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Getting a business on the road
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
If i wanted to start my own business up, i would need money.
I am a 18 year old kid, no GCSE's, 12hour Job a week and living with my mum - how am i going to get enough money to get this business on the road?
I am a 18 year old kid, no GCSE's, 12hour Job a week and living with my mum - how am i going to get enough money to get this business on the road?
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If you don't mind me asking, what do you do when you're not working? 12 hours is very little if you are not studying as well with it...
Investors need to think that they are going to get their money back if they invest. It's your role to convince them that you can.
Also, if the startup costs aren't high, maybe a family member has the financial means and faith in you? Although I would not recommend it if there are other means, that kind of scenario nearly split my mother's side of family.
What was it you were planning to do, if you dont mind me asking?
If it's a good plan there's nothing that says they will be skeptical.
Plans is usually how businesses get started.
But it is a good advice to start small if the idea allows for it and see how well it'll be received.
http://www.princes-trust.org.uk/main%20site%20v2/14-30%20and%20need%20help/start%20up%20in%20business.asp
And you can Google for other youth enterprise services.
With the what have i been doing?, I would like to ask the same question, i had poor exam results and feel no one would want me (GCSE C+ etc). I live with my mum, no money, no gcse (even went to 6th form but didnt do nowt to me) and dont have the confidence to go out and look/work in a bar etc.
I wont go into detail of the idea, but its a website, would need to be professional and alot of work
Biggest mistake is if you haven't done anything but just have an idea, and go for the money straight away. Because then they don't know how you've justified your costs.
Anyway, I hope it works out for you
The setup costs associated with a web site are fairly minimal, providing you know, or are willing to learn how to, knock out a half decent e-commerce site.
Getting yourself ranked on search engines can be a little tricky. If you read up on it though you should be able to perform few easy steps to search engine optimization.
then it is going to cost you a hell of a lot to hire programers and site designers to do that for you.
then your going to need a lot of server space to run it from
A good friend of mine is a contractor developing a myspace-style website for a company, and the amount of money that is costing is unreal. And that's before they start paying for the bandwidth.
Internet commerce is not a pot of gold- the only things that make money are google, porn and sex toys.
Without thousands, you cannot start on that big of a scale. It's even less likely as you seemingly haven't got a clue what is involved in creating and running a site like those. Are you ready to run a debt that could amass for months before you even see something resembling a revenue? -Meanwhile you will constantly need to pay somebody their salary, pay for bandwidth, etc.
This would be possible if you had any knowledge and started small, that's how a lot of the big sites got started afterall, but as you aren't a programmer I think you need to study a lot more before this becomes an option.
If this truly is your passion, why don't you try to learn some programming and play around with it? You do seem to have some spare time on your hands so if this really is your drive, learning more about how to make this come true would be time well spent I should think.
To be fair, you need at least one of three things, hopefully all three. A cracking, brand-new idea, some excellent design and programming skills, and a bathtub of money.
Even if you had all three, it'd be difficult as hell. Designers and programmers - people who know what they're doing, cost a lot of money. Everything takes more time and money to do unless you are capable of doing it yourself.
Don't do anything that has been done before, unless you can improve upon it dramatically. There will be 100 other people out there developing the same idea as you, if it already exists and creates a profit.
There is money to be made on the internet. Google was created by just two brains. It's taken a lot more to make it what it is today, but it was damned good in the early months and years. I made a site in my spare time for my - now ex - girlfriend. We became quite big, receiving free consoles and accessories, and loads and loads of games. Our comments were even published on the back of the cases - considering we spent at most £300 on the whole site, it did really, really well. Through a series of arguments and a lack of time, I eventually ended up with complete control of the site, and closed it down at our peak, when I returned to university. I was offered over £7000 for the site - which I turned down, because it would have gone downhill. But that's another story. The guy who I eventually sold the domain name to has spent over a grand on the design and implementation before the site even gets off the ground.
Money can be made on the internet. The great idea is the simplest bit. Skill and money are - generally - needed in huge amounts. If you have the skills required, then it'll cost you a LOT less money.
Your YouTube idea isn't a good one because for starters it's to unrealistic. YouTube is a giant in it's class and there isn't going to be anyone that can really come close to matching it, especially now that Google own it.
With companies like YouTube you have to be the first of it's kind because trying to copy it will just cause you losing a lot of money and a lot of time and effort. There are dozens of sites like YouTube that try and leech off it's success but will never become more than a fringe company because they do not have the power or money to compete.
The best thing you can do is research your more realistic ideas to see if it's viable. Once you found something that you know a little more about head on down to see your business advisor (like the one you should be offered with an enterprise agency) and run it past him.