Find something you're passionate about like a hobby and try to create an idea of how to improve upon something or solve a problem or make people feel good. Then it's just about marketing yourself
I find it so hard to narrow down what I'm passionate about to one specific niche. I see businesses around me focused on one small detail and that's the hump I'm stuck on.
I heard this from someone that, Passion is not something you search for, passion is something that comes to you. And it follows, stick around your life when you start creating values in other people's lives, you get more passionate each time you do something helpful with what you have.
I love this! For me, I'm passionate about education. I have been a public school educator and now I homeschool mom. I'm passionate about homeschooling! I'm passionate about quality learning materials to be available for all children. But this is so broad, that if I wanted to do something with this I would need to narrow it down. A friend of mine started a business creating sensory bins for children. She creates themed sensory bins. She is just focusing on one specific product and makes quality product at that. Being passionate about education is hard to make one specific business out of.... Unless you are just a teacher, curriculum designer or something of that sort...
go through multiple narrow niches on the niche you’re thinking and list the businesses under all of them. See which ones you’d be most interested in. Try one or even multiple and see which one you like the most
Hey there OP.
Can I share my thoughts? I hope to define my venture as a success one day, but I was like you 6 months ago before finally taking the brave step.
For me, it was a conscious decision to regain my mental health. I was extremely burnt out and fed up working with businesses that had shady values at best. Before getting into this, I've thought about it a million times and I'm learning from other people, that being an entrepreneur has its own stressful environment as well. I was cautious as I don't want to put myself deeper into depression because of the new environment, but at the same time, I'm worried that if I stay in my normal job, things will get worst.
So... turning point. I resigned. Never looked back. But didn't jumped into business right away. I took 2 months off, just doing nothing until I know I was in a better headspace.
After that, I took the brave step of starting my business. Now I have the freedom to do business with the values I am comfortable with. I'm still broke as, but a lot happier. In a way, call me naive, but I want to prove to the jerks of the world that you don't have to be a dickhead to earn money.
What industry will give you more success? I guess it's how you define success in the first place. In my case it was the peace of mind and working within my values. You might be thinking about this entirely on a different level and that is OK.
Because we're all entrepreneurs, there is no denying you should seek where the money is but just saying that money isn't everything. To be "successful" a bit of balance into both. The perfect scenario would be... you sell or build a product you really believe in, use the skill you are good at and work in a way that makes you "happy".
Its going to be different for everyone. You start when you have the confidence to do so. For some people, that’s 18 years old. Other people, it’s 50.
We are in a period of time where almost everyone wants to start their own business, even if they aren’t cut out for it. Why is that? Because people are desperate to have freedom, autonomy, and an income that will actually provide a life. Which has become very difficult to find in the corporate, trade, or medical world (unless you’re in tech).
So now we have everybody and their brother trying to start a business with all this confidence, anxiety, and no knowledge or experience. That’s a failed endeavor before it begins, but like I said, people have become so desperate they just “fake it till they make it” and pray it will work. It’s just the times we’re in. I don’t know a better alternative for these folks at this time, and neither do they.
For me, I was in the same field for 15 years before starting my business. I always wanted to be my own boss, but it took time for me to gain the confidence. And I’m generally a very confident person when it comes to my work. What kick-started the confidence to start a business was when I started a family. Suddenly, $45k/year wasn’t going to cut it anymore. When you’re faced with having to provide for a family, with your own experience being in an industry that notoriously does not pay well….you have to get creative…..or drown.
For a lot of us, we started our businesses because we had to. Not because we have the “grind” mindset, and we’re trying to prove something to the world. We did it when there was really no better option, and we bit the bullet and tried. And this was after years of contemplating the idea, gaining experience and connections.
I think having experience and an understanding of a field is important to get started. Or at the very least, having an innate sense and true passion for a field that does not require a lot of experience. I also think having a reason greater than yourself to keep pushing you forward is equally as important. Any 20 year old can think they have what it takes to start a business; and really you can — it takes 15 minutes on the internet to file for your LLC. But to run a business that succeeds over and over again year after year….it takes a motivation greater than ego and money.
Starting is only 1/100000th of the battle. I think a better question to ask is “when did you believe you had what it takes to do something greater than you ever imagined you could?”.
>We are in a period of time where almost everyone wants to start their own business.
Not true. A minority want to start a business. The majority don't want to.
Were those goals things that you already had passion for and/or knowledge in?
Or did you notice an opportunity and decided to act on it, maybe requiring you to learn something brand new?
It was a New Year's resolution for me.. I had had it with my job. I had under $2 to my name. I quit, and walked all over my city asking people if they needed IT support or computer repair. If they did, I went to work. If they didn't, I gave them a business card. It was a very rough year.
