Of course, I started at 14. You’ may need to put an LLC in your parents name, if you get that far, but absolutely. Better to start young, try a bunch of different business, see you you like. Your at the age you can take risks and learn.
Experience. I’m in logistics, and there are so many problems within that industry I have ideas about, but after starting my first company and knowing all the hard work I went through I don’t have the time to do it again. Pick an industry, learn about it, after understanding the industry you will find opportunities.
For example, 15 yrs ago I worked at a mattress company. We were spending hundreds on customer returns to get the mattresses returned. I had an idea to start a company that would pick up the returned mattresses for free for the business, in exchange for letting me sell them online used. I never went through with it and now there are several of these making really good money.
Problem was the business had to spend a lot of money on these returns and it was a hassle. Solution was to alleviate that for them, saving them tens of thousands of dollar.
I’ve always been told: Do what you do best, outsource the rest. If your an entrepreneur focus on that. Outsource the development work to a developer… If you have no experience in development, probably not going to turn out to well compared to a professional. Let them do the work if you have the funds to bank roll it.
We manufacturer products overseas and sell on our website and Amazon. Used to make 20% margins pre-covid. Then all our costs went up. Once your vendors increase prices, its very hard to get them back down. Luckily ocean freight is back down, but FedEx keeps upping the rates, our 3PL keeps upping the rates, Amazon upping rates, etc. We are at a 10% margin. As a startup its common to have 20-50%+ margins. Once you get big, 10-15% is considered good. At least in this industry…
There is no such thing as competition. (Aside from commodities). I started a towel company several years ago. Sold the towels for $50/piece. I was always told, "Why would you start that if I can go to Walmart and get a towel for $4). Sold the company for millions. Its not about competition. I was not a towel company, I was a marketing company. As long as you pick a product that can be brandable, explain its benefits in a compelling way, and market it, it will sell. Starting a successful company is 90% marketing. Story telling. Branding. Advertising.