Idea to start off

[Jrjohnny]

I am a 13 year old, looking to become an entrepreneur. I found an idea to create a e-commerce, am I too young to do that? I dont think itll cost much to start but I dont know where I should “sell it” to people. I mean my idea is to make a website. I might make it free, do you guys have any ideas where I should charge people? Or leave it free (do I still make money if its free?)any tips to code a website, how to get my website out there will be appreciated as I am still young and tips will help.

 

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[Nostalgia]

I am a 13 year old, looking to become an entrepreneur. I found an idea to create a e-commerce, am I too young to do that? I dont think itll cost much to start but I dont know where I should “sell it” to people. I mean my idea is to make a website. I might make it free, do you guys have any ideas where I should charge people? Or leave it free (do I still make money if its free?)any tips to code a website, how to get my website out there will be appreciated as I am still young and tips will help.

Hey man. I see that your passionate - but honestly this is not the place for those types of questions. There's an infinite amount of content online to show you what to do, how to do. You need to be able to think for yourself and act instead of asking questions on this forum.

 

[Oso]

I'm a full stack web developer (also do PPC, SEO, etc.) working on an app. for my new business, and sold my digital marketing agency earlier this month. Figured you could use some advice from someone actually doing something in the space.

Kudos to you for being so young and already interested in entrepreneurship. I wish I had your mentality when I was 13. But to answer your question: no, you don't make money if you're charging people "free."

Ecom

Based on where you're currently at, your best bet for starting an ecom store would be via Shopify. Last I checked, it can be somewhat expensive though, but they are more or less the best at what they do, and what they're used for. You may still need a developer for things here and there, but realistically, to start a basic ecom store, their base templates should suffice. If you own a marketing agency and you're creating an ecom store for someone, you're creating it on your hosting platform, and you're more than likely utilizing WordPress. WordPress is more than fine for ecom, however WordPress inherently comes with a steeper learning curve. You will want to eventually learn WordPress development though, so perhaps simply starting off with it would benefit you.

Agency

Based on what all you've asked, it seems what you're actually aiming for is a marketing agency. There are countless ways to approach this, and most of it is going to boil down to the skill you have, and what all you're interested in offering. At the agency level, you need to have a basic understanding of branding, operating a business, marketing, tech, coding, etc.

Tech Skills

You have a lot to learn, depending on what all you're aiming to do. Starting young is a huge benefit, but be careful going down this path as AI will continue eliminating a large portion of lower-end/mid-tier developer jobs, so if at any point you cease to pursue entrepreneurship, unless you've built up other skills/income streams, and/or you're a "high-end/senior developer," you may struggle in the future.

That said, in regards to learning, start with the basics: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. There's a plethora of resources available, however I recommend a full stack video from YouTube (typically 8-12 hours long and scratches the surface of the above 3), Freecodecamp, and/or The Odin Project. All 3 of them teach you the fundamentals of web development, and all 3 of them offer full stack learning paths. Most importantly: all 3 of them a free (you have to pay for the certification though).

From there, I recommend grasping a basic understanding of the back-end: MySQL; PHP (Python is better, but WordPress is essentially built on PHP, so it's still relevant); setting up databases; etc. Then you have everything else: learning to navigate the cPanel interface (because nothing else comes close, in my professional opinion, despite their price gouging); understanding DNS settings and nameservers, etc.

Other

Again, launching a full-blown agency requires you wear a tremendous amount of hats. Other things you'll eventually need to learn include branding (as mentioned), marketing (yourself and for your clients), management (hiring; firing; training), landing clients, handling business finances, graphic design, etc.

You can absolutely achieve all of this - especially given the fact you're starting so early - but keep in mind it is a lot to learn. Your best bet to get started immediately would be finding free resources to learn how to code.

I was a web developer for 5 years before I started my agency, but I wasn't practicing/learning nearly as quickly as I could've and should've been. Realistically, I could've launched my agency 2 years into being a web developer.

Cheers.

 

[Johnny boy]

The biggest problem with young wannabe business owners is when they think of having a theoretically “easy” business first instead of going for “stacking big cash” first. They dream of an Ecom store that does 50k profit a month and they’ll live the dream life on the beach traveling the world making bank when they’re 18.

It ends up making negative $400 and they go get a job at Jack in the box.

Or it doesn’t get traction, but it makes an extra $400 a month because they get a few sales every few weeks.

You’re young, your time isn’t worth much now, your life will change so much more just by doing something where you’re actually making bigger chunks of money, in a more likely to succeed way, and it doesn’t matter how you get it.

I would do something more niche, something that is more “boring” or not popular, less competitive, higher chances of real profit coming in. You’re likelier to succeed, see profit sooner, and realistically stack up big checks instead of trying to compete with 18 million other kids trying to run a droppshipping store running Facebook ads to alibaba junk. Or trying to freelance. Or trying to trade forex. Or any other “hot” business for teenage newbies.

