Well as you can see this is my first post so before I dive into the exhilarating sea of emotions I got after executing what I've learned, a little about myself. (That word in italics may indicate sarcasm..)
I'm 20 years old going on the BIG 21 (next month). With a (useless) associates degree in business and BIG goals.
I've always answered the question of "What are you going to do for a living?" (albeit somewhat joking and dreamy) with "I'm going to own a business!!" My friends have always joked about how I'll be "rich" someday (something I've always wanted to achieve) and about how much of a salesman I am. Really what I want to achieve is the FREE TIME (of course with the fruits of my labor) to enjoy my life and the world. I've realized that I need to get into the Fastlane, put the gas peddle to the floor and make this a reality!
Now what brought me here was a really a series of unfortunate events, of course brought on by own choices because as we all know the place we're at right now is only a reflection of the choices we made to put us there.
I was on a very promising path to marriage and a life with healthy a six-figure income, when I decided to do the ONE thing I thought I would never do and ultimately crushed the person I cared about the most, my fiance. Though not near as important as the pain I caused, I ended up loosing my job as I worked for her father. (Pretty smart huh?) At the time I didn't consider the consequences of my actions and I really see now how "hindsight is 20/20". (I'll give you two guesses to what I did in complete selfishness and arrogance and the first one doesn't count)
I completely own this as a mistake and only blame myself. However, I know now that the only thing I can do know is learn from it and press onward. (Though it does to hurt to think about what I did while I sit here and write about it)
So being jobless and bored, day in and day out, living at home with mom... I decided to download a book on my Kindle and read about starting a business for about $100.
I took from this that what I really needed was to add value to the customer...
Then came The Millionaire Fastlane , and all I can say is WOW. This book really put me into gear and I can't thank you enough MJ!
I decided to dive into more books and learn all I could about all aspects of business (from building a business that can run without me to sales and writing copy)
In all I've powered out 5 books within the course of a week all of which have really put me in the mindset of an entrepreneur, and more importantly one that wants to create VALUE to the costumer. I had then convinced myself that once I found that "right/perfect" idea I could run with it and really make it work.
However, I seemed to have a real problem finding this idea...
That's where these forums came in. I poured over them for hours on end and days at a time. I've taken in some truly valuable information from a few LEGENDARY contributors (I think they know who they are and I cant remember exact names right now) and I would like to give a quick and HUGE thank you to them! You've all been truly inspirational and I hope someday I can give back as you have to watch others succeed.
Now, what came to me was that I didn't NEED an idea, the consumers of the world have all the ideas I could ever need! I just needed to figure out what problems they were facing and think up some creative way to solve said problem. Which would in itself add the value I was seeking because it was solving a pain they felt.
Well this all sounded great in theory but now I was stuck on the idea of what industry to target...
Again I poured over the forums and read all I could. What I saw coming out of these guys post's is that it is all about getting out there and just taking action. EXECUTING what you think you know and learning from it.
SO THAT IS PRECISELY WHAT I DID TODAY!
I decided to go out and get something done that I needed to get done (just a regular task at hand)... But I was determined to try and extract a problem that I could solve from the person/industry I would be dealing with. All by just be friendly and having a face to face conversation, really caring and engaging with what they had to say.
BY GOLLY DID THE STARS ALIGN! I FOUND A PROBLEM THAT TRULY NEEDS SOLVED THAT COULD SAVE THEM MONEY, TIME AND FRUSTRATION!
I couldn't believe it actually worked and I was literally running around with excitement. My heart was pounding and now my gears were turning!
I know this product is scale able, and I can reach millions with it. And I verified its something people really want. (Although with no pre sales yet)
I think there is a decent barrier to entry because there is actually a physical product that has to be developed.
There is only a couple competitors who have way over complicated the product and made it to expensive for the true target market. (They also are terrible at marketing it)
I really believe I could crush it with a simple/less expensive product and some great marketing.
If you've stuck it out this far through my story THANK YOU! However, this is where my questions arise and where I'd love some advice...(break time for some homemade chili and cornbread!)
Anyways, my idea is a new product to the industry but my idea was based on something existing. Though in a different application and physically larger then what I need so I cant re-brand that exact thing to this market.
Also this is a one time product, once they get it they wont need to buy it again (unless they need more). But there is a whole BUSHEL of people to reach with this product. And every customer will need more than one.
My questions:
-Is there anything I should avoid in starting a business revolving around a single one-time buy product?
-How should I go about developing a prototype, try to find an existing product I might be able to make work? Or somehow design my own product and get it manufactured? Or have someone design it for me?
-Also do I need to set up accounts for said business (paypal/bank account)? Or would it be easy to use my personal existing ones?
I would LOVE to hear your thoughts (though I don't want to expose exactly what this niche is) and ANY other advice you might have. I'm sure I will have plenty of questions moving forward and I'd like to thank you right now for even taking the time to read this, let alone helping through my journey.
