Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I just turned 19. I`ve been dreaming of being a business owner since I was 12. I`ve had a little bit of online success when I was 14 but that fell off. It was continued by a lot of failed ventures. I am looking to start something long term and something that I can grow on my own. I`m looking to sell a product or provide a service, anything as long as I`m my own boss.

My Skills:
- Program in PHP
- Design in HTML and other languages
- I can basically create a fully funciton website with PHP and mysql

My passions:
-Money
-Poker
-Traveling
-College
-Being a good person
-Running a business

I know that this is very vague, but I`m just trying to catch a direction. No, I am NOT interested in MLM or anything of that sorts. I want to create and develop a regular business. Any suggestions :-)? I know you guys are geniuses!

I`d try to think of what`s important to others, and that could just be what`s important to you
Normally I`d suggest to think of something that would make other people money. For instance, making a website that has an X step program to be good at poker. That`s helping people, running a website and associating it with poker together.
If you like helping people, others might too! How about something innovative that will help you help others to help others still? (though I fail to see how this will pay the bills :-)

Try and be creative, think outside the box, shed light on old ideas... You`ll find what you`re seeking eventually :-)
Just keep your hopes up, and your spirits high

Good luck

Jmes



-------------------------

My LookupPage

How about a site for traveling businessmen to find local poker games in the city where they traveled to?

How about a website that posts news reports about little businesses and common people that make a positive steps

you could get stories from free members. like a guy in Indiana that hired an employee, a new store opens in California, a new factory opens in Delaware.

Maybe mix a bit of humor in like Jon Stewart style (or Craig), with only positive stories of small businesses, common everyday Joe`s that are banging away, and making it happen.

get some local politians giving special reports, they will be begging as election time nears.

Get a couple viral, build a following and someone will seek you out to pay something.
Surely these blogs about Hilton, and Simpson are raking in tons.
Heck I read a story awhile back of this girl that gave away skins for myspace, next thing she knew she was a millionaire, without even trying.

just a thought.

Two thoughts, maybe an ecommerce site selling poker supplies (since you know database programming). There is some still competition here...so you would have to do something significant to set yourself apart. It certainly can be done, but you would need to brainstorm on ways to differentiate yourself.

Also, maybe selling high quality poker supplies at premium pricing. Use Google AdWords or something like that to automate the marketing for you, and the premium pricing strategy will allow you greater profit margins, and thus a larger margin of error if your AdWords campaign gets a little expensive. Similar to what Eric recommended, targeting business people who enjoy poker may be a good niche to target.



-------------------------

Motivation for Entrepreneurs
Entre-Propel.com

Thanks guys, these are all great suggestions! My buddy had another suggestion that can work. Let me know:

Create a site where you can create all kinds of contests or tournaments. IE: Have a bracket style format like the NCAA and do it for the "Prettiest Face", "Prettiest Anything", you can do it for anything. You can make it so others can make their own tourney or they can participate in the tourneys. We can charge an entry fee for each tourney and depending on the tourney size, there will be top 3 or top 5 people that get paid out.

Advertising will be tough in the beginning, but as more people are on it, they will advertise their own entries and it can be a snowball effect.

How will money be made?
You can pay a couple of bucks for your entry, or you can do CPA forms and earn "credits" that way and take a % or a flat fee out of the payment of the entrant.

Let me know what you guys think.

First, find a company with a solid product.  Make sure it’s a product that people actually need and not just another product thrown on to make a compensation plan legal.

Second, find a company with a compensation plan that will actually benefit you.  This is important.  Don’t join a company that puts most of the compensation on levels you will never reach.

Lastly, find a company that offers good training and support.  You need great training to start working from home.  Don’t settle for joining an opportunity that doesn’t provide you with this training.

------------------

tribhuvan

Home Based Business

I remember growing up playing the piano, thinking how easy it was for me, and contemplating fame and riches as a rock star. :-) I picked up music without any real effort, so when I was around 19 decided to go professional.

One of the key things to remember is that whatever it is you really like now, where there`s no pressure, that`s going to be whatever you`re doing every single day if you make it a business. It won`t matter if your tired, depressed, or you have a 104-degree temperature and the flu; you`re still responsible for getting work done.

I remember being on stage, so sick I couldn`t even see straight, but with a contractual obligation to play. AND to make it look like I was partying and having a helluva time. There came a time when I left the music business, and couldn`t care less if I ever saw another piano.

It`s true that having a business organized around your passion is likely the better way to go in life. For a long time, you`ll probably find that you don`t "feel" like you`re working. Instead, you`ll be doing what you love to do. The problem is that in most cases, doing that same thing for 30 years really does get old, y`know?

So my suggestion would be to examine your life and come up with a sort of general plan. Perhaps you`ll start a poker business, but there`s no law that says you have to keep running it for 30 years. Instead, you could figure out a way to not only start the business, but also your "exit strategy."

In other words, decide that you`ll build and run a business, but only for 5 years. At the end of that time you`ll have created a situation where you can choose either to continue for some more years, or sell it or close it down and do something different. The point being choice.

Think of your business as a marriage. Have you been dreaming of being married since you were 12? When you DO get married, how long do you think you`ll be married?

Its an interesting idea...I`m just concerned that this type of thing can be made into a facebook application much more easily and have more traffic right off the bat.

Actually, that might not be a bad way to test out your idea to see if it catches on.


-------------------------

Motivation for Entrepreneurs
Entre-Propel.com

Just start freelancing!  You`ll learn a lot from working on