Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hey guys I`m new to this forum. I`ve never heard of this site before but I just stumbled on it through Google.

So basically I`m 17 and I`m about to go to college for the first time. I have a huge interest in real estate investing and I spend ALOT of time reading about it and researching. I plan on buying a duplex as a rental property next summer so I can live in one unit and rent out the other.

Until then I`d like to create some type of income for college and I`d also like to put what I`ve learned about marketing to work. My main interest is to start an e-business. I always used to develop ideas but I would never pull the trigger and invest money in a web designer. But lately I`ve sold some of my more valuable possessions and I have a small amount of money that I can do business with.

My initial idea was to launch an affiliate based web site. I liked this idea because it seemed like it could generate some passive income and I was planning on making it a niche site for younger men around my age up to about 30 years old. This seemed OK, but I`ve been told it`s kind of an overly used idea and its not original.

So now I`m trying to brainstorm some ideas of how I can profit  through e-business using one of my interests but I`m stuck. I`ve been told blogging/selling an ebook is a good move, but I`m moving into a dorm and ontop of school work, that seems like a pretty big load. If it helps at all, I have a huge interest in rock and roll bands and music. I`m a beginner/intermediate guitar and drum player and I also am a die hard Yankee fan. These are only a few of my interests, but I`m just trying to give an idea of what I`m interested in and how I`m trying to create an e-biz that includes one of them.

What business models can I follow in order to use my niche/interests to profit extra money while I`m at college?

Thank you!

Hi there :-) Welcome to the forums, and it`s great to see young folks with a strong interest in entrepreneurship!

I think the first thing would be to list your interests and some of the ideas you`ve looked at in the past. One option is to start a band when you get to school, although I`m not sure what the money is these days in playing clubs.

You`ve mentioned the Yankees, which would imply you also have a strong interest in baseball, right? What else are your "hobbies," the things that keep you interested and entertained for long periods of time?

"Starting and e-business" isn`t the same thing as an "interest," in this context. That`s a desire...a direction, not a set of actions. To clarify, if you`d said that you`re a business broker, and your interest is in building then selling off a business, that would be a set of actions, see?

Look back over the past 10 years: What have you spent a great deal of your time doing, other than routine (e.g., going to school, homework, keeping clean)?

Also, where do you intend to go to school? Will it be a large university or small college? That`ll impact the potential customer base. Will it be in a large city or a small town? (Same reason for the question.)