Hello to whoever reads this!
I’m a 21-year-old trying to navigate the path my future will take. I come from a lower/middle-class family, the way I’m currently living feels like a potential nightmare if it shapes my future or the resources I can provide for my future children. I understand you might wonder why I’m thinking so far ahead, but with many of my peers progressing in their lives and graduating university, I can’t help but consider my own trajectory. I want to build a name for myself, and in this era of high living costs, a normal job might not suffice. It seems like nowadays the only wealth that lasts is being born into generational wealth, which I wasn’t born into and so now I’ve gotta think outside the box.
Now, during my university break, the idea of starting a business or venturing into e-commerce (specifically, dropshipping) has been on my mind. However, navigating this market proves challenging, given the advice, some say “dropshipping is dead” while others sell their courses. It’s a bit overwhelming, and I’m left wondering where to start and who to trust for authentic guidance. Ultimately I aim to invent and launch a brand, my current wage feels inadequate for such goals. Therefore, my plan is to build my income before diving into the challenges of running a business.
I find myself at a crossroads, uncertain about the best path forward. I’m determined to make money, so any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated. Help a person out.
Here’s my two cents: Know how to repair/manufacture something or deliver a service, figure out what problems this know-how can solve, determine if people are willing to pay for that solution, and crunch the numbers if it makes financial sense.
People here are looking for a good business idea. Guess what? They cannot see it if they don’t know what’s possible to start with. This is where blue collar skills and some knowledge of applied sciences, like engineering, chemistry, and programming, come into play. If you want to sell pizza, you’ll be better off if you know how to make pizzas from scratch.
The next question is: What problems can this knowledge or skillset solve? You can look around, even in your own life, and see what problems people encounter, and then ask if what you know can solve that problem. If yes, try to make a working prototype.
The next question is: Are people willing to pay for the solution you came up with? The only way you can know this is by doing it, testing your market, showing your proposed solution to potential customers, asking for feedback, and using people’s feedback to refine your product or service. Here, you will be able gauge potential market demand, how much to charge for the product or service, who your customers will be, etc.
The last part will be financial in nature as this will require you to have a good idea of what the product cost or cost of service will be. Here, an accountant can guide you.
Don’t be afraid to know how different products are manufactured or how different services are rendered. This is because this is what will allow you to imagine potential solutions to problems, potential solutions that you can test in the real world.
When people tell you that the first job of an entrepreneur is to sell, don’t believe them. The first job of an entrepreneur is to find a product to see or a service to provide, and then sell. If you don’t have a product or service to start with, then what are you selling?
I hope this helps.