* I don’t actually have the answer to this question. If you do, please share!
BUT – I’ve been kicking around a couple of ideas after speaking to my cousin. I’ve also discussed starting a side business with my roommate a while back. And for several months I just kind of let the ideas die away because, well, I am scared and apprehensive and I’ve never thought of myself as particularly entreprenuerial.
Yet – I have some ideas that I think are worth progressing on. I’m going to speak to my parents later this week to get their input on it. I have NO idea if it will succeed, but it costs me nothing to think more about it.
Lots of market research and business planning in the works, me thinks.
Related posts:
Awesome! You seem like the type of person that would do whatever it took to make things work; I would invest in you!
I say go for it while you’re young and have less to lose and less people depending on you for income (while also getting lots of advice from experienced people, of course).
Would having your MBA allay your fears a bit? I can see how that would make you less apprehensive, and it probably would help but isn’t entirely necessary. My dad’s highest level of education is high school, and he started his own business when he was pretty young (26, I think?). It was pretty profitable until he got too sick to work.
Et voila Entrepreneurship Post I wrote a while back
Startups are easy. You just need to begin with a name/idea, proof the idea with a business plan, do the research/stats on whether your service or product could be popular/sell, figure out pricing, figure out margins and then secure capital and go for it.
Best of luck in the startup. I hope you’ll write more about it here. I really enjoy your posts!
Check out Jason Calacanis http://calacanis.com/. He just recently starting a podcast/video cast titled “This Week in Start Ups.”
Oooooh! Exciting!
Depends on what you need to start up. Senor Dog only needed a website and a few grand in equipment. If you need a storefront or employees or something, it’s a whole different game.
Good for you! I think it’s great you’re thinking about it in spite of the current economic climate. It’s folks like you that are the country’s insurance policy for getting out of this mess. I hope the market research and planning leads to good things!
Jerry
http://www.leads4insurance.com
Yeah for real – starting any sort of side biz is awesome if you can pull it off! Hope you tell us what it is down the road
Like the others said, what you need depends on what kind of business you have in mind. I think at the very minimum you should start looking around at who could help you make a website. Unless you can make one of your own, that is.
And, at least here in Washington state, there are plenty of small lenders (ala Lenders Club, but not as big) that specialize in helping small businesses get going. Also, the Small Business Association has tons of programs, including whole workshops to cover the basics of what you will need to consider for a small business. And you can even sign up to work with ex-executives who can help you firm up your business model, etc.
So if it’s something you decide to do seriously, I would start with those small steps. Surf the internet looking for potential lenders and for interesting programs with the SBA. Which also has its own loan program, incidentally.
Many new businesses start from an existing interest or hobby. Consider what you are interested in and you find that a business opportunity lies within.