Go back in time, your 19 years old. Where do you start whats your mission?

[Envision]

Whats up everyone!

So basically Im 19 years old, read the fast lane and quite a few other books and I want to create a fast lane business. My problem is I have no focus, I can't seem to figure out a path for myself to take. Im in school and i work full time but i want to start my own thing.

So I just wanted to gain some insight from you successful fasteners. When you were 19 or starting out with your plan how did you direct focus and choose what you wanted to do? Did you have a mentor? How'd you narrow down your plan?

Also any tips for a 19 year old other than business related are also appreciated.

Thanks for your time!

 

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[St.Patrick]

I'm also turning 19 in a few days so I look forward to the experts advice. Right now I have no job or much at all. But as I type right now I'm job hunting, and pursuing to learn sales so I have valuable skills to start my own business. I'm looking to start off with 2-3 jobs. Once I save enough I plan on going to Jamaica and work on a business there.

 

[DeletedUser2]

GO read my stuff,
I post in there several times about starting over, or starting young.
Z

 

[1step]

Also any tips for a 19 year old other than business related are also appreciated.

Don't go to college (at least don't pick a dumb major)

Read a lot

Don't be afraid to fail

Take chances

Don't do what your friends are doing

Always be learning something. sales, copywriting, html, landing page design, photoshop

There are a couple really good posts about finding needs here:
https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...ucher-startups-publishing-bloggin-more.47309/

 

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[The Duc]

GO read my stuff,
I post in there several times about starting over, or starting young.
Z

OP, there's your golden advice.

Go. Do. Then come back here and tell everyone what you've learned and give Zen a great big thank you.

Seriously.

The fact that you've found your way to this forum at 19 is a huge opportunity. Don't waste it. Take action.

 

[Sean Corroon]

One thing I would try is do something that fills a niche which earns money or just provide some type of service cheaper then the competition ! Find something that makes money that you are able to do with what you have, then do it all over again! It's easier said then done but that's how I got started making money! Spend every spare minute you have thinking about solutions to everyday problems do your research and weigh up the risks involved and just go for it with 100% confidence in your self and your service/product. The most important thing you can do is research find out who's the competition if the product or service already exists find out profit margins etc! You probably know all this but I just wanted underline its importance.

 

[AllenCrawley]

@Darius started at 19. I think he recently turned 20. Doing pretty good right now but his future is even brighter.

 

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[TheUltimateWarrior]

I'm 18 and believe myself to be incredibly fortunate for the opportunity to start building a business at this age. You can follow my journey here. I've only just begun.

 

[StayPositive]

Don't go to college (at least don't pick a dumb major)
Read a lot
Don't be afraid to fail
Take chances
Don't do what your friends are doing
Always be learning something. sales, copywriting, html, landing page design, photoshop

True. True. True. True. True. True.

You are young, don't waste your time playing video games and partying all the time. Focus your energy on action, get a job or internship to learn from pros. Not a random job, a job where you meet people you can really learn from.

Be open to pain points people talking about. In max 1-2 years you will be ready to start your own company and solve them.
And, what @1step said, don't be afraid to fail. You probably have no kids and no mortgage so it's the best time in your life to fail and learn.

 

[Darius]

My problem is I have no focus, I can't seem to figure out a path for myself to take. Im in school and i work full time but i want to start my own thing.

At 19 years old....In the beginning I knew nothing about starting a real business. Few months after reading almost everything on this forum and googling like shit, I started a business. I made my money back and thousands more, all while I was 19.

Now I'm 20, broke, and homeless because I spent it all on lamborghinis and strippers...

TIP: Learn, take action on it, and document it here. There are good people on the forum that, if you're actually trying, they will help tremendously.

 

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[Nadia]

When I was 19, I was a full time model. Business was something I was going to look at in the future. I thought you needed some sort of "accreditation's" to get there. Until an investor friend was like...."START NOW."

Opened my first company, when I was 21 and lost it (long story) at 23. Lost over $180K, got up and started again. At 19, you are WELL ahead of the game here. Start reading those who input their wisdom and execute.

Here is essentially what you will learn :

1) People will shit on you because you're "young". Who cares ?
2) You will have a plan until you get punched in the face.
3) You most likely get it all, then lose it all. Start over.
4) You will doubt yourself a billion times. We all do at some point.
5) You will FAIL repeatedly. Keep going.
6) Find out what the market wants and make sure it is something YOU love doing too. Passion is sexy.,
7) Start actively seeking a mentor. Mentorship is the transference of wisdom.
8) You will experience broke, hungry and near enough homeless. It will build your character.
9) People by default will drop out of your life. Allow them to.
10) You will so desperately want to give up. DON'T.

Looking forward to reading your progress!

