Hello, I hope all is well. I am an 18 year old that is looking to start a business. I have dipped into the service providing area in July where I was supposed to make websites for people but I ended up doing a free trial creating videos for a possible client. I ended up stopping that. Wasn’t leading me to earning income.
My main question here is, what would you tell your 18 year old self to start? I truly like the idea of having an online business. I am in Computer Science at the moment for school and I was thinking of getting into saas. But I also see tons of different videos on different businesses to start. I just want to mention, I do not have shiny object syndrome. I am just interested in starting & getting advice from anyone.
Also, one thing I see often is, dropshipping, smma(which I tried to go in on), trading and Amazon fba. I see this everywhere. I don’t know if truly you can make a large sum of income from it or it’s just the courses that help them.
I started learning about business at 15 where I started a YouTube automation channel and later stopped that. Then got into cutting hair for others. And ever since I have turned 18 I have been learning a lot more on stocks, credit, as well as retirement plans. But truly retirement isn’t my end goal. I just like idea of working towards something.
So if anyone that is in the business areas I have mentioned I’d be open to hear your perspective from it and any perspective from others as well.
A food business
I’d say go with your gut.
Manage your risks. If you’re on a low budget or don’t have a cashflow coming in, don’t pursue risky businesses where you have to invest a significant amount of money up front in order to make them work.
Think of opportunities where you can have the lowest start up cost with the highest return.
For example: Freelancing Dropshipping or affiliate marketing with free traffic.
to gain experience and skills, it doesn’t have to be in an industry or business model that is hyped up.
I would’ve continued with what you’re doing, Youtube Automation. Or something else with Youtube. This is most likely very long term though.
I would advice to look at what you enjoy, or get a hobby if you can’t find anything, and build a business around that. For example I like driving cars on track, and I now make car parts for track cars. If you can fill a gap then you have a high chance to succeed.
Since you’re doing CS, you can also try to get into game making. Maybe make youtube videos around that. Lots of options really.
You’re still young and you probably live at home so now is the time to try things, by the time you finish school and get a job you’re already stuck.
my parents always used to tell me -if there is something that you just cannot understand why others are so bad at, that’s the thing that I am good at ,therefore what I need to sell.
So not so much what business but pick one thing and stick to it.
In your first paragraph you mention doing 2 things already and stopping. Not calling you out as Ive started and stopped many many things when perhaps just sticking with one of those would have worked out way better.
Business is essentially a service. Serving people. So self discovery of what you like to do for people is crucial. I don’t know what that is for you. And it will take a lot of trial and error. Lose quickly and move on until you find what’s right will be my advice.
Is it normal to ask such question while you’re 18 years old instead of living your youth
Business starts with the social interaction and social relations. It is one of the chief factor to start business cauz it the the communication and interaction that come people together. It is so important to build connections cauz that will aid you in the initial face of you business.
The most boring businesses make the most money. I sold a graduate recruitment company at 19 because I was great at marketing to students. Also you can start something as boring as a cleaning company and specialise in offices or Airbnbs and make £5k plus a month in a matter of no time
In the beginning, you will not know what you love. It is your grinding away at it and getting better that makes a lot of people fall in love with their industry.
Id tell my 18 year old self education is more important.
The business plan is buy-and-hold real estate at fixed rate debt. Nothing fancy no flipping and no partnerships until experienced. Go to school for an associates degree in business. Do that part-time and prioritize the most relevant classes (graduating doesn’t matter, learning does). Simultaneously get a real estate license to be forced to learn about the industry (not a goal as a job). Consider pushing through to broker level. Attend investor meet ups. Consider taking a part time job as a property manager. Through real estate or whatever job you can get while going to school and building real estate skills, save money for your first house hack as quickly as possible. Plan out your strategy in advance so you can continue repeating that process. Re-invest the snowball into more property. Build your real estate portfolio beyond financial independence by the time you’re in your mid 30s. You are now at another decision point.
Buy bitcoins