Young entreprenuer looking for guidance & assistance.

Hello all,

I am going to start my first year of college in the fall and plan to major in Entreprenuership. I would like some help on knowing what is actually the daily life of someone who owns their own company. I would also like to start my own small business before i start college to get a feel of things and have minimal knowledge before starting the journey. (would LOVE help for this as well)

 

Everybody's daily lives differ considerably! I have a few websites and blogs and I juggle working on those with having a full time job. So my day looks a lot different than the next person. One thing I do know - it's a lot of work!

What kind of job were you thinking of starting? Probably one of the simplest things to start is to build an authority niche website or blog on a topic you really love. But other great businesses include creating apps, starting an etsy store, building themes (word press, tumblr, shopify), stock photography. I guess it all depends what you're looking for in a business!

 

Do not expect to get much sleep, every waking minute you are developing and marketing your business. Pick something simple. Take your time.

 

My advice would be to find something that you're passionate about. That way it doesn't feel like work. Also be prepared to face a lot of rejection, but don't quit. Some of the largest franchises in the U.S. were started by people who were to "NO" hundreds of times. Depending on the type of business you want to start you may need some liquid capital too, so save your pennies or buddy up with like minded people who can be investors.
The best way to find out what it was like for some of the op entrepreneurs in the world is to read some of their books to see what they experienced.

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You've already received great advice. The idea that you should live, eat, breathe, sleep your business is absolutely correct. Your business must completely dominate your life - sounds weird, but it's true. If you have the passion that Rayt64 mentions, this all-encompassing domination will be a very positive thing.

Marketing and selling are probably the two activities that consume 80%+ of the average entrepreneurs' life. He or she is constantly trying to grow the business, reach the next set of goals, and remain solvent. The startup period for each and every business is going to be different, but this "hustle" will generally last for at least a couple of years.

So what exactly is meant by marketing and selling? Literally everything you might think of. From competitive analysis and keeping up with how the industry you are playing in is changing, to forging partnerships with complementary businesses, to testing various pricing and sales models, to inviting everyone you know to try your product or service and then send referrals, to writing guest blogs, to analyzing Website traffic and various sales metrics, and on and on and on and on. It's fun! I'd be lying if I said otherwise. It's also exhausting.

Best of luck to you on your journey!

 

Well, sharpening your skills as early as now would be a good start.
If you want you can start from blogging, something that is easy to do and something you are familiar with. You can use it in the future.
Keep in mind that choosing the right niche for you isn't all about money or how profitable it is. You must consider things like money, your interest and most especially your target market.

 

That is so true Keith, I'm always at my laptop checking this or researching that. Writing and uploading till 4:00 am.

 

You'd be better off finding someone locally i.e. a cabinet / furniture making shop, local bakery or privately owned restaurant and just talking to the owners. Some of them may allow you to hang out with them for a week or so. This will give you a first hand understanding of what's made them successful.

 

Hi,
I would say if you are passionate for some thing and happy to do the work that your doing will always gives you joy when working. My father has Tea estate but I do not like to work full time there, so I like to work more online and create new things like creating and designing websites, so I basically doing what I like to make money.

 

All the above are very true, but it's also worth thinking about what kind of business you want to set up - i don't mean the function of it, but the actual type - depending on where you are in the world (US from your use of "fall"? although i'm just guessing!) there are a fair few types. You need to look at your local options.

There's previously been some discussion on these forums about it, but best link provided (for US) is:
http://biztaxlaw.about.com/od/businessorganizationforms/a/legalbizforms.htm

In effect it's about how engaged you want to be with your first business - there are pros and cons to each type for example an LLC (US equivalent of UK private Ltd) you can put expenses through, but you need to create annual accounts. Least hassle is the Sole Proprietorship (US equivalent of a UK Sole Trader) where you just have to account to the taxman for any trading you do during the period.

Its worth doing a bit of digging and see what suits you and how you want to run it.

Good luck

 

another useful link:
http://www.limitedliabilitycompanycenter.com/llc_vs_corp.htmlhttp://www.limitedliabilitycompanycenter.com/llc_vs_corp.html

the discussion i mentioned is over in the legal forums on this site.

 

Hey Mr. Angelo,
Good to hear that you are starting college and also want to start your own business. I am a PhD student in Marketing with an MBA and two bachelor degrees, I am also a digital marketing manager and have had my hands in 3 start up businesses. Most the advise above are all great and this is so cool that there are absolute strangers out there who are willing to share their life lessons with everybody else.
To be honest there is never a good time nor a bad time to start a business, the only thing is what you want to do? I had students in bachelor level who were trying to open a company and start a business but they just registered a company to do BUSINESS. Business by itself is meaningless unless there is context added to it. As everyone else says this context is what you like or passionate about or even what you CAN do. It's all about planning so you might start with something you might not absolutely love but you can do and you are good at.
Doing a degree in entrepreneurship is a very good start point but remember that will not make you an entrepreneur, it is you and your passion and your hard work that will make an entrepreneur if you want it bad enough. I know a guy who lost everything in his business for deal gone bad. He got up next day and started to look for a land to start his next venture in production. That is passion and guts.
Also please have this in mind that people might be discouraging that doing a degree and working at the same time is not gonna work, well it is difficult for sure but nothing is impossible. I have done it my whole life and others have as well so keep on dreaming and going forward.
Last but not least, please take care of two things, first of all put a side a habit of saving money in a separate bank account that has not debit or credit cards so it is difficult for you to take money out of it. Just keep that small 5% or 10% of your monthly income or even pocket money in it. Second thing is to focus, focus and focus. Focus on something in the field you like, try not to be as general as everybody else. Focus is the key to future, for instance you like production then focus on production of a specific product and become the best that can be in that field.
Google luck
Happy to answer any questions if you have any

 

Thank you guys/gals for all your replies & help. It is greatly appreciated and has definitely help me take some notes on what to expect.

 

Life is not going to be easy, that is what you're going to be hearing. One question though when has it ever been easy. Live by this

Ever tried. Ever Failed No matter Try again fail again fail better

 

just keep focused and never give up no matter how tough times get you will be rewarded in the end goodluck