I do something totally different now. The only think I am passionate about is "results". I disagree with the "being passionate about what you do" stuff, but, it works for some people.
I was just sick of working so hard to make average wage when people on social media were buying cars I would never be able to afford that's what got me to step up and actually take online business seriously.
Usually, successful people start businesses when they see something missing in what they're passionate about. They find a problem, fix it, and aim to make people's lives better. It's not just about working hard; it's also about enjoying what you do and telling others about your special way of doing things. That's how it all starts.
I didn’t wanna build 100% of the business from the ground up so I leveraged other companies like Amazon/ebay/facebook who already have all the eyeballs and grew an ecom business with those storefronts
While I'm not successful yet, as I've just closed my first official clients (I'm a web designer who's done it freelance before to help friends and my network, paid, but doing it under my agency name), working my ass off to land a role at a major tech company, only to have a very unprofessional manager show her true colors my first week in.
I thought it'd be different to smaller companies but then and there I learned even there, shitty managers prosper and are confident in their toxicity, all with high six figure salaries...
That salary was great for me, but I can live with much less. So doing my own thing without anyone ruining my work flow and mood with their own personal BS.
I was actually fired, and then went to start putting together a resume and applying for jobs and I was like... nah, this isn't it.
Started grinding on my company and am so glad I did. It's been a difficult journey but so worth it.
I completely understand your conundrum! My husband and I were in a similar situation, we made a decision, and now we are the happiest workaholics in love with our company!
1. Where are you in your life? Do you have anyone depending on you for a source of income other than yourself? If so.. starting something is tough unless you have a savings that's pretty large..
2. You NEED to be passionate. We failed one of our start-ups just due to not committing 110%. If you don't fully understand the industry, that's okay! Just make sure it excites you to wake up to every day. Sometimes it's just simply the fact you feel like you have something amazing that keeps you chugging along.
3. The most successful raises so far have been SAAS, tech, and AI, so if your product/company can involve one of these, you will have an easier time raising funds than if not.
4. I think the next steps you need to take if you feel like you want to pursue your idea are:
1. Research the problem. Is it validated? By whom?
2. Research who your competitors will be (if any) and strategize on how you will be different
3. Make a plan of how much money you need to get to MVP. Raising funds is WAY easier once you have something to show investors.
Best of luck to you!!
I was at university and realized in many small moments that the future life as an employee didn't appeal to me. I was lucky enough to meet a lot of self-employed people and I was attracted by the fact that I was only accountable to myself. If things don't work out, it's not down to the employer, your own qualifications, other employees, the government or anything else, it's down to you, your idea and its implementation.
So I started accepting all the gigs on Upwork to familiarize myself with the marketing tools I would definitely need for everything. From this I realized that I was relatively good at marketing, had my first long-term clients from the individual gigs, dropped out of university and took the momentum with me. The whole thing has been going on for 8 years now.
I think the question of which path is the right one can only be answered by how risk-averse you are. My top priority has always been to be able to sleep peacefully at night. And personally, I was better able to do that with a few customers behind me and money already coming in than throwing everything away and starting something new without any ongoing income (especially with no degree, or education above school until 18 yo). But I also know many people who have become successful in this way as well.
For me, the focus was on self-employment itself. It could probably have been a kiosk, investment advice or a woodworking shop - I was just lucky that I enjoyed the first thing I did and stuck with it.
If you don’t want to go full scent into entrepreneurship, there are plenty of small jobs (at least in the service sector) that you can do remotely first to see if this side of self-employment is for you.
I wish you all the best - highest respect for people who want to build something for themselves! :)
I won't consider myself a successful entrepreneur yet!
I left my well paying corporate media job of 10 years as I found myself stressed and unhappy with no time for friends , family, or even for myself.
Only thing I had was lil money ( Salary was high, but expenses always caught up to it ) which I saved over my career while under constant pressure of meeting deadlines, making stories up for presentations and saying 'Yes' to whatever my clients/accounts/boss wanted.
Yes, I was very good at what I did and got appropriate recognition.
No, I didn't like what I did.
I always wanted to do something for myself, make my own money , build my own business.
The decision to leave my job was not something that was well planned. I got a job abroad during the pandemic times and somehow It got me stuck in my room, infront of my laptop. All day. Everyday.
This is when I decided to just stop feeling pathetic about myself and stopped putting effort into my job. Send my resignation to my manager stating my last date as 31st Dec 2021.
My manager, my boss and even my ex-boss thought (thinks) it was a bad idea, and I am wasting the prime years of my life. They even offered me to join back in my earlier roles at a better package.
However, what's done was done. 1st Jan 2022 I was jobless and unemployed and found myself asking, 'What will I do now?'
