Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Sam Coon has a vision to create a business that will help others. He is young and passionate about his cause, and he needs the advice and feedback of our innovative minds and our collective experience.

Sam is a 19-year-old college student, who’s majoring in Finance. His mother died of cancer about 4 years ago. He has two younger, teenage brothers, and a father who inspires him to work hard to get where he wants to go. Sam’s father works a full-time job, parents his 3 sons, and undergoes kidney dialysis 3 hours every day. His father’s dedication and determination have motivated Sam to start a business that can help make a difference in the world.

I learned about Sam’s situation and observed his diligence in a thread he posted elsewhere on this site. When I began asking questions about his choice of business and some of the details of his web site, I realized he would benefit from the ideas and insight of skilled and experienced members of the SuN community, if they knew his story. I was so impressed by Sam’s character, tenacity, and appreciation that I offered to become his personal mentor in this endeavor.

Let’s see what we can do with his business venture….

Sam’s first attempt has been to create an online retail site to sell electronics products, using a drop shipper, and donating a percentage of his profits to the American Cancer Society.

I believe he should reconsider his business concept and come up with something bigger and better. Maybe we can use his skills and interests as the basis for building a business that will serve an unfulfilled need. He mentioned an interest in the stock market and aspirations of starting an education fund to benefit children who have lost a parent. Let’s use these pieces to brainstorm a business idea.

I was interested in his story as well ... I offered him some help with his site but was confused about his business plan. If he changes it around, the offer is still there though!

I usually do one "good cause"/nonprofit site per month, as my way of giving back.

nhgnikole, that is such a kind offer! 

I would be happy to help Sam out with his business plan.  Sam is located not far from me so I could help get him to a small group of mentors who could assist as well. 

Once Sam has his business plan pointed in the right direction he`ll need your assistance!

If there is anything I could do to help, I am willing. let me know. If you get more information on his needs i am all ears.

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Our Goal Is Your Success!
Founder Girls with Goals

first, 0HDenise, let`s make sure sam wants our help - please invite him to chime in here.

once sam embraces either an improvement of his current business or a new business direction, we should bring him (and you?) on StartupNation Radio and on Joel`s Community Podcast.

thanks for being such a great citizen of StartupNation!

rich


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Rich Sloan , Co-Founder, Chief Startupologist, StartupNation

Hey Rich: 

Denise put Sam in contact with me yesterday so we`re good to go on getting Sam "pointed" in the right direction.   I`ll go give him a reminder to chime in.   Can`t wait to hear all about Sam and OhDenise on SuN Radio and Joel`s community podcast soon! 

I would love the collective help of the SUN Community. I have met some great people already and will embrace all ideas and concepts. I will work extremely hard to make our ideas come to life and will not disappoint. Feedback, Ideas, and other thoughts are greatly appreciated! I will strive to make this the first successful SUN Startup.

Also, it is very flattering that you would offer to do those events with me Rich. Being networked with such an influential character as yourself really helps me strive to be the best and make all of this work. I hope to hear back from many of you as I embark on this incredible journey.


Sam 

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Oncopeg is the first retailer to donate 3% of all Sales Proceeds to the American Cancer Society. We offer a huge selection of electronics and accesories. Who knew donating could be so easy!? We also have the most competitive prices around. Stop by and Become apart of the Revolution. www.Oncopeg.com

Behind the scenes ... Rich, before I posted this, I had messaged and talked on the phone with Sam, and I had his permission and approval to put him in the spotlight with this thread. I asked about his background so I could explain it accurately to others, and I asked him about his willingness to weigh advice, and apply suggestions from SuN members, even if it took him in another direction. And he responded with confirmed enthusiasm.

One of the things that is so great about Sam is how curious, receptive, and gracious he is. He has no hesitation about taking action in response to the advice he receives, and he does his "homework." He told me that he read the book authored by Jeff and Rich Sloan, StartupNation: Open for Business, before he came to the StartupNation site, and that he was encouraged to take action by what he had read, and all the positive interactions he experienced. He is the kind of person that encouraging people love to help.

I`ve been known to post some disparaging responses to posts that are created by people who don`t appear to have done any research on their own, and want to learn the shortcuts and be spoon-fed information by others who have done the reading and research that serious entrepreneurs should do. I`ve notice similar frustrations posted by other "regular" members who are asked for advice that is readily available from various sources (including elsewhere on the SuN website). So I`m encouraged and happy to report that there are serious aspiring entrepreneurs who may be lacking experience, but are willing to do what it takes, and ask questions that are thoughtful and pertinent.

