Better to learn a monetizable skill first or go straight into entreprenuership?

[Mr.Rob]

I'm 24 I have a long life ahead of me and although I'm pretty eager to just start tearing into things and just build a company and spend all my savings to fund it I can't help but wonder if it might be wise to take a year or two first to learn a monetizable in demand skill that I can do remotely and get paid enough to support my life if my business were to fail.

For example if I spent 1-2 years learning copy writing (I'm already a proficient writer) and build up a skill set I know I can fall back on if need be to make a respectable salary to pay my bills or pay off lenders should my future businesses fail.

I'd be 26 after doing this and then would have the rest of my life to learn business and build company's. If things were to ever go sour I'd then always have my skillset to fallback on and make money instantly if I were to fall on hard times.

Whereas if I went straight into business building right now and fell on hard times I might have a lot more stress to deal with and have to take a job I'd rather not take and possibly get stuck in.

What is yall's take on this?

A rational consideration or a weak excuse not to start building businesses NOW?

-Rob

 

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[Dan_Fastlane]

I'm 24 I have a long life ahead of me and although I'm pretty eager to just start tearing into things and just build a company and spend all my savings to fund it I can't help but wonder if it might be wise to take a year or two first to learn a monetizable in demand skill that I can do remotely and get paid enough to support my life if my business were to fail.

For example if I spent 1-2 years learning copy writing (I'm already a proficient writer) and build up a skill set I know I can fall back on if need be to make a respectable salary to pay my bills or pay off lenders should my future businesses fail.

I'd be 26 after doing this and then would have the rest of my life to learn business and build company's. If things were to ever go sour I'd then always have my skillset to fallback on and make money instantly if I were to fall on hard times.

Whereas if I went straight into business building right now and fell on hard times I might have a lot more stress to deal with and have to take a job I'd rather not take and possibly get stuck in.

What is yall's take on this?

A rational consideration or a weak excuse not to start building businesses NOW?

-Rob

you will not learn any skill by doing your next business venture ?? that you may can fall back if you business fail?? what kind of businesses you have in mind to start?


anyway Copywriting will be a plus before starting your own business, Copy, Marketing, Sales etc.. all skills are needed!

But your questions seems for me that you are a bit insecure, so better start freelancing so you gain security and confidence for yourself before going into any business venture"

did you read any Book TMF or Unscripted ?

 

[Puppy]

Do both. There's threads on here that will be immensely helpful for copy writing, I'm sure if you're thinking about this you've seen the SinisterLex threads. Don't wait a year or two (says the person planning to wait a year lol). Spend 6mo max learning (and practicing) as much as you can and jump in.

I spent 3 months learning and the only reason it looks like I'm waiting a year is cus I believe it will take that long to grow what I'm trying to do to the point I'll be able to begin seeing a financial return on my efforts. That year isn't gonna be spent waiting, its being spent doing.

Guess what I'm trying to say is don't WAIT...DO. But also give yourself time to learn and grow. Do both.

 

[Alex Nolte]

I'm 24 I have a long life ahead of me and although I'm pretty eager to just start tearing into things and just build a company and spend all my savings to fund it I can't help but wonder if it might be wise to take a year or two first to learn a monetizable in demand skill that I can do remotely and get paid enough to support my life if my business were to fail.

For example if I spent 1-2 years learning copy writing (I'm already a proficient writer) and build up a skill set I know I can fall back on if need be to make a respectable salary to pay my bills or pay off lenders should my future businesses fail.

I'd be 26 after doing this and then would have the rest of my life to learn business and build company's. If things were to ever go sour I'd then always have my skillset to fallback on and make money instantly if I were to fall on hard times.

Whereas if I went straight into business building right now and fell on hard times I might have a lot more stress to deal with and have to take a job I'd rather not take and possibly get stuck in.

What is yall's take on this?

A rational consideration or a weak excuse not to start building businesses NOW?

-Rob

I'm 7 years younger than you and dealing with the same problem / question. I'm not 100% sure whether to go to college after graduation next year or to only look for a minimum wage part time job to finance the business execution.

What I think (but I have zero knowledge about this, just guessing) is that if you don't have this kind of backup that you were talking about, then you are more likely to succeed. Why? Because then you don't have any other option than succeeding.