You are AWESOME!
I'm 20 years old going on the BIG 21 (next month). With a (useless) associates degree in business and BIG goals.
I've always answered the question of "What are you going to do for a living?" (albeit somewhat joking and dreamy) with "I'm going to own a business!!" My friends have always joked about how I'll be "rich" someday (something I've always wanted to achieve) and about how much of a salesman I am. Really what I want to achieve is the FREE TIME (of course with the fruits of my labor) to enjoy my life and the world. I've realized that I need to get into the Fastlane, put the gas peddle to the floor and make this a reality!
Now what brought me here was a really a series of unfortunate events, of course brought on by own choices because as we all know the place we're at right now is only a reflection of the choices we made to put us there.
I was on a very promising path to marriage and a life with healthy a six-figure income, when I decided to do the ONE thing I thought I would never do and ultimately crushed the person I cared about the most, my fiance. Though not near as important as the pain I caused, I ended up loosing my job as I worked for her father. (Pretty smart huh?) At the time I didn't consider the consequences of my actions and I really see now how "hindsight is 20/20". (I'll give you two guesses to what I did in complete selfishness and arrogance and the first one doesn't count)
I completely own this as a mistake and only blame myself. However, I know now that the only thing I can do know is learn from it and press onward. (Though it does to hurt to think about what I did while I sit here and write about it)
So being jobless and bored, day in and day out, living at home with mom... I decided to download a book on my Kindle and read about starting a business for about $100.
I took from this that what I really needed was to add value to the customer... Then came The Millionaire Fastlane , and all I can say is WOW. This book really put me into gear and I can't thank you enough MJ!
I decided to dive into more books and learn all I could about all aspects of business (from building a business that can run without me to sales and writing copy) In all I've powered out 5 books within the course of a week all of which have really put me in the mindset of an entrepreneur, and more importantly one that wants to create VALUE to the costumer. I had then convinced myself that once I found that "right/perfect" idea I could run with it and really make it work.
However, I seemed to have a real problem finding this idea...
That's where these forums came in. I poured over them for hours on end and days at a time. I've taken in some truly valuable information from a few LEGENDARY contributors (I think they know who they are and I cant remember exact names right now) and I would like to give a quick and HUGE thank you to them! You've all been truly inspirational and I hope someday I can give back as you have to watch others succeed.
Now, what came to me was that I didn't NEED an idea, the consumers of the world have all the ideas I could ever need! I just needed to figure out what problems they were facing and think up some creative way to solve said problem. Which would in itself add the value I was seeking because it was solving a pain they felt.
Well this all sounded great in theory but now I was stuck on the idea of what industry to target...
Again I poured over the forums and read all I could. What I saw coming out of these guys post's is that it is all about getting out there and just taking action. EXECUTING what you think you know and learning from it.
SO THAT IS PRECISELY WHAT I DID TODAY!
I decided to go out and get something done that I needed to get done (just a regular task at hand)... But I was determined to try and extract a problem that I could solve from the person/industry I would be dealing with. All by just be friendly and having a face to face conversation, really caring and engaging with what they had to say.
BY GOLLY DID THE STARS ALIGN! I FOUND A PROBLEM THAT TRULY NEEDS SOLVED THAT COULD SAVE THEM MONEY, TIME AND FRUSTRATION!
I couldn't believe it actually worked and I was literally running around with excitement. My heart was pounding and now my gears were turning!
I know this product is scale able, and I can reach millions with it. And I verified its something people really want. (Although with no pre sales yet)
I think there is a decent barrier to entry because there is actually a physical product that has to be developed.
There is only a couple competitors who have way over complicated the product and made it to expensive for the true target market. (They also are terrible at marketing it)
I really believe I could crush it with a simple/less expensive product and some great marketing.
If you've stuck it out this far through my story THANK YOU! However, this is where my questions arise and where I'd love some advice...(break time for some homemade chili and cornbread!)
Anyways, my idea is a new product to the industry but my idea was based on something existing. Though in a different application and physically larger then what I need so I cant re-brand that exact thing to this market.
Also this is a one time product, once they get it they wont need to buy it again (unless they need more). But there is a whole BUSHEL of people to reach with this product. And every customer will need more than one.
My questions:
-Is there anything I should avoid in starting a business revolving around a single one-time buy product?
-How should I go about developing a prototype, try to find an existing product I might be able to make work? Or somehow design my own product and get it manufactured? Or have someone design it for me?
-Also do I need to set up accounts for said business (paypal/bank account)? Or would it be easy to use my personal existing ones?
I would LOVE to hear your thoughts (though I don't want to expose exactly what this niche is) and ANY other advice you might have. I'm sure I will have plenty of questions moving forward and I'd like to thank you right now for even taking the time to read this, let alone helping through my journey.
You are AWESOME!
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