I know plenty of young entrepreneurs, most of which who run a service-oriented business such as: web development, marketing, web design, online magazine, blog networks, etc… I rarely hear about young entrepreneurs who run some sort of brick and mortar startup. You know… like a deli, super market, landscaping, or what about a construction company.
I think that we young entrepreneurs — myself included — are really riding this technological wave pretty hard. It makes sense since we are the first generation to harness the true power of the World Wide Web. We grew up using the net, so it’s only natural that our businesses will be an extension of that medium.
But are we locking ourselves in to this medium? Are we becoming overly focused on the Internet and automatically building businesses around it without even considering other sorts of ventures? Maybe.
I love the net, no doubt. But it’s always refreshing when I do come across someone who has chosen another path. I have a friend who runs a tea shop here in the city, and I give him a lot of respect for taking on such a venture. It’s definitely an entirely different playing field than running a website or web development company.
No matter what sort of business you run, having an offline presence is always a good idea. You need to play both sides of the board. If you run a web development company and are running it out of your room, aim to have a real office one day. A place where clients can actually come in and speak to you in person.
Sure, many of us can run our businesses from our rooms perfectly fine, but I don’t know about you guys… but having a legit office one day is definitely a goal of mine.
For those of you out there who run shop or some sort of business where you actually see and talk to clients all day, you probably have an office and without it you couldn’t run your business. Who knows, maybe you’re wishing the exact opposite and want to be able to run your business from a room without ever seeing a client in person.
Any brick and mortar entrepreneurs out there? Let’s hear it… what do you do and how do you like having an office and being able to see your clients in person all day long?
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Hey David,
Check out http://www.auh2odesigns.com/ . It’s a clothing store in the east village that my friend opened a little less then a year ago. Brick and Mortar store, young entrepreneur. She’s a really great gal too.
Hey Avi, Sweet! Looks like a pretty cool shop. I’ll have to stop by one day, def.
It’s all about startup costs to me – if I could start a bar for the cost of a website I’d do it in a heartbeat. I think that’s why a lot of YE’s fall into the tech boat – it’s our only real opportunity to get started unless we come from a loaded family.
Adam, that’s a really good point. Money is definitely a factor!
Yeah I agree with Adam about the money cost, but also its so much easier setting up a business online in comparison to an offline business. All I need to do is register a domain and get some hosting – done! Compared to a brick and mortar business where there may be all kinds of legal action involved.
I work with a lot of Young Entrepreneurs (typically high school students) and I try to help them keep things simple by suggesting two guidelines to help them limit their business ideas to something they can see success in.
1) Don’t pick a business if you can’t get a paying customer within the first week. and
2) Don’t pick any business that requires more than $100 to get started.
As you can guess, we get a lot of simple service businesses. We are currently working with several teenage entrepreneurs who are starting or growing their businesses this summer. (You can read about their ups and downs on our blog at http://www.yeabiz.com).
Do you think that the two limitations are good guidelines for young entrepreneurs that are still in high school? Do they apply to slightly older entrepreneurs who are in college?
Brian
Hey Brian. Welcome to Mind Petals!
Glad that you found our community. I think that what you are doing is great. Your idea on how to start a business for young HS entrepreneurs is great. I think that that’s a great template for them to start thinking of a business. It’ll force them to think and keep their idea really simple and practicable. It’s a good “starting point” but in time as their minds start to think of more complex ideas, the template will be rendered obsolete. It’s really not a matter of HS or college entrepreneurs, it’s more specific to the current mindset and learning environment of the entrepreneur. For HS entrepreneurs, you have the right idea.