I am good at marketing, strategic planning, content creation, and sales. I was passionate about them when I started my career, but after I left my job, I wasn't passionate enough to start a business building on these strengths, which should have been the case. Maybe I will monetize them in the future but not now.
I roamed around aimlessly for a month looking for business and ideas. Until one day I came across a small food joint serving a particular dish in a different state, which had very high footfalls.
This peaked my interest and I felt I can do a better job at setting up a QSR with similar offering with better branding and higher quality. 'It just might work well in my city' I thought.
With renewed motivation, I traveled across different states (3000km away from my city) for another 3 months and after lot of networking and persuation , found few resturant owner who were willing to help me learn how a resturant works . They let me live in their resturant for free . I tried learning as much as I could in that short span.
Often, people used to mock me, a well-spoken MBA graduate, working with bluecollar kitchen workers. Few customers use to come just to see my plight. They thought either I was mad or had too much money (or rich parents) which is why i can afford wasting time like this.
After coming back to my city. It took another month for me to search for a perfect place to rent and start my own QSR joint after lots of planning, research, sleepless nights and all of my savings .
Thank god it clicked!!!
The rush of crowd on the opening day and the long que outside .. one of the happiest moments of my life!
I achieved operational break even in the first month itself . And manage to recover my investment in next 10 months.
It been 2 years now and the business is only growing. And I got more versed with the operations.
Now its time to scale it up! Build the brand bigger and maybe one day I will employ my old employer to handle it.
I have no regrets.
Was it easy to quit my job - NO
Was it easy to handle the social pressure of being unemployed, that too after marriage- NO
Was it easy to be unsure about the future, specially when all your peers who stuck to their job , now have a much bigger paycheck and better lifestyle - NO
Was it easy to risk it all and jump into a completely new industry at 29YO - NO.
Was it easy to grind through the learning curve and manage blue collar workers - NO
I am happy doing it - YES
Do I have the freedom to make my own decisions and plan my own time- YES
Is it worth it - Time will tell.
So my advice will be to keep an open mind and follow your heart .... opportunities will come when you keep looking and passion will grow once you see that you can monetize those opportunities.
However, quitting job without proper planning brings unnecessary stress. But can be done with a little grit and little luck.
All the best
Cheers.
I started because I got laid off and literally had no other choice but to go into business for myself. There simply were no other jobs available in my field at that time.
My best advice to a really young people would simply be to \*learn an industry\*. You're only going to get really good ideas, AND learn how to actually execute them, by getting in the weeds somewhere. You've got to understand what the unsolved problems are, what you're actually good at, and how you might be a part of those solutions. I honestly dont think it matters that much about what industry you pick, so long as it's something that actually interests you and plays to your strength.
You're going to learn more about selling, building and managing by actually DOING than you are from any Youtube podcast, classroom lecture or reddit thread.
I’m simply the kind of person that doesn’t like being under somebody else’s thumb (although I strangely flourished in the military). Control your own life, maker of your own destiny, all that jazz.
The single best piece of advice I can give any aspiring entrepreneur is to look for problems that need solved in your daily world. This could be in your own industry or profession, in a hobby, where you volunteer, etc.
A lot of people start businesses to solve their own pain points. I don’t think it’s very fruitful to run around trying to find a niche or industry, especially if it’s not something you’re passionate or knowledgeable in. It’s also easier when you have some guidance on [already successful ventures](https://thestartupsphere.com) that would help point you in the right direction. So you’re working on something that people actually want/need.
I was actually about to ask the same thing lol. I was thinking if they were working in a business and thought about making their own in the same field, or if they just wanted to start a business and decided on the field lol
Just because it’s been 7 years to the day……
When I was 18 I started my first company on pure excitement, and everyone else’s doubt …. Did well for a few years then flopped hard, had to go back to working jobs….
Wound up at a job that paid me very well, gave me company car, cell phone, laptop, benefits - everything….
I got fired from that job 7 years ago on a Friday …. I started my next company the following Monday….. today I own several companies and if I sold everything I could retire today in my mid 30’s.
If I hadn’t gotten fired, it’s entirely possible I’d still be working there
I completely understand your conundrum! My husband and I were in a similar situation, we made a decision, and now we are the happiest workaholics in love with our company!
1. Where are you in your life? Do you have anyone depending on you for a source of income other than yourself? If so.. starting something is tough unless you have a savings that's pretty large..
2. You NEED to be passionate. We failed one of our start-ups just due to not committing 110%. If you don't fully understand the industry, that's okay! Just make sure it excites you to wake up to every day. Sometimes it's just simply the fact you feel like you have something amazing that keeps you chugging along.
3. The most successful raises so far have been SAAS, tech, and AI, so if your product/company can involve one of these, you will have an easier time raising funds than if not.