 

[SerpKing]

I started my first business at 20, 3 years ago. Here's what I would have done differently:
- Sped up the learning curve by reaching out to people who are doing it already.
- Not messed around selling other peoples products
- Started my own brand(s) sooner (More margin, cashflow, avoiding price-level competition)
- Bringing on more staff sooner

Finally:
- Sticking in ONE direction, with ONE idea, ONE brand, and absolutely killing it 100% every day. Pick one single idea and execute the absolute hell out of it better than everyone else.

 

[Unknown]

If I'm going back in time to when I was 19 I'll just create Facebook

 

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[FastMig]

GO read my stuff,
I post in there several times about starting over, or starting young.

Currently in the middle of this process In a few days should be over.

 

[The-J]

When I was 19, I started a business that failed before I could sell a single thing. (This was only 2 years ago)

I wasted a LOT of time doing 'fluff' work. I did SEO. I wrote blog posts and got them featured on Reddit. I did a lot of LinkedIn 'marketing' (which amounted to me adding a bunch of people on there and joining in on conversations). I built an ugly a$$ website and tried to get traffic.

I spent a good 6 months doing this crap. I even started a LLC and a bank account for my business that hadn't made a sale.

Then I went, built the MVP, then pitched it to potential customers. None of them were interested. One of them told me why they weren't interested and why he doubted anyone else would be interested as well. He told me he flat out didn't need what I was offering (which was a lead generation service tweaked a bit). Another one told me to never contact them again. Ha ha. One said he was interested after my initial pitch, but then when I explained how I was doing it he basically said 'Never mind'.

Bam. No more 'business'. Shit, I never even had a business. I had a blog with a feature that nobody wanted to pay for. I F*cked around for 6-7 months and had absolutely nothing.

I learned some important shit though. Like how to build a Wordpress website, which is how I have been feeding myself for the past year.

More important than that, I learned that customers are F*cking everything. No sale no business. Get to the F*ckin sale as quick as you can. If you can't get to the sale, move the F*ck on.

I also learned that if you're gonna spend $2000, spend it on a business that fails. I tell this story and some think 'Wow you wasted money' when in reality it is 'Nah, I just got an education.' Granted, this experience in the eyes of some of you here is like failing pre-algebra as a senior in college, but... F*ck it.

Make mistakes

EDIT: Also, go to B+P or C+B. C+B changed my life

 

[RogueInnovation]

I'd tell my 19 yo self, that business can be what you make it and that it is the specific best choice to help support anything you wanna do

Then I'd talk about simplicity, motivation to sustain business and generosity.
I'd tell him to face his worst state of fear, because it is the only thing that can really hurt you. And I'd tell him to avoid getting caught up in talk.

 

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[Jazzcat]

1. Treat your time like the treasure it is and defend it without mercy.
2. Surround yourself ONLY with people of like mind and mission and tend carefully to those relationships. See you later to those who are not.
3. Write it down...especially your goals...keep a journal of your adventures...you will later find great nuggets of gold in those pages.
4. Don't take shortcuts. They are a mirage. Know exactly where you want to go, chart your own course, and walk every step. The things you will encounter...good and bad...along the way will be priceless.
5. Fully enjoy your work and play. Have fun!!

Good luck!!

 

[sle3pyguii]

1. Learned basic coding. HTML/CSS/JavaScript/Python/C#. Just enough to know how to understand what's going on in the code.
2. Exercise.
3. Started a business that would benefit my dormmates/university...like a Walmart/Costco/Big Box pick-up and delivery service or a laundry service.

 

[AubreyJ]

Well I was 19 only 8 months ago and so I definitely do not have words of wisdom that compare to some of the more successful forum members. But even now, at 20, I would tell myself to ignore the naysayers. I spent so much of my time when I was 17-19 years old worrying about what my family and friends would think of my future business plans, my plans to drop out of school...etc. That the time I spent worrying about what others where thinking, that time could have been spent doing much better and more productive things. So, don't listen to the people that tell you that you "can't" and prove to them through action that you can.

 

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[Envision]

Ive had some awesome replies in this thread and I am really grateful for all the insight you guys have given me. Ive spent the past few days going through all of Zendolphins posts and Im just gonna go ahead and throw myself into online marketing to learn more about the game. My issue is I want to do so much and I know deep down I have to focus on one thing to make it great so thats what Im working on. But really all of you have given me something to take and think about thank you!

1. Learned basic coding. HTML/CSS/JavaScript/Python/C#. Just enough to know how to understand what's going on in the code.
2. Exercise.
3. Started a business that would benefit my dormmates/university...like a Walmart/Costco/Big Box pick-up and delivery service or a laundry service.