I am so pleased and grateful to see the offers of encouragement and assistance from everyone so far. ngknikole, your offer is much appreciated. Your pro-bono policy is a great example for others to follow. MiteyMite, you`re on top of things, as usual, igniting ideas with your sparks of enthusiasm, everywhere you go. Sam will benefit immensely from your help and the luck of your nearby proximity. Thanks, Stonesledge, for your offer too. Stay tuned as this develops; I`m sure you`ll see an opportunity to assist, and if you`re like me, you`ll benefit as much by Sam`s eager interest as he will, by receiving your advice. And Rich, you are an awesome inspiration as always - full of optimism, encouragement, and empowerment. I feel as fortunate as Sam to receive your endorsement and attentive support. You`re a big part of creating the venue for such an exchange to take place. 

Perhaps this teaming up between Sam and me will create a model for other SuN members. We could create multiple mentoring teams and stir up some competitive momentum among these pairs, using some goals with timeframes to measure accomplishments.

I once read about a successful business person who received frequent requests from people who were seeking a mentor with whom they could consult. The business person would always first ask the mentor-seekers who they were mentoring. You don`t have to be a Fortune 500 executive to mentor someone. Anyone with valuable life experiences and cumulative knowledge can share advice and encouragement with someone who has less knowledge and experience.

Along a similar line of thinking, I have a vague concept for a market niche that might be explored as a potential business idea for Sam. This would draw on Sam`s financial interest and knowledge, and his uniquely youthful perspective. I think there is a real need for financial education, on a very practical level, for adolescents and even grade-school-aged children. I haven`t thought this concept through to the point of defining the best product or service that could fill this niche, but I want to toss it out to the fertile ground of this community to germinate and sprout new details that might make it viable.

How could the need for adolescent financial education be turned into a business opportunity? 

I totally agree with this. He does seem like he is truly interested in learning things ... sounds like a great "kid" to me, from my dealings with him. (I know he`s not a baby but I look at his ambition in comparison to my 18yo sister and he`s just light years ahead of the average teen. Kudos to Sam!) I`ll let you guys work out the plan details with him and then I`ll come back in the later stages to get your technology working.

It`s just so great when we can all get together to create a worthwhile project and a young person in need of some guidance!

Only suggestion I have at this time is to change the donation percentage. Don`t most companies in this sort of thing donate a higher %age? I think the problem right now is profit margin ... once you guys can move some things around, I think we can get the profit and donations up. 3 just seems like a weird number to me, I don`t know why. Anyhoo, take it or leave it.

And good luck to Sam!

Sam, if you want to go in the direction of providing financial education to teens (as a starting point), you might want to begin by doing some research to determine what kind of products are currently available.

You could expand your research to include some kind of survey that you could use to determine your market. You could ask adults in their 20`s and 30`s (maybe even beyond that age group) what kinds of things, related to money and financial planning, they wish they`d been taught when they were younger.

You might even want to approach a professor at your university about doing a research project along these lines. If you can draft up a concept paper to describe your basic idea, you could offer your suggestion to someone who would be interested in developing it into a publication that they could use for their own purposes. Don`t just look in the departments of Finance, Economics, and Business. Look for potential collaborations in the Department of Education, and any other possible contacts you can find. You could help them out by gathering research for them and suggesting various perspectives that could be explored.

Another source for networking? Banking officials. Not just any banking people. You`d have to search around and get referrals to find the right person to assist you. I know that there are financial institutions that want to promote savings, investing, and responsible use of credit (and other financial products) to children and adolescents. You could ask various institutions what they offer, in terms of educational materials, for students, and see if they have any insight into what works or what`s needed. No matter where you go, always ask for referrals to anyone else who might be able to help you. Most people are glad to assist someone who`s on a mission (and this is where your youthful zeal and determined focus will really serve you well).

Get yourself a folder, and start gathering information. Whenever you find something that might have some relevance, print it out (and note the source of the information, in case you need to find it again), and put all this data into a folder. Same thing with any potential points of contact. This could eventually lay the ground work for a book (or maybe you could make double use of it, and use it as reference material for a college paper that you need to write).

And if you want to think even bigger ... imagine that you compiled the findings of your research into an article that you could submit for publication, and then maybe you`d co-author a book. After that, you might find a way to turn your educational findings into some sort of game or presentation material that could be used by pre-teens and adolescents in an academic setting. Perhaps you could create a summer camp class or program that used game simulation as a teaching tool.

What do you think? Sam? Community? Can anyone else suggest how this concept could be developed into a useful business opportunity? Does anyone know of someone they could refer who might help out Sam in his quest for practical research and helpful professionals?