Ok, so I've been flirting with the idea of becoming an entrepreneur since I was a senior in high school. I'm turning 20 in 3 weeks & entering my junior year of college. I was in the campus library reading this book.
Them, the epiphany hit me like a Marvin Hagler jab
Nascent business owners see these big Fortune 500 corporations with numerous departments & different services & decide to blow their brain out of their skull trying to come up with some foolproof, complicated tech company & an accompanied corny ass Silicon Valley-esque name, and get VC dollar signs in their eyes and see themselves in the future ringing the bell at the NYSE.
THAT ISN'T HOW IT'S DONE
First off, you have to scan your hobbies & favorite things to do. Many people/guides say look at the growing industries, or adding value to a product/service that you use everyday. I say no, because when you do something that you love, it won't feel like work.
Secondly, decide what type of business you want to run. For example, let's say you love the game of basketball.
-Do you want a service business, where you monetize your love for the sport, like becoming a private coach & teach little kids/high schoolers the basics? How to dribble, how to shoot with proper form, how to position for rebounds, how to pass the ball & spot opportunities for teammates to score, how to play on-ball defense, how to set yourself up to get in position for a block? You can have a basic 6 month course, and have the parents sign a contract for $50 a month for each month, and in the end have the player go through a rigorous exam to test them on their skills or something, lol. That's a service based business.
-Do you want a merchandising/distribution business, where you buy goods wholesale, markup the price, then sell them for a profit? A la opening a retail store that sells basketballs & basketball accessories, like headbands, sweatbands, sleeves, compression shorts, that type of thing. That's a distribution based business.
-Do you want to be a manufacturing business, where you actually create the product? Like creating your own armband contraption thingamajigg that forces you to shoot with proper form? Or creating a basketball that has better grip then Spalding? That's a manufacturing business.
-You of course can also start a hybrid business, where it is a combo of the aforementioned business types. For example, Nike creates their own shoes & sells them in Nike stores. Apple creates MacBooks & sells them in Apple stores. You can create the basketball & open up a store that sells your basketball.
Finally, the last yet most important thing & the reason I created this thread: KEEP YOUR IDEA SIMPLE
Everyone wants to come up with some complicated product guaranteed to beat Apple/Facebook/Amazon. These 3 companies started off as simple ideas and eventually grew through them paying attention to the market changing & implementing new services/products into their company to keep up with the change, or acquiring innovative companies and implementing their new idea into their old product/business.
Jobs & Wozniak started Apple to sell the computers they made in Jobs's garage.
Zuckerberg started Facebook so Harvard students could learn about other kids at the school by showing a picture & basic info about them. It was basically taking an actual "Face Book" found at many colleges' residence halls and putting it on the Internet.
Jeff Bezos started Amazon because he witnessed the dotcom boom of the 90s & how Internet usage was growing at the time and wanted a piece of the action, so he started an online bookstore.
When looking at prospective ideas, you must amke sure that it is easy to communicate, produce & sell. It should make sense to consumers, buyers & vendors, and it should fit easily into their lives, their stores, and their operations. Basically, make a product that is simple to understand.
To be honest, the actual product is only 15-20% of what makes a company successful, as long as it is fairly good quality or better quality/features than your competition you're OK. THE TWO BIGGEST FACTORS INTO A BUSINESS'S SUCCESS ARE MARKETING AND LUCK.
One last thing I should say. This is a quote from someone else but I can't remember who, so I'll just say it myself. The best companies weren't founded for money, they were founded because the founder wanted to turn his hobby into his career. Peace!
Tl;dr-Look at what you like to do, find a way to monetize it, and make sure that method is SIMPLE.
Them, the epiphany hit me like a Marvin Hagler jab
Nascent business owners see these big Fortune 500 corporations with numerous departments & different services & decide to blow their brain out of their skull trying to come up with some foolproof, complicated tech company & an accompanied corny ass Silicon Valley-esque name, and get VC dollar signs in their eyes and see themselves in the future ringing the bell at the NYSE.
THAT ISN'T HOW IT'S DONE
First off, you have to scan your hobbies & favorite things to do. Many people/guides say look at the growing industries, or adding value to a product/service that you use everyday. I say no, because when you do something that you love, it won't feel like work.
Secondly, decide what type of business you want to run. For example, let's say you love the game of basketball.
-Do you want a service business, where you monetize your love for the sport, like becoming a private coach & teach little kids/high schoolers the basics? How to dribble, how to shoot with proper form, how to position for rebounds, how to pass the ball & spot opportunities for teammates to score, how to play on-ball defense, how to set yourself up to get in position for a block? You can have a basic 6 month course, and have the parents sign a contract for $50 a month for each month, and in the end have the player go through a rigorous exam to test them on their skills or something, lol. That's a service based business.
-Do you want a merchandising/distribution business, where you buy goods wholesale, markup the price, then sell them for a profit? A la opening a retail store that sells basketballs & basketball accessories, like headbands, sweatbands, sleeves, compression shorts, that type of thing. That's a distribution based business.
-Do you want to be a manufacturing business, where you actually create the product? Like creating your own armband contraption thingamajigg that forces you to shoot with proper form? Or creating a basketball that has better grip then Spalding? That's a manufacturing business.
-You of course can also start a hybrid business, where it is a combo of the aforementioned business types. For example, Nike creates their own shoes & sells them in Nike stores. Apple creates MacBooks & sells them in Apple stores. You can create the basketball & open up a store that sells your basketball.
Finally, the last yet most important thing & the reason I created this thread: KEEP YOUR IDEA SIMPLE
Everyone wants to come up with some complicated product guaranteed to beat Apple/Facebook/Amazon. These 3 companies started off as simple ideas and eventually grew through them paying attention to the market changing & implementing new services/products into their company to keep up with the change, or acquiring innovative companies and implementing their new idea into their old product/business.
Jobs & Wozniak started Apple to sell the computers they made in Jobs's garage.
Zuckerberg started Facebook so Harvard students could learn about other kids at the school by showing a picture & basic info about them. It was basically taking an actual "Face Book" found at many colleges' residence halls and putting it on the Internet.
Jeff Bezos started Amazon because he witnessed the dotcom boom of the 90s & how Internet usage was growing at the time and wanted a piece of the action, so he started an online bookstore.
When looking at prospective ideas, you must amke sure that it is easy to communicate, produce & sell. It should make sense to consumers, buyers & vendors, and it should fit easily into their lives, their stores, and their operations. Basically, make a product that is simple to understand.
To be honest, the actual product is only 15-20% of what makes a company successful, as long as it is fairly good quality or better quality/features than your competition you're OK. THE TWO BIGGEST FACTORS INTO A BUSINESS'S SUCCESS ARE MARKETING AND LUCK.
One last thing I should say. This is a quote from someone else but I can't remember who, so I'll just say it myself. The best companies weren't founded for money, they were founded because the founder wanted to turn his hobby into his career. Peace!
Tl;dr-Look at what you like to do, find a way to monetize it, and make sure that method is SIMPLE.