That's why at the moment I'm at the point of saying: I'll start a business right away and learn everything that comes into my way while I'm building that business. But maybe only have that option because I'm very independent. I have nothing to lose as I'm young, have no family (I mean no family that I am responsible for like children) and no responsibilites.

I think it's really important to ask yourself this question: Do you have any responsibilites / anything to lose if your business would fail?

 

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[B. Cole]

I'm going to call it a rational decision if you are facing homelessness right now. There is massive benefit to learning from people in an industry that you work for and with everyday. You will likely see things that need improving, you can use these to break free and fastlane. You will also see weaknesses and strengths in your employer and how the company works that will help you in your own ventures. But if you're not going to maintain the fastlane drive to break free as soon as opportunity presents itself, then you'll end up a career drone with someone else's cap on. I'd make the decision base on your own tendencies. Are you the type of person to squeeze the juice from your job and move on, or will you get complacent and victimize yourself? Be brutally honest with yourself, and you'll tell yourself what you need to do.

I slowlaned for a long time, I'm 36 now and starting to fastlane. But the things I learned from slowlaning are priceless bits of info, both good and bad. Working for others taught me how to outwork and outsmart my coworkers for promotion, something you will have to do if you want to stay ahead of your competition. I was afforded opportunities to manage people, currently 170 employees and millions of dollars in CIP expenditures, a level that few fastlaners will reach, all while under the safety of someone else's organization. This gave me priceless insight into people's minds and habits, taught me to handle chaos and organizational issues on a massive scale. Things that would have made me buckle if I were on my own.

Nothing wrong with being secure, just don't forget to take the next step as soon as you can smartly take it. Be thirsty for knowledge and aggressive in action. If you have to slowlane for a little while, you'll learn from it. Even @MJ DeMarco learned something from sitting in a limo, broke down on the side of the road in the rain.

 

[dior616]

I'd say learn a skill you can monetize first. It makes a lot more sense and I'm sure you already knew that unless you have a gut feeling otherwise. I don't know any (successful) entrepreneur that went straight into business without having a skill first whether it be coding, sales, marketing, copywriting, etc..

 

[Andy Black]

I'll just leave this here:

• You don't need to be an expert

 

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[inputchip]

Don't forget a lot of businesses take cash to get up and running. Not to mention all of your usual living expenses. I suggest learning a skill that will be profitable as well as one that gets yourself closer to a true fastlane business. Two that come to mind are copywriting and web design. Any business you start in the future will require a website. Copywriting is a life-long skill. These two skills really play off one another nicely.

There's numerous high paying skills that you can pickup by simply applying yourself. Check out this thread if you haven't yet.
GOLD - Getting started is this simple...

 

[BD64]

Look at the hustling/freelancing/boostrapping section of the forum:
Hustles, Freelancing, Bootstrapping

I would say that learning skills like selling, for example, is ciritcal. But at the same time why wait to start a business? Perhaps create a business around the skill that you are learning.

 

[SeePetey]

To add to what a few folks have already suggested, do both. Get a job to pay the bills, just don't allow yourself to get too comfortable. As B-Cole wrote above, you will learn a lot from a regular job; stuff that you can't learn elsewhere.

From my own experience, I was a complete a**hole in my early 20's. I knew everything, and I treated people accordingly. But I was very lucky that I had some amazing bosses during that time who by example and the occasional boot in the a$$, taught me SO much. The greatest thing I learned was to shut my damn mouth and listen more.

If I had been locked in my basement coding during those years or doing some other personally productive endeavor instead of learning the realities of adult life from those who've walked the path before, more than likely by now I would be pretty successful, but still a maladjusted a**hole too set in my ways to ever change. I'm sure you can think of a few examples of that kind of person.

It's often noted that building "systems" is better for achieving success than setting specific goals. So while you're working a 9-5 for awhile and soaking up the good experiences, also be working on developing good systems (habits) that will serve to support you when the time comes to transition from 9-5 to your own business.

I had a long flight last week during which I reread an amazing book. Check out One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way.

It's easily digestible and full of actionable content. The author makes clear the critical advantages of creating sustainable habits of gradual improvement as opposed to the more common radical changes in behavior that we attempt such as suddenly committing to exercise 2 hours a day, quit smoking cold turkey, or in your case, suddenly starting a business without FTE motivational fuel.

So my 2-cents, get a job for now, but get started on building the foundations of your success "systems". If nothing else, being miserable for a bit will push you over the edge and the whole now vs then question will be moot lol.

 

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