One of the concepts I stress to hope-to-be entrepreneurs is that they’re best off starting something, anything, and learning from there. Today, one of the fastest things to start is an online store on eBay/Amazon/Etsy. Even though it’s turnkey, there are so many things to learn: inventory, shipping, taxes, SEO, advertising, gross margins/cost of goods sold, etc. Doing something is a forced learning experience that will help inform if you enjoy it or not, as well as spark new ideas. The best way to find a great idea is to work on any idea first.
Personally, I’ve been starting businesses my entire life. Here are a few I did as a kid before I could be a full-time entrepreneur:
- Hamster Breeding
One day I was talking to the local pet store owner about the dwarf hamster I had and he offered to buy any babies from me for $1. Well, the next thing you know I had dozens of them in my room at home and I was raising hamsters as a little business. Quickly, I realized the limitations and the amount of effort required for little payoff. The business lasted six months. - Shareware Apps
After a friend gave me the book “Teach Yourself C in 21 Days” in 8th grade, I was hooked on computer programming. I built a number of shareware apps and sold them on AOL, CompuServe, and Prodigy. This was a great lesson in dreaming up new product ideas and bringing little apps to market. Customers (Read more…)