I quoted this post because you listed exercise here. This is something I have never had an issue with I started working out when I was 14, and Im now 19 and and in that time I have achieved a pretty well rounded physique. Im not trying to brag I want to know what you think about the ideas that are going on in my head. I spend so much time meal prepping, watching my macros, working out that I think it may be taking time away from building wealth. In order to achieve my goal of becoming financially free where I have enough money to support myself and those around me do you think I should cut back on my "gym time" and spend more time learning and working on business?

How much time do you spend working out and do you do it for a specific reason other than staying healthy? Because for the longest time I've worked out with the intention of becoming freaky big but its such a massive time commitment I am beginning to see how it could interfere with my entrepreneurship goals. I hope this post makes sense to those of you that exercise and can offer different opinions on the subject cause thats been something running around in my mind for a long time.

Just to give back to all of you it may not be a benefit to some but for those of you interested in learning skills Ive found that lynda.com is an excellent teaching tool when it comes to learning computer/business/other skills if any of you haven't heard of it you should all check it out its pretty neat.

 

[Envision]

Don't go to college (at least don't pick a dumb major)

Read a lot

Don't be afraid to fail

Take chances

Don't do what your friends are doing

Always be learning something. sales, copywriting, html, landing page design, photoshop

There are a couple really good posts about finding needs here:
https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...ucher-startups-publishing-bloggin-more.47309/

I am majoring in business right now, however I go part time and I work full time at Bodybuilding.com. I was wondering what major you would consider worth while? I know STEM is what most people shoot for but nothing interests me like entreprenuership

Thanks for this info though i definitely appreciate it

 

[Envision]

When I was 19, I started a business that failed before I could sell a single thing. (This was only 2 years ago)

I wasted a LOT of time doing 'fluff' work. I did SEO. I wrote blog posts and got them featured on Reddit. I did a lot of LinkedIn 'marketing' (which amounted to me adding a bunch of people on there and joining in on conversations). I built an ugly a$$ website and tried to get traffic.

I spent a good 6 months doing this crap. I even started a LLC and a bank account for my business that hadn't made a sale.

Then I went, built the MVP, then pitched it to potential customers. None of them were interested. One of them told me why they weren't interested and why he doubted anyone else would be interested as well. He told me he flat out didn't need what I was offering (which was a lead generation service tweaked a bit). Another one told me to never contact them again. Ha ha. One said he was interested after my initial pitch, but then when I explained how I was doing it he basically said 'Never mind'.

Bam. No more 'business'. Shit, I never even had a business. I had a blog with a feature that nobody wanted to pay for. I F*cked around for 6-7 months and had absolutely nothing.

I learned some important shit though. Like how to build a Wordpress website, which is how I have been feeding myself for the past year.

More important than that, I learned that customers are F*cking everything. No sale no business. Get to the F*ckin sale as quick as you can. If you can't get to the sale, move the F*ck on.

I also learned that if you're gonna spend $2000, spend it on a business that fails. I tell this story and some think 'Wow you wasted money' when in reality it is 'Nah, I just got an education.' Granted, this experience in the eyes of some of you here is like failing pre-algebra as a senior in college, but... F*ck it.

Make mistakes

EDIT: Also, go to B+P or C+B. C+B changed my life

I can see this in myself! I will sometimes find myself doing fluff work thinking about the big dreams. Gotta really dial it all in and realize my goals and take action on that specifically.. I am interested in hearing about your Wordpress site! I am building one right now using Lynda.com's teaching (coding it myself is a whole other level haha wordpress is awesome). If you don't mind Id like to hear more about what you do and how you've created a living off of it.

 

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[Envision]

Sorry for the multiple replies guys I figured it'd be easier to target but now it feels like spam

At 19 years old....In the beginning I knew nothing about starting a real business. Few months after reading almost everything on this forum and googling like shit, I started a business. I made my money back and thousands more, all while I was 19.

Now I'm 20, broke, and homeless because I spent it all on lamborghinis and strippers...

TIP: Learn, take action on it, and document it here. There are good people on the forum that, if you're actually trying, they will help tremendously.

This sounds like an awesome story what kind of business were you in, do you have a thread on it here? Id like to learn more about what you did whats your plan from here?

When I was 19, I was a full time model. Business was something I was going to look at in the future. I thought you needed some sort of "accreditation's" to get there. Until an investor friend was like...."START NOW."

Opened my first company, when I was 21 and lost it (long story) at 23. Lost over $180K, got up and started again. At 19, you are WELL ahead of the game here. Start reading those who input their wisdom and execute.

Here is essentially what you will learn :

1) People will shit on you because you're "young". Who cares ?
2) You will have a plan until you get punched in the face.
3) You most likely get it all, then lose it all. Start over.
4) You will doubt yourself a billion times. We all do at some point.
5) You will FAIL repeatedly. Keep going.
6) Find out what the market wants and make sure it is something YOU love doing too. Passion is sexy.,
7) Start actively seeking a mentor. Mentorship is the transference of wisdom.
8) You will experience broke, hungry and near enough homeless. It will build your character.
9) People by default will drop out of your life. Allow them to.
10) You will so desperately want to give up. DON'T.