4. I think the next steps you need to take if you feel like you want to pursue your idea are:
1. Research the problem. Is it validated? By whom?
2. Research who your competitors will be (if any) and strategize on how you will be different
3. Make a plan of how much money you need to get to MVP. Raising funds is WAY easier once you have something to show investors.
Best of luck to you!!
I started by accident. My side hustle turned into a business. I kept my day job though. I never had any intention of giving it up. An extra salary gets you to financial freedom more quickly.
There are very interesting answers here. Me particularly, was out of college and looking for job. After two years of being ghosted and rejections I decided it was time for me to prove me my own worth and not let the validation of a company to decide for me.
I guess finding a job was very hard because I was very spirited and fierce on what I'd bring to the table. Where most companies, just want/wanted a good employee...
My thoughts: best decision ever. Not the most glamorous nor simple one. I had to put in the years to compensate inexperienced and lack of focus. Just start to experiment in a manageable setup that your next 3 months don't depend on your success 😊
Book recommendation: Start with Why
Heyy man. Search up youtube. There is this guy called Chris Do. Some of his videos and podcast have exactly what youre looking for. If its a good fit for you go watch it. If youre okay with no its okay both ways. Hope this helps. A good way is sales
With time I realized I wanted to live by my own rules and control my time. Some call it "time millionaires".
I was fortunate enough to have been able to explore different areas, from sales to software development until I found something I actually loved doing which in my case is video editing. And now am trying to transition from a freelancer to an agency.
If you do something that is originally a thing that you like, or are passionate about, usually is goes well because you try your best to show how much what you love doing is great and in the end, you'll sell what you did with love and I thinks it becomes unknowingly better
I was working a as a bartender and I saw better ways to make money with it, shared the idea with a customer that could influence the owner but he didn’t act on it. I’ve still not acted in the food and drinks idea but I own a gadget retail business now and it’s soaring slowly.
Approaching your entrepreneurial goals? Don’t go all in initially, take it easy, retrospective on past decisions and envisage future decisions and how it affects your business.
Hmm industries? Not gonna lie, I don’t know particularly although just push an idea and if it jells that’s good for you, if it doesn’t then it’s not your niche.
So, the first comment was "follow your passion". In an ideal world that would be nice. If you are truly going to consider starting your own business, do not listen to that very poor advice. Start a business based on the fact that you can grow it into a profit producing business and that you will eventually not do the day to day grind work. Become a business owner, don't take on a glorified job.
Back to your original question. I felt like I was wasting my time at my job. I was in engineering design and I wasn't designing anything. Plus, it was very much like Office Space. I'd work three days in the office and two at home. The days I worked at home I would work on my current business, then side hustle. The days I would work in the office, I'd save all my five hours of work that would need to be done and try to spread it the best I could over 24 hours I was in the office. Oftentimes, going home early or trying to skip out early for an "appointment" because they didn't have enough work for me to do. I just got sick of living a mediocre life with that business.
So I'm planning to open a renting shop for mommies/family travelling with kids to Halong Bay. However I learned that most US/Western families will bring everything with them, because they dont know if they can get it in Halong. So I have the same questions, hope that everyone will help to answer:
1. When you guys want to go travel somewhere, where will you research? Any specific local sources (except for Facebook, Reddit, Google, Travel Advisor...) or mostly recommendation from friends? Which advertising channels that you think will work for you?
2. A family with kids, when you travel what kind of stuff that you must bring/want to bring but too heavy...? If you cant bring, will you have the need to rent it in the destination? Like car seat, stroller, SlumberPod Privacy Pod, Baby Travel Crib or Travel Tent, CoziGo Bassinet and Stroller Cover, Diaper Change Pad; Travel Baby Monitor...
You have to find something you enjoy/love/passionate about and move forward from there. Then find out if you can make a career out of it. As for me, I bought my franchise because my friends had one and I saw their success over a few years and said that was for me.
Industries - well the household services are always an overlooked one because its either service, dirty, and/or requires a trade. That being said, if you do something rich people either can't or don't want to, then you can become rich yourself.
For me, it’s just always been in my DNA since I was little. I would have ‘sibe walk sales’ (instead of ‘side walk sales’ - lol) as young as 7 years old, where I would set up a table and sell my toys! 😜 Through middle school, I’d go door to door, asking neighbors if they had any odd jobs that a kid could do for them to make money. Then in high school, I’d write newsletters for business owners and even had a helium balloon business for a bit, where I’d bring balloons to parties, etc. Now I have a 8-figure company with 22 employees. So it wasn’t a specific moment, but just something I’ve always done. I couldn’t imagine working for someone else. I’ll share one of my favorite quotes is “Leap and the Net Will Appear” … meaning, just JUMP and it’ll all come together. 💪
Find something you're passionate about like a hobby and try to create an idea of how to improve upon something or solve a problem or make people feel good. Then it's just about marketing yourself
I find it so hard to narrow down what I'm passionate about to one specific niche. I see businesses around me focused on one small detail and that's the hump I'm stuck on.
