enough to go back to school.Indeed, it was several years of iterating the business — taking it from selling their unwanted items to importing clothes from overseas, and even fashioning their own designs — before she made the move.
"In those three, four years while in school, dabbling with the business, we learned a lot about the industry: What's lacking in the market, if we were to come in, how we can fulfill the need," said Lim, who positions Love, Bonito as a tech-first fashion brand for "modern Asian women." Eventually, in 2009, with just eight months of her teaching degree remaining, Lim quit university to take the business full-time.to pay off the debt. But the then-21-year-old said momentum had grown around her business to such a point that she was convinced the timing was right."I knew we had to strike while the iron was hot," Lim continued. "And if the business were to fail, back then, I was still young enough to go back to school.