There is a good article on the Wall Street Journal’s “Startup Journal” that gives some advice about starting a business as a 20-something. The article basically calls out a few tips that budding young business starters should consider when starting their business. Although the advice holds true for new businesses of all kinds, I have to say, it’s quite refreshing to read an article about starting a business that is different from the next big internet idea. The article gives the following three pieces of high-level advice:
- Get professional help. Basically, hire out things you are not good at. Accounting, Legal concerns and other specialty skills fall into this category.
- Don’t live like a millionaire at 25. This is a critical piece of advice, especially in the age of richly valued internet startups. Many young people start new internet-based businesses in hopes of being the next Google, but, many of the big internet successes happened due to a lot of being in the right place at the right time and having the right product at the right time in the evolution of a particular market (i.e., Search, Video sharing, Internet retailing, etc). Don’t get ahead of yourself and expect to be like this guy or this guy, or even these guys. Build your business slowly and deliberately and with the right amount of hard work and luck, your success will follow.
- Build your resume — fast.
Simply put, use some strategies to help your business seem more credible. If you surround yourself with your high school friends, you probably won’t be taken seriously.
Starting a business or even a side job takes a lot of time and effort. The advice provided makes sure you are making the most of your efforts and ultimately are positioned for success. After all, most people that start new businesses aren’t trying to be the next Microsoft or Yahoo, they’re trying to have more control and freedom in their lives.
(Photo courtesy of ozzie)
Sign up for our beta at