Yes, it sounds attractive to go run that 0 employee, hands off, all online, “scalable” business because you have no experience, so you don’t realize yet that basically all of those businesses are flooded with people who thought it would be easy and then got discouraged.

Every business has its hard parts. The more common it is (you’re picking one of the most common things), it will be more difficult than something that’s not so…”cool”. All the young guys find out soon that the “hard part” of all of these types of businesses is that “damn…nobody is actually buying this shit, I get 1 sale a month and all of my ad campaigns are a massive waste of money”.

If two young guys said to me their business ideas. 1. I’m gonna do ecom and 2. “I’m going to sell pipe crawler equipment to plumbing companies and municipalities and sell things such as the Gemini mainline sewer crawler (sells for 35 grand). I’ll get customers by attending trade shows and messaging people in my industry on LinkedIn”. I’d bet my money on guy number 2.

You’re 13 so you have a lot of things you’re up against since you can’t even drive. Your options are limited. No matter what you do at least you’ll learn things in the process and it will help for your next business. Building websites can be good for a newbie since it will be a skill you’ll have for future ideas. I did the same thing.

 

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[charlemagne]

I am a 13 year old, looking to become an entrepreneur. I found an idea to create a e-commerce, am I too young to do that? I dont think itll cost much to start but I dont know where I should “sell it” to people. I mean my idea is to make a website. I might make it free, do you guys have any ideas where I should charge people? Or leave it free (do I still make money if its free?)any tips to code a website, how to get my website out there will be appreciated as I am still young and tips will help.

I would like to play off this powerful piece of wisdom...

Every business has its hard parts. The more common it is (you’re picking one of the most common things), it will be more difficult than something that’s not so…”cool”. All the young guys find out soon that the “hard part” of all of these types of businesses is that “damn…nobody is actually buying this shit, I get 1 sale a month and all of my ad campaigns are a massive waste of money”.

I too was very interested in the "get rich quick" easy business routes at your age. Here is my track record of failures to preface my argument as to why you should start your journey learning skills:

1. 14: I started a drop shipping store selling multiple hot products

2. 15 Attempted to start paid Minecraft serves (terrible idea, I really was just trying to play Minecraft)

3. 16-17: Got into nfts/crypto (made a lot, lost it all. I had no idea what I was doing)

4. 18: Started another drop-shipping store (a month after starting I lost 50 bucks. Nobody really wants to buy crappy products. Your not providing value, you are synthesizing something nobody wants/needs)

5. 19: Got into web design (I am building my portfolio, but I already had multiple offers I stupidly turned down thinking I couldn't really make good websites. I am getting paid to build a website for a relative. I have another site build set up after that.

Why did I stop chasing fads? They are fads. You can't get rich off fads, much less learn a skill. Could I go back to your age and tell myself what to do instead of selling Alibaba products to people in Ohio here is what I would say,

• Learn valuable skills that will serve you later i.e: communication skills, learn to sell, learn some basic design skills- these help a lot even if you don't go into design because you can express your ideas to people who can turn your ideas into something crazy cool, learn to read books and retain the information, learn to be productive, learn to not base your identity in superficial things- drugs, girls, clothes, status, chasing highs etc., learn a language, learn to hug your mother, even when you don't want to, learn to identify who makes a good friend, learn to run, bike, swim, workout, clean your room, take all advice with a grain of salt (even your own), and lastly learn how to say no
• Mindset over money: I think what was invaluable for me was shifting my mindset. They say that, "if you can't do the little things you can't do the big things". I would say, figure out why you want to make money. Is it because it will make you look cool? Is it because you want things? Is it to prove people wrong? Those are usually all bad. The problem with those is that they aren't grounded in something real, something timeless, so as those motivations flee, so will yours. Find a WHY THAT PROCEEDS ALL HOWS.
• Get intrusively introspective, here lies truth: Manson's Law of Avoidance (from Mark Manson) states: "The more something threatens your identity, the more you will avoid it". Figure out your identity (what you like, want, and what made you that way) and what you avoid and why. This is LIFE, it will not happen overnight nor will it happen soon (I play this game every day).

I am confident that if you can do these things you will be far ahead of me when you turn 19. I know this is a lot, but it is my advice I would give my 13 year old self. Keep in mind my experience is solely mine, and yours is solely yours. Take what you will, implement, adjust, recalibrate, repeat.

Best of luck my friend,

 

[Saad Khan]

If two young guys said to me their business ideas. 1. I’m gonna do ecom and 2. “I’m going to sell pipe crawler equipment to plumbing companies and municipalities and sell things such as the Gemini mainline sewer crawler (sells for 35 grand). I’ll get customers by attending trade shows and messaging people in my industry on LinkedIn”. I’d bet my money on guy number 2.