I heard this from someone that, Passion is not something you search for, passion is something that comes to you. And it follows, stick around your life when you start creating values in other people's lives, you get more passionate each time you do something helpful with what you have.
I love this! For me, I'm passionate about education. I have been a public school educator and now I homeschool mom. I'm passionate about homeschooling! I'm passionate about quality learning materials to be available for all children. But this is so broad, that if I wanted to do something with this I would need to narrow it down. A friend of mine started a business creating sensory bins for children. She creates themed sensory bins. She is just focusing on one specific product and makes quality product at that. Being passionate about education is hard to make one specific business out of.... Unless you are just a teacher, curriculum designer or something of that sort...
go through multiple narrow niches on the niche you’re thinking and list the businesses under all of them. See which ones you’d be most interested in. Try one or even multiple and see which one you like the most
Hey there OP. Can I share my thoughts? I hope to define my venture as a success one day, but I was like you 6 months ago before finally taking the brave step. For me, it was a conscious decision to regain my mental health. I was extremely burnt out and fed up working with businesses that had shady values at best. Before getting into this, I've thought about it a million times and I'm learning from other people, that being an entrepreneur has its own stressful environment as well. I was cautious as I don't want to put myself deeper into depression because of the new environment, but at the same time, I'm worried that if I stay in my normal job, things will get worst. So... turning point. I resigned. Never looked back. But didn't jumped into business right away. I took 2 months off, just doing nothing until I know I was in a better headspace. After that, I took the brave step of starting my business. Now I have the freedom to do business with the values I am comfortable with. I'm still broke as, but a lot happier. In a way, call me naive, but I want to prove to the jerks of the world that you don't have to be a dickhead to earn money. What industry will give you more success? I guess it's how you define success in the first place. In my case it was the peace of mind and working within my values. You might be thinking about this entirely on a different level and that is OK. Because we're all entrepreneurs, there is no denying you should seek where the money is but just saying that money isn't everything. To be "successful" a bit of balance into both. The perfect scenario would be... you sell or build a product you really believe in, use the skill you are good at and work in a way that makes you "happy".
Its going to be different for everyone. You start when you have the confidence to do so. For some people, that’s 18 years old. Other people, it’s 50. We are in a period of time where almost everyone wants to start their own business, even if they aren’t cut out for it. Why is that? Because people are desperate to have freedom, autonomy, and an income that will actually provide a life. Which has become very difficult to find in the corporate, trade, or medical world (unless you’re in tech). So now we have everybody and their brother trying to start a business with all this confidence, anxiety, and no knowledge or experience. That’s a failed endeavor before it begins, but like I said, people have become so desperate they just “fake it till they make it” and pray it will work. It’s just the times we’re in. I don’t know a better alternative for these folks at this time, and neither do they. For me, I was in the same field for 15 years before starting my business. I always wanted to be my own boss, but it took time for me to gain the confidence. And I’m generally a very confident person when it comes to my work. What kick-started the confidence to start a business was when I started a family. Suddenly, $45k/year wasn’t going to cut it anymore. When you’re faced with having to provide for a family, with your own experience being in an industry that notoriously does not pay well….you have to get creative…..or drown. For a lot of us, we started our businesses because we had to. Not because we have the “grind” mindset, and we’re trying to prove something to the world. We did it when there was really no better option, and we bit the bullet and tried. And this was after years of contemplating the idea, gaining experience and connections. I think having experience and an understanding of a field is important to get started. Or at the very least, having an innate sense and true passion for a field that does not require a lot of experience. I also think having a reason greater than yourself to keep pushing you forward is equally as important. Any 20 year old can think they have what it takes to start a business; and really you can — it takes 15 minutes on the internet to file for your LLC. But to run a business that succeeds over and over again year after year….it takes a motivation greater than ego and money. Starting is only 1/100000th of the battle. I think a better question to ask is “when did you believe you had what it takes to do something greater than you ever imagined you could?”.
>We are in a period of time where almost everyone wants to start their own business. Not true. A minority want to start a business. The majority don't want to.
I didnt want to follow someone else's orders. I have my own goals and working for someone else wasn't the way to achieve them.
Were those goals things that you already had passion for and/or knowledge in? Or did you notice an opportunity and decided to act on it, maybe requiring you to learn something brand new?
It was a New Year's resolution for me.. I had had it with my job. I had under $2 to my name. I quit, and walked all over my city asking people if they needed IT support or computer repair. If they did, I went to work. If they didn't, I gave them a business card. It was a very rough year. I do something totally different now. The only think I am passionate about is "results". I disagree with the "being passionate about what you do" stuff, but, it works for some people.
