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Confused, really confused.

Gil Kag

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Hey!
Im 20 ,and currently I'm a soldier (Im my country men have to serve until they're 21).
I've read unscripted and reading TMF at the moment - and I'm confused.

I want to start I business when I get out of the army, problem is - I dont have any specific knowledge in any areas so I cant really find specific problems to solve.
I dont have any hobbies or talents that I can use as a business.
I dont have any ideas waiting for me to get out of the army and pursue them.
At the moment - I'm clueless.

Therefore, some people I trust who I consult with tell me this: "Go get a degree, law, MBA, doesn't matter - but get a degree as a warranty, so if at some stage you dont succeed as an entrepreneur, or you dont have any ideas, you would be able to get a job with your degree.
My mind tells me that this makes sense, that at the moment I really dont have any clue about what I'm gonna do - and a degree as "warranty" makes sense.
But my heart tells me no, that things will work out, that a degree is a waste of time (money is not a problem because I have help from my family and therefore debt is not a problem).

I would be really glad to hear your opinions , thanks in advance.
 
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jdm667

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Your family and friends mean well, but the advice is generic. A degree is a good backup plan unless lots of graduates are unemployed or underemployed. How are recent graduates in your country doing?

If you pursue a degree, make sure to also work at least part-time. This will give you a chance to learn some skills that will help in business (sales, customer service, etc.). A job will also help you to learn about an industry before you graduate.

Also, look for business ideas everywhere you go. Talk to professors, classmates, coworkers, people at the bar - everyone! Don't just get the degree and think that it is a magical ticket that will get you a good job.

One more thing - you might be overlooking a business idea right under your nose. You said
Im 20 ,and currently I'm a soldier (Im my country men have to serve until they're 21).

This tells me that you have already done something that every young man in your country is required to do. That sounds like a big market to me.

Is there any business you could build around this reality? What are the problems facing the military, or the young men serving to age 21, that you have observed personally?

For example, could you supply something or provide a service to the military? Could you offer a subscription box service for guys in the military, that their girlfriends/wives/families can send them?

This doesn't have to be your "forever" business. If you can make enough to avoid a 9-5 job for a few years, then you can use that income to sustain you while building your Fastlane business.

Full disclosure: I spent 6 years in college to get a Master's degree. Looking back, I probably would have done some things differently, so I may be biased.
 

Rabby

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There's nothing wrong with degrees, as long as they're what you need to get to your goals. For example, if you want to research atomic energy, maybe it's valid to start with a physics degree.

I don't think going into a college degree without a plan is any better than going into business without a plan. In other words "get a degree" just isn't a solution the the problem you posed. The problem is that you don't have a plan. You need to make a plan. Neither college nor business can make that plan for you.

Do what MJ suggests. Make a 10/5/1 plan. What do you want to be doing in 10 years? How much money will you have? How many hours, if any, will you work? What assets will you have? What will your health be like? Are you married? Do you own a business or have a job or have investments or what?

Now back down to 5 years. Where do you have to be, what do you have to be doing, to make your 10 year plan from the 5 year mark?

Back down to one year. What do you have to accomplish in 1 year so that you'll make your longer term goals in 10 years?

It may be that part of your 1 year plan has to be searching the world for problems you can solve. Maybe the army needs something that you can provide? You know people there. Maybe it's a place to start.

At the very least, you need to get an idea of the direction you're going. Then you can start planning out the steps. The steps are routines that you'll execute every week on the way to your goals; they are things that move you closer to where you're going over the next 10 years.

Part of that routine will have to be observing and adjusting to the environment... you'll definitely be wrong about how to solve someone's problem a few times. It's something you get better at with experience.
 
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sparechange

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You don't need to come up with an original business idea.

Think about business's that you've used in the past and brain storm things that you could do better or improve, product OR service based.

Example, I buy energy bars that contain sugar. An energy bar that has NO sugar would be an awesome value skew and potentially worth billions (Cliff bar 6.2 billion dollar company the energy bars I usually buy)
 

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