Any Advice?

[MauricioJC84]

So many times I have had ideas come to me that I feel are ones with extreme potential. Ideas that excite me and not because it's my idea but because in my gut I feel that with strategic planning they can have success. My problem is that I have no money whatsoever and I don't have the resources available to me that would allow me to bring these ideas to life. ( or is it light?) Anyways, does anybody have any advice on how to overcome these kind of obstacles? Does anybody have any stories they would like to share? Basically, I do not have the money to hire a web developer and I feel that if I attemp to make the website myself it will not be to its fullest potential. They say first impression is the most important one and I have the mentality that if I make the website myself and it's poorly developed, it will not appeal to visitors the first time resulting in the visitor not coming back. They say you need money to make money. Should I consider myself being at a disadvantage?

[The Stealthy One]

Do you have the skills, knowledge, and experience necessary to implement these ideas? If so, have you considered shopping your idea(s) to investors? If not, are you willing to do what it takes to become personally able to lead a business that develops your ideas?

Your problems are certainly not insurmountable; in fact, they are problems that every entrepreneur faces.

[jboydni]

You have alot to learn. I suggest you do just that, buy some books written on Entrepreneurship and small business start-ups by Entrepreneurs, Check online to see if there are any Support networks for Young Entrepreneurs in you area that might how free semiars and events etc. Your obiously just tipping the iceburg of what you need to know to bring your ideas into reality.

1.Read some books
2.Consider taking a course or another form of education in Entrepreneurship/start-ups
3.Once you feel you have the knowledge pick and Idea and write a short 'Elevator pitch' for it.
4.Look for a mentor in your community, who would be a successfull businessman with years of experiance behind him who will guide you, offer you contacts and possibly invest in you.
5.Create a solid business plan (perhaps look up help for this from maybe a credable online service or an MBA student) and get it checked over by your mentor.
6.Look for the best form of investment to suit you, again look at a local Entrepreneur support group to see if they offer investments, look at your bank, Venure Capital, Angels etc and show them your business plan.

And from there as long as you followed point one two you should have an idea of where to take it from there, it should also be mapped out in your business plan.

Good Luck.

[rekid]

Figure out how you can leverage other peoples skills, resources, access to credit etc and organise it so they get a cut from the combined efforts finished product.

its better to get 30% of something than 100% of nothing.

[rekid]

just to elaborate, you don't need money to make money....you need thinking to make money without money....

say for example you've a great high-end product that you want to sell for $1000 a piece. lets say you want to put up a website but don't have the technical knowledge and you're not a seasoned marketer...

yuo could find the people that have the skills you need, have them do the work and pay them a cut of the profits wehn its done.

i'm sure you know someone who can set the website up and manage it for you and you could find some else who has the marketing skills to market the site for a profit with no advertising costs.

just a thought but some creative thinking can always create doorways where before you couldn't see any

Hope that helps

[akula]

dismal, dismal advice all round

lol investors, elevator pitches, business plans

efing hilarious

guys, who taught you this stuff?

is there some sort of a late night infomercial that I keep missing or something?

[DrMoney]

lol akula...

I think all this info was good, why dont you tell us what he should do.


I would bootstrap to the top.

[akula]

So many times I have had ideas come to me that I feel are ones with extreme potential. Ideas that excite me and not because it's my idea but because in my gut I feel that with strategic planning they can have success. My problem is that I have no money whatsoever and I don't have the resources available to me that would allow me to bring these ideas to life. ( or is it light?) Anyways, does anybody have any advice on how to overcome these kind of obstacles? Does anybody have any stories they would like to share? Basically, I do not have the money to hire a web developer and I feel that if I attemp to make the website myself it will not be to its fullest potential. They say first impression is the most important one and I have the mentality that if I make the website myself and it's poorly developed, it will not appeal to visitors the first time resulting in the visitor not coming back. They say you need money to make money. Should I consider myself being at a disadvantage?

dude, seriously...let me tell you how this stuff works

founders are retardant to education

everyone here, and in the wider startup community, just sort of stumbles around and teach them selves everything they know

it's absolutely no use giving you free information because you're not gonna do anything with it

you want to try out small business?

go and figure out everything your self

if you can do that, you're made for this occupation

if not, then it doesn't matter

I mean, c'mon, this is just some passing fancy you got isn't it?

[akula]

lol akula...

I think all this info was good, why dont you tell us what he should do.


I would bootstrap to the top.

hehhe me? what do I know? I know nufin'

it's all just same old crap

everyone has their own opinion on how to do entrepreneurship

it's tiring

50 years of people hammering of curricula and still, same old 100 diffrent answers

[akula]

if there ever was a good title for a paper it's Entrepreneurship Education: Opportunity in Search of Curriculum

all that money, and the academics still can't put together a standard document for teaching the subject

they did it with finance/law/engineering, everything else under the sun, but NO!, come entrepreneurship and everyone's got their own way of doing it

they can't even universally define the damn thing

will it ever end?

[jboydni]

dismal, dismal advice all round

lol investors, elevator pitches, business plans

efing hilarious

guys, who taught you this stuff?

Who? Successfull Entrepreneurs thats who. Who are you?

You talk about how age blinds peoples decisions, well I think your self righteousnessblinds you.

When it comes down to it, who am I going to listen to? The people who have been extremely successfull with their business and are millionairs or the guy on a young Entreprenuer forum who likes to put everyones ideas down because he doesn't believe they are capable of thinking for themselves.

Personally Akula, I dont think you have the true makings of a real Entreprenuer weather youve started a business or not. Your just a nay sayer.

[akula]

riiight...

what's with the beef?

I don't have a problem with what you're saying

I have a problem with the fact that you, me, stealthy, your mentors and everyone else is learning entrepreneurship from a great mess of disparate resources

the damn thing is a single discipline. the fact that me, you and everyone else has different answers for this bloke's basic question is what gets under my skin

his question (how to kick start the shop?) should be met with the same number of answers as when someone asks "what's 2+2?"

There has to be only one answer, and it has to be the same whether you're in New Your or New Guinea

[jboydni]

his question (how to kick start the shop?) should be met with the same number of answers as when someone asks "what's 2+2?"

Is that what you really believe? Should business be that 2 dimensional? Where does that leave room for innovation and creativity? It just sounds to me that you are trying to turn Entrepreneurs into MBA students, I dunno maybe I have the wrong end of the stick but that what it has sounded like and thats not an idea I agree with.

[The Stealthy One]

Interesting, really. I can see it both ways....and I'm not sure which side I take! Keep this going - it should get wild!

[DrMoney]

I agree with stealthy. I see Akulas traditional thinking coming into place, But as for me, I don't have credit for the whole financing part, and I am doing the legal work. As for the engineering, thats what I am currently doing.


But i am leaning more towards jboydni, because Thinking outside the box is better.