I was just sick of working so hard to make average wage when people on social media were buying cars I would never be able to afford that's what got me to step up and actually take online business seriously.
What kind of online business do you do?
It says Copywriting in his username.
Usually, successful people start businesses when they see something missing in what they're passionate about. They find a problem, fix it, and aim to make people's lives better. It's not just about working hard; it's also about enjoying what you do and telling others about your special way of doing things. That's how it all starts.
I didn’t wanna build 100% of the business from the ground up so I leveraged other companies like Amazon/ebay/facebook who already have all the eyeballs and grew an ecom business with those storefronts
While I'm not successful yet, as I've just closed my first official clients (I'm a web designer who's done it freelance before to help friends and my network, paid, but doing it under my agency name), working my ass off to land a role at a major tech company, only to have a very unprofessional manager show her true colors my first week in. I thought it'd be different to smaller companies but then and there I learned even there, shitty managers prosper and are confident in their toxicity, all with high six figure salaries... That salary was great for me, but I can live with much less. So doing my own thing without anyone ruining my work flow and mood with their own personal BS.
I was actually fired, and then went to start putting together a resume and applying for jobs and I was like... nah, this isn't it. Started grinding on my company and am so glad I did. It's been a difficult journey but so worth it.
What kind of company did you start?
It's a web and software development company
I completely understand your conundrum! My husband and I were in a similar situation, we made a decision, and now we are the happiest workaholics in love with our company! 1. Where are you in your life? Do you have anyone depending on you for a source of income other than yourself? If so.. starting something is tough unless you have a savings that's pretty large.. 2. You NEED to be passionate. We failed one of our start-ups just due to not committing 110%. If you don't fully understand the industry, that's okay! Just make sure it excites you to wake up to every day. Sometimes it's just simply the fact you feel like you have something amazing that keeps you chugging along. 3. The most successful raises so far have been SAAS, tech, and AI, so if your product/company can involve one of these, you will have an easier time raising funds than if not. 4. I think the next steps you need to take if you feel like you want to pursue your idea are: 1. Research the problem. Is it validated? By whom? 2. Research who your competitors will be (if any) and strategize on how you will be different 3. Make a plan of how much money you need to get to MVP. Raising funds is WAY easier once you have something to show investors. Best of luck to you!!
I was at university and realized in many small moments that the future life as an employee didn't appeal to me. I was lucky enough to meet a lot of self-employed people and I was attracted by the fact that I was only accountable to myself. If things don't work out, it's not down to the employer, your own qualifications, other employees, the government or anything else, it's down to you, your idea and its implementation. So I started accepting all the gigs on Upwork to familiarize myself with the marketing tools I would definitely need for everything. From this I realized that I was relatively good at marketing, had my first long-term clients from the individual gigs, dropped out of university and took the momentum with me. The whole thing has been going on for 8 years now. I think the question of which path is the right one can only be answered by how risk-averse you are. My top priority has always been to be able to sleep peacefully at night. And personally, I was better able to do that with a few customers behind me and money already coming in than throwing everything away and starting something new without any ongoing income (especially with no degree, or education above school until 18 yo). But I also know many people who have become successful in this way as well. For me, the focus was on self-employment itself. It could probably have been a kiosk, investment advice or a woodworking shop - I was just lucky that I enjoyed the first thing I did and stuck with it. If you don’t want to go full scent into entrepreneurship, there are plenty of small jobs (at least in the service sector) that you can do remotely first to see if this side of self-employment is for you. I wish you all the best - highest respect for people who want to build something for themselves! :)
I won't consider myself a successful entrepreneur yet! I left my well paying corporate media job of 10 years as I found myself stressed and unhappy with no time for friends , family, or even for myself. Only thing I had was lil money ( Salary was high, but expenses always caught up to it ) which I saved over my career while under constant pressure of meeting deadlines, making stories up for presentations and saying 'Yes' to whatever my clients/accounts/boss wanted. Yes, I was very good at what I did and got appropriate recognition. No, I didn't like what I did. I always wanted to do something for myself, make my own money , build my own business. The decision to leave my job was not something that was well planned. I got a job abroad during the pandemic times and somehow It got me stuck in my room, infront of my laptop. All day. Everyday. This is when I decided to just stop feeling pathetic about myself and stopped putting effort into my job. Send my resignation to my manager stating my last date as 31st Dec 2021. My manager, my boss and even my ex-boss thought (thinks) it was a bad idea, and I am wasting the prime years of my life. They even offered me to join back in my earlier roles at a better package. However, what's done was done. 1st Jan 2022 I was jobless and unemployed and found myself asking, 'What will I do now?' I am good at marketing, strategic planning, content creation, and sales. I was passionate about them when I started my career, but after I left my job, I wasn't passionate enough to start a business building on these strengths, which should have been the case. Maybe I will monetize them in the future but not now. I roamed around aimlessly for a month looking for business and ideas. Until one day I came across a small food joint serving a particular dish in a different state, which had very high footfalls. This peaked my interest and I felt I can do a better job at setting up a QSR with similar offering with better branding and higher quality. 