Who will you bet your money on @Jrjohnny?

 

[Jrjohnny]

Who will you bet your money on @Jrjohnny?

Probably N.2 but where would you get the money to buy the equipment?

 

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[Jrjohnny]

I would do something more niche, something that is more “boring” or not popular, less competitive, higher chances of real profit coming in. You’re likelier to succeed, see profit sooner, and realistically stack up big checks instead of trying to compete with 18 million other kids trying to run a droppshipping store running Facebook ads to alibaba junk. Or trying to freelance. Or trying to trade forex. Or any other “hot” business for teenage newbies.

The biggest problem with young wannabe business owners is when they think of having a theoretically “easy” business first instead of going for “stacking big cash” first. They dream of an Ecom store that does 50k profit a month and they’ll live the dream life on the beach traveling the world making bank when they’re 18.

It ends up making negative $400 and they go get a job at Jack in the box.

Or it doesn’t get traction, but it makes an extra $400 a month because they get a few sales every few weeks.

You’re young, your time isn’t worth much now, your life will change so much more just by doing something where you’re actually making bigger chunks of money, in a more likely to succeed way, and it doesn’t matter how you get it.

I would do something more niche, something that is more “boring” or not popular, less competitive, higher chances of real profit coming in. You’re likelier to succeed, see profit sooner, and realistically stack up big checks instead of trying to compete with 18 million other kids trying to run a droppshipping store running Facebook ads to alibaba junk. Or trying to freelance. Or trying to trade forex. Or any other “hot” business for teenage newbies.

Yes, it sounds attractive to go run that 0 employee, hands off, all online, “scalable” business because you have no experience, so you don’t realize yet that basically all of those businesses are flooded with people who thought it would be easy and then got discouraged.

Every business has its hard parts. The more common it is (you’re picking one of the most common things), it will be more difficult than something that’s not so…”cool”. All the young guys find out soon that the “hard part” of all of these types of businesses is that “damn…nobody is actually buying this shit, I get 1 sale a month and all of my ad campaigns are a massive waste of money”

If two young guys said to me their business ideas. 1. I’m gonna do ecom and 2. “I’m going to sell pipe crawler equipment to plumbing companies and municipalities and sell things such as the Gemini mainline sewer crawler (sells for 35 grand). I’ll get customers by attending trade shows and messaging people in my industry on LinkedIn”. I’d bet my money on guy number 2.

You’re 13 so you have a lot of things you’re up against since you can’t even drive. Your options are limited. No matter what you do at least you’ll learn things in the process and it will help for your next business. Building websites can be good for a newbie since it will be a skill you’ll have for future ideas. I did the same thing

Sure, I can try to set up a website for dog walking, or anything, im sure it wouldnt work though, thats just how I see all of this, If I’m looking at it weird, just tell me. And while my phones been dead, I thought about it a different way, someone told me to and heres my new game plan

Step 1:
I want to mow people’s lawns or like walk their dogs or something, sell candy at school while doing that and learn to code a website as a skill.

Step 2:
Then after a few months i have some money, and i could brainstorm ideas, ill research about it and see if CENTS works with it, find out about competition and suppliers and some business models for the niche then find out how much it could cost to start, then maybe i can go on fiverr and sell my skill then i have the money to start the business, and the knowledge and experience to make it good. (Idk why your reply broke up but I cant fix it)

 

[Johnny boy]

Sure, I can try to set up a website for dog walking, or anything, im sure it wouldnt work though, thats just how I see all of this, If I’m looking at it weird, just tell me. And while my phones been dead, I thought about it a different way, someone told me to and heres my new game plan

Step 1:
I want to mow people’s lawns or like walk their dogs or something, sell candy at school while doing that and learn to code a website as a skill.

Step 2:
Then after a few months i have some money, and i could brainstorm ideas, ill research about it and see if CENTS works with it, find out about competition and suppliers and some business models for the niche then find out how much it could cost to start, then maybe i can go on fiverr and sell my skill then i have the money to start the business, and the knowledge and experience to make it good. (Idk why your reply broke up but I cant fix it)

Easiest way to make cash THIS WEEK to the tune of $500+ a day is to brush moss off roofs.

Ads convert so well on Facebook you can get leads using “open in messenger” ads with a random before/after photo targeted to people over 40 in your area. Leads cost like $10-$15 and they pay in cash. You pick single story houses with low slope roofs and brush off moss for a few hours, blow it off with a leaf blower, and make $300. Can do a few a day and you’ve got 6-900 in under the table cash. Can schedule it anytime you’re free like after school.

Huge demand in places that get moss on shingle roofs.

This is my boy Spencer. He works a few hours a day and parties down in Mexico in the winter.

