Im not talking about a dropshipping business or anything like that, I mean an actual business where i manufacture my own products. Would this be possible at my age, and where would I start?
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I started my first at 12. Software. Rock and roll.
Yes you can. But better get a job or learn as much as you want about accounting. You not only learn how businesses actually run. Also you’ll learn what practices work and what practices don’t. It’s the backstage you want to be exposed first if you wanna start a business. Regardless of the industry accounting is present everywhere.
Yes in business, age really doesn’t matter, it’s the value u provide!
and you’ll be so far ahead of the game when you start at 16, just go for it! there are thousands of ways to make money and build businesses, not just dropshipping, so i recommend keeping an open mind as you’re exploring opportunities and get exposed to lots of possibilities (youtube, podcasts, etc)
Good luck manufacturing anything you’ll be competing with China. But at your age the skys the limit. Instead of selling a product go for a service. Buy a good power washer and offer to clean decks and drive ways $$$
I like the initiative.
I started my first business at 16 and actually sold it at 20 for a decent amount of money. You 100% can start a business at your age, there’s just a few limitations you need to work around, both forced by your age and natural. It does make things harder, but not impossible.
- Funding. Obviously the younger you are, the less likely you have access to cash, which for physical products creates a limitation. Manufacturing can be cheap, it can also be very expensive, and economies of scale becomes the issue. I.e. If I want to sell a product for 10 dollars, after shipping and such, it might cost 15 dollars per product if I order one (a loss) or 5 dollars per product if I order a thousand of them, which could be a good margin, but that means you need to have 5000 bucks to order that 1000. This isn’t an impossibility, but it means most have to get creative to make that happen.
- Online payment providers like Stripe and Paypal almost universally require you to be 18+ to open an account. Again, that isn’t a complete blocker, but it meant when I was younger I had to have somebody else do this, which depending on your country could be legally dodgy or in general just a risk depending on how much you trust this person.
- Business structures. Much the same as number 2, you might not be allowed to register a business in your country till you’re 18, and though I advise starting before putting the legal stuff in place anyway, you’ve gotta be careful because this also prevents you from putting things in place like insurance. If you’re manufacturing a physical product, your risks on things like getting sued are bigger, and you wanna be protected against that.
My business at 16 was a live events company. I booked locations, bands, organised events and then focused on marketing to sell tickets. This worked for me because on the small scale, my overheads were very low and I knew it pretty well (I’d been playing gigs with my bands since 14). I ran it without a legal structure for a year, then put one in place, and re-invested my profits until I grew it to something big, holding more events and larger ones with higher profile acts that I could charge more for. Even then, I was skirting the law a little by being in these locations (alcohol serving places meant I needed to be 18+).
It’s not impossible, but you need to think about what you can do with your limitations and what’s most possible for you. Doesn’t need to be dropshipping, but you realistically need something you can start with a little money and then re-invest the profits to grow in a big way.
I believe you are right , but in this present society what would you suggest someone could start with?
It’s gotta be some niche you’re familiar with. For example the commenter was familiar with and involved in the gig scene, so they started a gig centered business. The likelihood you’ll just randomly pick something and have success is very low
Absolutely but you must take it extremely seriously
Hell yes. Andrew Carnegie started his newspaper delivery business at 12. Michael Dell of Dell computers started selling trash bags door to door at 14. Become unstoppable kid.
Go for it kid! Put your mind to it and make it happen.
Yes but, I’d say expect to fail. Not saying that in a negative way but expect something to go wrong or a tough road to get started. And when/if it does fail make sure that you don’t put all your eggs into the one basket. Sometimes you work to earn and sometimes you work to learn!
Yes, absolutely! It sounds simple, but start with writing everything down - what will your business consist of, can you do it on your own or will you need help? how much will help cost? what will you produce? how much will it cost to produce this item?
etc. then i would reach out to a small business financial advisor and start there. most of them help with business plans as wel
I did bro! I drove 15k in revenue starting at your age. Don’t force anything, just pick something your passionate about
Yes, start sopmething simple online! Look on money twitter for some ideas.
Of course, I started at 14. You’ may need to put an LLC in your parents name, if you get that far, but absolutely. Better to start young, try a bunch of different business, see you you like. Your at the age you can take risks and learn.
hey, i am a web developer! You can hit me up in pm, if i like the idea i will make you a website for free :)
if by manufacture you mean make yourself then yes! you would need allot of money to get a factory to make something custom for you.
this 15yo kid in my hometown would pick shells off the beach and paint art on them. he asked a gas station if he could put them in their store and get half the profit. next thing you know they are in almost ever gas station/small shop in multiple towns and he got a article in the newspaper.
can only imagine how much that little dude makes a summer doing something he was already doing for free.