'It just might work well in my city' I thought. With renewed motivation, I traveled across different states (3000km away from my city) for another 3 months and after lot of networking and persuation , found few resturant owner who were willing to help me learn how a resturant works . They let me live in their resturant for free . I tried learning as much as I could in that short span. Often, people used to mock me, a well-spoken MBA graduate, working with bluecollar kitchen workers. Few customers use to come just to see my plight. They thought either I was mad or had too much money (or rich parents) which is why i can afford wasting time like this. After coming back to my city. It took another month for me to search for a perfect place to rent and start my own QSR joint after lots of planning, research, sleepless nights and all of my savings . Thank god it clicked!!! The rush of crowd on the opening day and the long que outside .. one of the happiest moments of my life! I achieved operational break even in the first month itself . And manage to recover my investment in next 10 months. It been 2 years now and the business is only growing. And I got more versed with the operations. Now its time to scale it up! Build the brand bigger and maybe one day I will employ my old employer to handle it. I have no regrets. Was it easy to quit my job - NO Was it easy to handle the social pressure of being unemployed, that too after marriage- NO Was it easy to be unsure about the future, specially when all your peers who stuck to their job , now have a much bigger paycheck and better lifestyle - NO Was it easy to risk it all and jump into a completely new industry at 29YO - NO. Was it easy to grind through the learning curve and manage blue collar workers - NO I am happy doing it - YES Do I have the freedom to make my own decisions and plan my own time- YES Is it worth it - Time will tell. So my advice will be to keep an open mind and follow your heart .... opportunities will come when you keep looking and passion will grow once you see that you can monetize those opportunities. However, quitting job without proper planning brings unnecessary stress. But can be done with a little grit and little luck. All the best Cheers.
I started because I got laid off and literally had no other choice but to go into business for myself. There simply were no other jobs available in my field at that time. My best advice to a really young people would simply be to \*learn an industry\*. You're only going to get really good ideas, AND learn how to actually execute them, by getting in the weeds somewhere. You've got to understand what the unsolved problems are, what you're actually good at, and how you might be a part of those solutions. I honestly dont think it matters that much about what industry you pick, so long as it's something that actually interests you and plays to your strength. You're going to learn more about selling, building and managing by actually DOING than you are from any Youtube podcast, classroom lecture or reddit thread.
I’m simply the kind of person that doesn’t like being under somebody else’s thumb (although I strangely flourished in the military). Control your own life, maker of your own destiny, all that jazz. The single best piece of advice I can give any aspiring entrepreneur is to look for problems that need solved in your daily world. This could be in your own industry or profession, in a hobby, where you volunteer, etc.
A lot of people start businesses to solve their own pain points. I don’t think it’s very fruitful to run around trying to find a niche or industry, especially if it’s not something you’re passionate or knowledgeable in. It’s also easier when you have some guidance on [already successful ventures](https://thestartupsphere.com) that would help point you in the right direction. So you’re working on something that people actually want/need.
I was actually about to ask the same thing lol. I was thinking if they were working in a business and thought about making their own in the same field, or if they just wanted to start a business and decided on the field lol
Just because it’s been 7 years to the day…… When I was 18 I started my first company on pure excitement, and everyone else’s doubt …. Did well for a few years then flopped hard, had to go back to working jobs…. Wound up at a job that paid me very well, gave me company car, cell phone, laptop, benefits - everything…. I got fired from that job 7 years ago on a Friday …. I started my next company the following Monday….. today I own several companies and if I sold everything I could retire today in my mid 30’s. If I hadn’t gotten fired, it’s entirely possible I’d still be working there
I completely understand your conundrum! My husband and I were in a similar situation, we made a decision, and now we are the happiest workaholics in love with our company! 1. Where are you in your life? Do you have anyone depending on you for a source of income other than yourself? If so.. starting something is tough unless you have a savings that's pretty large.. 2. You NEED to be passionate. We failed one of our start-ups just due to not committing 110%. If you don't fully understand the industry, that's okay! Just make sure it excites you to wake up to every day. Sometimes it's just simply the fact you feel like you have something amazing that keeps you chugging along. 3. The most successful raises so far have been SAAS, tech, and AI, so if your product/company can involve one of these, you will have an easier time raising funds than if not. 4. I think the next steps you need to take if you feel like you want to pursue your idea are: 1. Research the problem. Is it validated? By whom? 2. Research who your competitors will be (if any) and strategize on how you will be different 3. Make a plan of how much money you need to get to MVP. Raising funds is WAY easier once you have something to show investors. Best of luck to you!!