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/xtNognNFpFA?feature=share

 

[Jrjohnny]

Easiest way to make cash THIS WEEK to the tune of $500+ a day is to brush moss off roofs.

Ads convert so well on Facebook you can get leads using “open in messenger” ads with a random before/after photo targeted to people over 40 in your area. Leads cost like $10-$15 and they pay in cash. You pick single story houses with low slope roofs and brush off moss for a few hours, blow it off with a leaf blower, and make $300. Can do a few a day and you’ve got 6-900 in under the table cash. Can schedule it anytime you’re free like after school.

Huge demand in places that get moss on shingle roofs.

This is my boy Spencer. He works a few hours a day and parties down in Mexico in the winter.

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/xtNognNFpFA?feature=share

So basically I just need a leaf blower, broom, laundry detergent and a ladder and spread ads on instagram, facebook, twitter? And its high in demand? I could also add a USP, add other things like bleach and charge extra and boom? Should I just do that? I could also just hand out flyers locally, but how do I advertise online without lets say, people from america asking me to clean their roof?

 

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[Saad Khan]

I can try to set up a website for dog walking

I think you can start walking dogs without a website. But if you're building the site to learn how to code, then its good.

 

[Jrjohnny]

I think you can start walking dogs without a website. But if you're building the site to learn how to code, then its good.

Yeah I know. Depending on what Ill do, Ill hand flyers around my neighborhood like dog walking, roof cleaning depends on the topic.

 

[Saad Khan]

how do I advertise online without lets say, people from america asking me to clean their roof?

You'll figure this out when you run ads.

This forum is here to help you throughout the whole journey. So don't worry about step 99 while you're on 0.

Focus on 3 feet in front of you. Do what you said you are planning on doing. Then share it with us. There's tons of people like @Johnny boy and countless others who can help you build solid foundations for creating a fastlane business down the road.

And don't obsess over CENTS for now. This is your first business attempt, so get started and take action. Worry about CENTS when you're making $1000/week.

 

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[Jrjohnny]

You'll figure this out when you run ads.

This forum is here to help you throughout the whole journey. So don't worry about step 99 while you're on 0.

Focus on 3 feet in front of you. Do what you said you are planning on doing. Then share it with us. There's tons of people like @Johnny boy and countless others who can help you build solid foundations for creating a fastlane business down the road.

And don't obsess over CENTS for now. This is your first business attempt, so get started and take action. Worry about CENTS when you're making $1000/week.

Okay. Imma go work on flyers for dog walking now man, thank you everyone for your help. Ill get back to you in like a week to see how things are doing.

 

[Johnny boy]

So basically I just need a leaf blower, broom, laundry detergent and a ladder and spread ads on instagram, facebook, twitter? And its high in demand? I could also add a USP, add other things like bleach and charge extra and boom? Should I just do that? I could also just hand out flyers locally, but how do I advertise online without lets say, people from america asking me to clean their roof?

Maybe go watch that guys videos because he literally tells you how to do it. Jeez

Firm brush
Ladder
Leaf blower
Moss killer roof powder

Startup: $500 or less. Borrow dads ladder, ask for a leaf blower, now you only need $50 for a brush and moss killer.

*knock knock* “I’m Johnny Jr. I brush moss off roofs I’m raising money to help poor kids in need. It’s me, I’m the poor kid. I’ll give you a price for free and I can do it right now, what do you say?” “Okay how much?” *looks at roof* “It’ll be $225 would you be able to get cash within a couple hours?” “Yeah sounds good let’s do it”

 

[Johnny boy]

Okay. Imma go work on flyers for dog walking now man, thank you everyone for your help. I’ll get back to you in like a week to see how things are doing.

Walking dogs will be you picking up shit and making $30 for an hour not to mention the unpaid time you spend knocking on doors. Clean one roof and make $250-$500.

 

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[Jrjohnny]

Walking dogs will be you picking up shit and making $30 for an hour not to mention the unpaid time you spend knocking on doors. Clean one roof and make $250-$500.

Okay, valid but how would I transport the ladder, leaf blower, broom and laundry detergent?

 

[Johnny boy]

Okay, valid but how would I transport the ladder, leaf blower, broom and laundry detergent?

You got a prefrontal cortex, use that shit and problem solve bruh. Welcome to the TUTORIAL level of entrepreneurship.

 

[Jrjohnny]

You got a prefrontal cortex, use that shit and problem solve bruh. Welcome to the TUTORIAL level of entrepreneurship.

View attachment 48942

Its good man, I think im going to do lawn mowing. I can get good money from it aswell and my neighborhood has alot of overgrown grass, thank you for trying to help me but I got this, The start up for this? Like 100 bucks. I already got a lawn mower, weed wacker, leaf blower and fertilizer.

 

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[Jrjohnny]

Forgo