Articles

You have a college degree, or maybe you don’t yet.  You have great ideas, energy, and the ability to put 150% efforts to your goals.  Older people envy your spirit, your ability to take risks, and your freshness in thinking.  Younger people admire your motivation and hope they look as trendy as you do when you sound smart.  Being in your early 20s has many advantages.  Clearly, there is one main disadvantage that the typical twenty-something lacks, and that is ample funds to spare for great ideas. 

The first thing to do when you’re a young entrepreneur, or someone who wants to be one, is to plan with your money.  Skip the fashionable brands, avoid the weekly splurges on social outings, and budget your youth in dollars.  How many Coach bags do you need?  Do you really need to take a first date to the very best restaurant in town if you may never see her again?  You have to assess your personal risks and manage yourself wisely before you can embark on any public business ventures.  So, how do you do this with success?

1.      Build a savings.  You’ll read this sentence in every possible article, how-to, self-help, and counseling text.  Why?  Because it’s true.  Saving is a good habit to develop.  People make the mistake of thinking that savings have to come in consistent $20 bills that add up to thousands by the end of the year.  Yes, some people have better capacities to save.  Yet, some with less saving capacity have a more keen ability to cushion their life with a piggy-bank.  The best thing that you can do, if you’re really bad at saving is to put all spare change from broken dollars into some type of jar.  Quarters and dimes add up, and there is no need to insult the penny by leaving it on the floor of your old car.  Once a week, build your coin savings with one $5 bill every Friday before you start your weekend.  Do the math.  In one year, you will have saved $260.  That amount could pay for your first website and email accounts.  Add on your spare change savings, and you’ll easily have over $400 (averaging .50 cents a day) to pay for a college intern to work 10 hours a week at $10 an hour for the first month as your assistant. You get the picture.  If you start saving, you’ll be able to do more when it’s time for action.

2.      Put your energy in grassroots marketing.  You have the savvy knowledge of computers and the internet.  You probably know how annoying it is to get spam, too.  Go above and beyond every other wanna-be business owner, and make an effort to get personal with your potential customers.  Write.  Yes, use a pen.  Send personalized messages.  Remember people’s names.  Distribute at events and community gatherings.  You have to be willing to dedicate your current physical stamina to your marketing.  It will save your money, get you to meet new people, and demonstrate your enthusiasm to the public. 

3.      Avoid business with friends.  It all sounds very romantic when you and your roommate are discussing your future together as Co-CEOs of your business.  Indeed, you begin with the best of intentions, and slowly but surely, one or both of you will start to want things to be different.  Who will have more say?  Friendships can come from a business partnership, but at a young age, you have very little to offer another young entrepreneur other than the wetness behind your ears.  Be honest with yourself.  If you need help to launch your business ideas, network and meet someone with similar goals as yours.  Don’t force a friend to embark on a journey that will end as soon as you feel you have the capacity to be successful alone.  Your business will suffer, and obviously, you will sacrifice some of your humanity along the way.  It’s okay to hire friends with talents, but do not make commitments that your pocket cannot handle.

4.      Work on the side.  Amazingly, most young people are the best “cheap” work available within their industry.  You are willing to work, and you are inexperienced enough to do the work for less. Do not sell yourself short, but use commonsense about your talent level and experience.  Use a competitive consulting or freelancing rate to promote yourself and your name within your business field.  One, you’ll make money, and two, you’ll network yourself as a useful resource for others.

Above all, keep a balance between your social life and your business passion.  Minimize the amount of time you spend on a frivolous social life.   Whether you are still in college or not, maximize your time.  The most successful people understand the value of family and friends while they develop themselves fully.