Hi everyone,
I’m Mino, I’m 25 years old, and in 2025 I set myself the goal of reaching one million euros. I didn’t make it.
Over the past few years, I’ve tried several times to build something of my own. Some projects went moderately well and I managed to sell them for a few thousand euros once I lost motivation; others failed, but they taught me valuable lessons.
I come from a very humble family: my father is a factory worker and my mother is a homemaker. In Southern Italy, family culture often pushes people toward stability first, and taking big entrepreneurial risks is not always easy, partly because of these cultural and family expectations.
One of my biggest opportunities came when, at 20, I became a store manager in a large retail chain. That experience taught me a lot about sales, team management, and business operations, and it also allowed me to travel and meet entrepreneurs who supported and advised me on some projects.
About a year ago, I left that stable job and gave myself 18 months to develop my own idea or support a project I truly believe in. Those 18 months also represent the savings I have before needing to look for a stable job again.
I invested almost everything in developing a board game, but now I feel stuck: I can only produce small batches and I’m struggling, both financially and mentally, to understand how to make the project take the next step. I’m currently translating the game into English and developing a mascot to promote it, but margins in this creative industry are low and my budget for proper marketing or structured video content is almost zero, since everything is self-funded.
One thing I did achieve, though, is a healthy relationship with a wonderful woman who truly believes in me and in what I do. I wasn’t the type to commit before, but this is the first time I really feel supported. She is also the one who encouraged me to keep pushing forward with the board game.
Through her family, another opportunity has come up: helping expand a business in the vinyl and music sector, focusing on younger audiences, since the market is growing again. I would handle the website and marketing side, while investments and product selection would be managed by them. I’m now trying to understand the best way to approach and grow in this market beyond just social media and a website.
At the same time, I’m also involved in a social tailoring workshop that employs people with economic or social difficulties, often older workers. It’s an interesting project because it allows us to produce Made in Italy clothing at very competitive costs. I’m working on marketing and operational organization, but now we need to decide how to move forward:
should we create our own brand? specialize in large-scale production for other brands? expand services (design, branding, photoshoots, etc.)? or focus mainly on efficiency and higher production volumes?
Finally, a more personal question: should I keep pushing these projects until the very end, or should I look for a job, maybe part-time, to secure stable income while dedicating less time to my projects? At the moment, I can’t afford to have zero monthly income for long, and after years of independence, asking my family for financial help again feels difficult.
Thank you to anyone willing to share advice or personal experience. Sorry for my bad english.
I’m Mino, I’m 25 years old, and in 2025 I set myself the goal of reaching one million euros. I didn’t make it.
Over the past few years, I’ve tried several times to build something of my own. Some projects went moderately well and I managed to sell them for a few thousand euros once I lost motivation; others failed, but they taught me valuable lessons.
I come from a very humble family: my father is a factory worker and my mother is a homemaker. In Southern Italy, family culture often pushes people toward stability first, and taking big entrepreneurial risks is not always easy, partly because of these cultural and family expectations.
One of my biggest opportunities came when, at 20, I became a store manager in a large retail chain. That experience taught me a lot about sales, team management, and business operations, and it also allowed me to travel and meet entrepreneurs who supported and advised me on some projects.
About a year ago, I left that stable job and gave myself 18 months to develop my own idea or support a project I truly believe in. Those 18 months also represent the savings I have before needing to look for a stable job again.
I invested almost everything in developing a board game, but now I feel stuck: I can only produce small batches and I’m struggling, both financially and mentally, to understand how to make the project take the next step. I’m currently translating the game into English and developing a mascot to promote it, but margins in this creative industry are low and my budget for proper marketing or structured video content is almost zero, since everything is self-funded.
One thing I did achieve, though, is a healthy relationship with a wonderful woman who truly believes in me and in what I do. I wasn’t the type to commit before, but this is the first time I really feel supported. She is also the one who encouraged me to keep pushing forward with the board game.
Through her family, another opportunity has come up: helping expand a business in the vinyl and music sector, focusing on younger audiences, since the market is growing again. I would handle the website and marketing side, while investments and product selection would be managed by them. I’m now trying to understand the best way to approach and grow in this market beyond just social media and a website.
At the same time, I’m also involved in a social tailoring workshop that employs people with economic or social difficulties, often older workers. It’s an interesting project because it allows us to produce Made in Italy clothing at very competitive costs. I’m working on marketing and operational organization, but now we need to decide how to move forward:
should we create our own brand? specialize in large-scale production for other brands? expand services (design, branding, photoshoots, etc.)? or focus mainly on efficiency and higher production volumes?
Finally, a more personal question: should I keep pushing these projects until the very end, or should I look for a job, maybe part-time, to secure stable income while dedicating less time to my projects? At the moment, I can’t afford to have zero monthly income for long, and after years of independence, asking my family for financial help again feels difficult.
Thank you to anyone willing to share advice or personal experience. Sorry for my bad english.
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