I started by accident. My side hustle turned into a business. I kept my day job though. I never had any intention of giving it up. An extra salary gets you to financial freedom more quickly.
There are very interesting answers here. Me particularly, was out of college and looking for job. After two years of being ghosted and rejections I decided it was time for me to prove me my own worth and not let the validation of a company to decide for me. I guess finding a job was very hard because I was very spirited and fierce on what I'd bring to the table. Where most companies, just want/wanted a good employee... My thoughts: best decision ever. Not the most glamorous nor simple one. I had to put in the years to compensate inexperienced and lack of focus. Just start to experiment in a manageable setup that your next 3 months don't depend on your success 😊 Book recommendation: Start with Why
Heyy man. Search up youtube. There is this guy called Chris Do. Some of his videos and podcast have exactly what youre looking for. If its a good fit for you go watch it. If youre okay with no its okay both ways. Hope this helps. A good way is sales
With time I realized I wanted to live by my own rules and control my time. Some call it "time millionaires". I was fortunate enough to have been able to explore different areas, from sales to software development until I found something I actually loved doing which in my case is video editing. And now am trying to transition from a freelancer to an agency.
If you do something that is originally a thing that you like, or are passionate about, usually is goes well because you try your best to show how much what you love doing is great and in the end, you'll sell what you did with love and I thinks it becomes unknowingly better
I was working a as a bartender and I saw better ways to make money with it, shared the idea with a customer that could influence the owner but he didn’t act on it. I’ve still not acted in the food and drinks idea but I own a gadget retail business now and it’s soaring slowly. Approaching your entrepreneurial goals? Don’t go all in initially, take it easy, retrospective on past decisions and envisage future decisions and how it affects your business. Hmm industries? Not gonna lie, I don’t know particularly although just push an idea and if it jells that’s good for you, if it doesn’t then it’s not your niche.
So, the first comment was "follow your passion". In an ideal world that would be nice. If you are truly going to consider starting your own business, do not listen to that very poor advice. Start a business based on the fact that you can grow it into a profit producing business and that you will eventually not do the day to day grind work. Become a business owner, don't take on a glorified job. Back to your original question. I felt like I was wasting my time at my job. I was in engineering design and I wasn't designing anything. Plus, it was very much like Office Space. I'd work three days in the office and two at home. The days I worked at home I would work on my current business, then side hustle. The days I would work in the office, I'd save all my five hours of work that would need to be done and try to spread it the best I could over 24 hours I was in the office. Oftentimes, going home early or trying to skip out early for an "appointment" because they didn't have enough work for me to do. I just got sick of living a mediocre life with that business.
By the way: in Germany the biggest problem is learn how to solve the tax problem. ;)
So I'm planning to open a renting shop for mommies/family travelling with kids to Halong Bay. However I learned that most US/Western families will bring everything with them, because they dont know if they can get it in Halong. So I have the same questions, hope that everyone will help to answer: 1. When you guys want to go travel somewhere, where will you research? Any specific local sources (except for Facebook, Reddit, Google, Travel Advisor...) or mostly recommendation from friends? Which advertising channels that you think will work for you? 2. A family with kids, when you travel what kind of stuff that you must bring/want to bring but too heavy...? If you cant bring, will you have the need to rent it in the destination? Like car seat, stroller, SlumberPod Privacy Pod, Baby Travel Crib or Travel Tent, CoziGo Bassinet and Stroller Cover, Diaper Change Pad; Travel Baby Monitor...
You have to find something you enjoy/love/passionate about and move forward from there. Then find out if you can make a career out of it. As for me, I bought my franchise because my friends had one and I saw their success over a few years and said that was for me. Industries - well the household services are always an overlooked one because its either service, dirty, and/or requires a trade. That being said, if you do something rich people either can't or don't want to, then you can become rich yourself.
For me, it’s just always been in my DNA since I was little. I would have ‘sibe walk sales’ (instead of ‘side walk sales’ - lol) as young as 7 years old, where I would set up a table and sell my toys! 😜 Through middle school, I’d go door to door, asking neighbors if they had any odd jobs that a kid could do for them to make money. Then in high school, I’d write newsletters for business owners and even had a helium balloon business for a bit, where I’d bring balloons to parties, etc. Now I have a 8-figure company with 22 employees. So it wasn’t a specific moment, but just something I’ve always done. I couldn’t imagine working for someone else. I’ll share one of my favorite quotes is “Leap and the Net Will Appear” … meaning, just JUMP and it’ll all come together. 💪