[sail420]

I want to start a small business and i am willing to be flexible as to what kind, and the management and such, but i want to get some partners from my school to help for overhead, ideas, and the actual work of the business. How should i go about finding people? has anyone done this at their school? (highschool)

thanks, --Brian

[Karen]

Do you already have the business in mind that you want to do?

If not, you could always start up something that is part-time and does not have any overhead.

Karen

[sail420]

well i am starting a not for profit afterschool job finding service, so hopefully people willing to work will show themselves via using that, and in addition i was hoping basically to find people to help brainstorm ideas. i have some things going that are going to make me personally money over the summer and hopefully beyond, but i was kind of hoping for an experience too in addition to profits, of organizing something with multiple people. so i was just wondering if anyone had advice on how to pick people to ask to join and how to proceed with such an endeavor. i have a service business in the summer that makes $40-80 for every two hours of work. (i expect about $300-$600 weekly this summer). and also there is a possibility of a solo operation that could bring in a relatively low maintainance 2000-4000 a month, but its about a 40/60 shot. so i have ideas, i just want to try to have an experience of trying to organize/cooperate in a business context

[nado]

Depending on how large your school is, probably only 1% of students would be interested in starting a business during the summer break.

So basically just ask around and see who would be interested. Maybe start in the business classes first, then ask teachers and then post quick flyers around the place if needed. Just make sure you don't mention estimated profits etc to start with as you'll just end up getting all the people wanting to make a quick buck of the work of others.

Then comes the 'fun' part of managing such a group and keeping people motivated and actually working.

cheers
nathan

[toptemp]

Originally Posted by nado

Depending on how large your school is, probably only 1% of students would be interested in starting a business during the summer break.

So basically just ask around and see who would be interested. Maybe start in the business classes first, then ask teachers and then post quick flyers around the place if needed. Just make sure you don't mention estimated profits etc to start with as you'll just end up getting all the people wanting to make a quick buck of the work of others.

Then comes the 'fun' part of managing such a group and keeping people motivated and actually working.

cheers
nathan

Stats show that app. 76% of high school students are interested in entrepreneurship.

[toptemp]

Originally Posted by sail420

I want to start a small business and i am willing to be flexible as to what kind, and the management and such, but i want to get some partners from my school to help for overhead, ideas, and the actual work of the business. How should i go about finding people? has anyone done this at their school? (highschool)

thanks, --Brian

If I were you, I would start an entrepreneurship association in your school and possibly even start a chapter of an already-established organization in your school such as "The Future Business Leaders of America." I would then solicit ideas from the student body and/or other sources and give the idea champion a small percentage of the profits. I'm assuming you don't have the proper training/skills to take on an idea and make it into a full-fledged business, so I would get some local business owners to help with mentorship and so-forth. Of course, you'd go for some publicity to give those business owners a little reward. And I could go on and on and on. lol

[nado]

Originally Posted by toptemp

Stats show that app. 76% of high school students are interested in entrepreneurship.

Wow, trust me... not in Australia. Most people here wouldn't even know what the word meant.

In year 12 out of around 100 students in our year and the remaining 500 students at the school I could only find 1 person who was interested in starting a business.

Sure when I started throwing around exaggerated (but possible) sales figures just about everyone was interested, but only 1 person was actually interested in helping develop a few business ideas... and even now in uni I question if that person still has the same passion (and I think he's actually holding me back a little).

I would definitely like to find another local partner (specifically a student at wollongong uni).

cheers
nathan

[Nick]

Hey Brian.

If you're already working on something then maybe you should see if you can get your school newsletter to do a story on you and what you're working on. Then ask them to put in at the bottom of the article that you are looking for like-minded people who are interested in being involved in what you currently have going on and are going to work on in the future. Then see if anyone serious enough approaches you.

[Slevin]

toptemp, im sure 76% of school children are interested in the supposed wealth created through entrepreneurship; but i can assure you that nado is closer on the people who actual want to enter the world of business

[clax313]

Originally Posted by nado

Wow, trust me... not in Australia. Most people here wouldn't even know what the word meant.

In year 12 out of around 100 students in our year and the remaining 500 students at the school I could only find 1 person who was interested in starting a business.

Sure when I started throwing around exaggerated (but possible) sales figures just about everyone was interested, but only 1 person was actually interested in helping develop a few business ideas.
cheers
nathan

Agreed. Most people want to be successul, but are unwilling to take the steps necessary in acheiving success. Everyone wants to be rich.

Im currently attending a private business university in S. Florida. We have around 800 students. I would say I've talked to about 50 or so people that are "driven" to succeed as a business owner/entrepreneur. Out of those 50, 35 are too lazy to make something happen...and this is a business university.

Apply for a charter to get a young business leaders organization started at your school. I dont know of any off the top of my head, but do some research and you'll come across slews of them.

[toptemp]

Originally Posted by Slevin

toptemp, im sure 76% of school children are interested in the supposed wealth created through entrepreneurship; but i can assure you that nado is closer on the people who actual want to enter the world of business

Here's what I stated in my blog from which I had "recalled' my stats:

"There are more potential entrepreneurs out there than I had previously thought! A 1994 Gallup Poll asked high school seniors a number of questions about their future career aspirations. A stunning 70 percent said they wanted to own their own business! A generation earlier, this would have been less than 10 percent. Further, 86 percent said they wanted to know more about entrepreneurship. Half of their parents said they would like to own their own business.

Entrepreneurship has become the backbone of our economy. This hasn’t always been the case. In the 1960s, about one in four persons worked for a Fortune 500 company. As recently as 1980, the Fortune 500 employed 20 percent of the workforce. Yet by the late 1990s, that number was just one in 14. The U.S. Small Business Administration Office recently reported:

Small firms are generally the creators of jobs, as almost all firms begin small (because of resource constraints) and often need to grown to compete. Small firms create about 75 percent of the new net jobs."

So it was 70% and not 76%.