Im 18 years old and a freshmen in college. lately ive really been thinking about starting my own business because i want to be the master of my own destiny and make my own money. Where so i start to start my own business?
2007-01-15 07:55:31 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Business & Finance ➔ Small Business
What do you have to offer the world? i.e. product or service. Figure that out, then go through a rigorous business planning process. Most banks have a format usually in a PC form as well. Do your homework well. Sounds boring I know. Make sure you are well capitalised, normally you can reckon on two years to break even. You may be luckier. Get a good accountant and keep accurate records from day one. I could go on and on, but there are many books in the bookstores or libraries, or as I said before have a chat with your small business adviser at your bank. Hope that helps.
2007-01-15 08:05:02 · answer #1 · answered by Peter the Great! 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Think of all your interests & ask yourself if any of those could be expanded into a business. Just keep in mind...what's your expertise? What are your interests? What could you imagine yourself doing?
By researching the prospect of starting your own business -- what it entails, what you need to know, helpful hints, etc -- you'll feel better prepared to take that plunge.
I found some book titles that are relevant to your specific question:
* 101 Internet Businesses You Can Start from Home by Susan Sweeney
* The Best Home Businesses for the 21st Century by Paul Edwards
* Selling Online: How to Become a Successful E-Commerce Merchant by Jim Carroll
* I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was: How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It by Barbara Sher
* I Don't Know What I Want, But I Know It's Not This: A Step-by-Step Guide to Finding Gratifying Work by Julie Jansen
* The Best Internet Businesses You Can Start by Marian Betancourt
* The Shoestring Entrepreneur's Guide to Internet Start-Ups by Robert Spiegel
* Making a Living Without a Job : Winning Ways For Creating Work That You Love by Barbara Winter
I also posted some article links in the source box.
Hope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!
2007-01-16 03:16:18 · answer #2 · answered by TM Express™ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I applaud your spirit...it's rare to see someone your age who understands that you need to take control of your own destiny.
I have a home business in health and wellness that could be an excellent starting point for you. Everything is in place for you to start earning an income and really learn about business, leverage and residual income. It is under $200 USD to get started, and comes with a cutting edge compensation plan as well as training and mentoring including nightly phone calls that are optional but beneficial to building your business.
2007-01-15 17:28:13 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Starting a small business takes a lot of courage. But, as they say, courage does not pay the bills. To be successful – to stay in business – you need more than courage. You need a combination of hard work, skill, perseverance, and lots of luck.
Some things you need to consider:
- "How can I support my family while I build up by business?"
- "What are my abilities?"
- "Is there a market for the product or service I have chosen?"
- "How long will it take this business to reach the financial goal I have?"
One of the first things to resolve is what business to start. The best business will depend on what you want, how you define to be interesting. A person may consider a pet sitting business to be the most exciting work in the world, while another person would rather watch TV than take care of dogs.
The key is to determine what your interests are, what you want to do, what is suitable for your lifestyle and your overall goals, and what can fit with your resources.
Dan Ramsey in his book "101 Best Home Businesses" has a chapter on how to find YOUR best home business. He suggests these 10 steps:
1. List 5 things you do best
2. List how others would benefit from what you do best
3. Find out how to give people what they want
4. Learn the value of your services to others
5. Find out who else offers similar services
6. Learn from the successes of others
7. Learn from the failures of others
8. Plan your own success
9. Make low cost mistakes
10. Enjoy what you do and how you do it
I also recommend the following books on entrepreneurship geared for the young people:
- The Young Entrepreneur's Edge : Using Your Ambition, Independence, and Youth to Launch a Succesful Business (Princeton Review Series) -- by Jennifer Kushell
- The Young Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting and Running a Business : NEW: Use the Internet to jump-start your company; Find out where the money is... and ... ideas, from pet care to public relations; -- by Steve Mariotti
- Upstart Start-Ups!: How 34 Young Entrepreneurs Overcame Youth, Inexperience, and Lack of Money to Create Thriving Businesses by Ron Lieber
- Better Than a Lemonade Stand: Small Business Ideas for Kids (Kid's Books By Kids) by Daryl Bernstein
- How to be a Teenage Millionaire by T.R. Adams
- Whiz Teens In Business by Danielle Valle'E
I suggest you read the following books to get ideas of how to finance your business:
Financing Your Small Business http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1572484500/powerhomebizguid
Small Business Financing: How and Where To Get It http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0808007386/powerhomebizguid
Financing the Small Business: A Complete Guide to Obtaining Bank Loans and All Other Types of Financing http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580626815/powerhomebizguid
The SBA Loan Book http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/158062202X/powerhomebizguid
Angel Capital : How to Raise Early-Stage Private Equity Financing http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471690635/powerhomebizguid
Financing Your Small Business (Barron's Business Library Series) http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764124897/powerhomebizguid
It may help you if you could talk with a small business expert or free mentors to give you ideas on how to make your dream of starting a business come true even without money. Here are some places where you can find a mentor:
- Government Mentoring Programs such as SBDCs, which works with community colleges and local business development councils to offer mentoring programs http://www.sba.gov/sbdc/sbdcnear.html ; or the Women's Network for Entrepreneurial Training http://www.sba.gov/womeninbusiness/wnet_roundtables.html
- Volunteer programs such as SCORE http://www.score.org which is composed of mostly retired executives and entrepreneurs
- Formal mentoring programs such as Athena Foundation http://www.athenafoundation.org/programs/globallinks.html , Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program http://www.helzbergmentoring.org/HEMP/ , or The Aspen Institute MicroMentor Program http://www.micromentor.org
- Professional organizations such as the National Women’s Business Council http://www.nwbc.gov/Mentoring/programs.html
- Industry and trade associations
- Local business groups, such as the chamber of commerce
- Local chapters of business groups
2007-01-15 08:10:45 · answer #4 · answered by imisidro 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Would you be interested in getting involved with a company already in place?
2007-01-15 10:26:33 · answer #5 · answered by gatorgirl 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Go to http://ewebsmith.com for free information
2007-01-16 06:55:55 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
http://www.bradhasquin.com
2007-01-15 08:08:22 · answer #7 · answered by Brad H 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