Looking forward to reading your progress!

I can relate to a lot of what you said Nadia, thank you for your advice. I would love to find a solid mentor! Did you just find people in your field and blatantly ask for help or did you take a zen******* approach like he listed in his thread about working for free and asking to get in on deals after trust was built and things like that? I know I need to provide value and I don't want to blow it with a possible mentor by not being able to do that. Im never gonna give up, ill either make it or die trying i don't have a choice.

Thanks again!

 

[LeungJan]

- Read the millionaire fastlane and then not make the following mistakes:

- Chasing money vs creating value
- Not sticking to one idea
- Staying in a job for too long

 

[Nadia]

Sorry for the multiple replies guys I figured it'd be easier to target but now it feels like spam



This sounds like an awesome story what kind of business were you in, do you have a thread on it here? Id like to learn more about what you did whats your plan from here?



I can relate to a lot of what you said Nadia, thank you for your advice. I would love to find a solid mentor! Did you just find people in your field and blatantly ask for help or did you take a zen******* approach like he listed in his thread about working for free and asking to get in on deals after trust was built and things like that? I know I need to provide value and I don't want to blow it with a possible mentor by not being able to do that. Im never gonna give up, ill either make it or die trying i don't have a choice.

Thanks again!

You are welcome No, I didn't work for free for anyone. I requested a mentor from God and randomly one night, I came across a website that was selling big named people's courses, i.e Dan Kennedy etc etc and I e-mailed the man SURE it was a scam. ANYWAYS, he came back to me and he is the NICEST, most humble man ever. Anyways, being Nadia--forward as I have always been, I requested mentor ship and he asked me why. I explained who I am and WHY I chose HIM (I just knew he would be my mentor) and we got along swimmingly. I am a mentor myself too, so I know the importance

Let me put it this way. You will just "know" the mentor for you. And you will act accordingly.

 

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[sle3pyguii]

I quoted this post because you listed exercise here. This is something I have never had an issue with I started working out when I was 14, and Im now 19 and and in that time I have achieved a pretty well rounded physique. Im not trying to brag I want to know what you think about the ideas that are going on in my head. I spend so much time meal prepping, watching my macros, working out that I think it may be taking time away from building wealth. In order to achieve my goal of becoming financially free where I have enough money to support myself and those around me do you think I should cut back on my "gym time" and spend more time learning and working on business?

How much time do you spend working out and do you do it for a specific reason other than staying healthy? Because for the longest time I've worked out with the intention of becoming freaky big but its such a massive time commitment I am beginning to see how it could interfere with my entrepreneurship goals. I hope this post makes sense to those of you that exercise and can offer different opinions on the subject cause thats been something running around in my mind for a long time.

Its good to hear that youre already exercising. I didnt pick it up until i was in college.

It depends on how much you're spending time at the gym.

For me, I spend about 1-1.5 hours a day exercising. I was on the Westside for Skinny Bastards by Joe DeFranco, but I stopped going to the gym. Now I just do bodyweight stuff at home until I can get my business off the ground. I exercise to stay healthy and so I can gain and maintain healthy weight (I'm naturally very skinny).

Regardless of what you do, I found that exercising in general helps you stay alert and more likely to execute. When I get that post-workout high, I'm extremely productive. The only reason I started to get samples for my first venture was after I started exercising regularly. I was able to find more ideas faster and execute on them. It's not to say I was rash. I was just more rational about what I was doing and if it made sense, I executed right there. To give you some numbers, before I exercised regularly, it took me almost a month to find one problem. After I started to exercise, I could easily find a couple good ones within a few days. It might not be direct causation, but there is definitely some correlation.

At the beginning, you can probably exercise and run your business at the same time. Eventually though, you'll start having to prioritize one over the other. That's something you'll have to figure out in due time. But for now, don't worry about it and do both if you can.

Good luck to you!

 

[GuestUser201]

This is all really awesome advice. I am just turning 19 in a few months!
Unfortunately it is REALLY hard to find people my age who are interested in bettering themselves. I can name like 2 or 3 that I am good friends with who may not be fastlane driven, but aren't necessarily sidewalkers or slowlaners.

Problem with people in our generation, at THIS age is that everyone craves events, as MJ had stated several times in his book. I'd say 90% of my friends either drink, excessively party, do drugs, watch tv for 10 hours a day, play video games for 12 hours a day, or do any combination of the above.

I come from a really poor family, so I don't necessarily have the luxury of getting a debt free post-secondary education, nor do I have the time or money to F*ck about on a daily basis. Some may call it mis-fortune, but I honestly think that it's a blessing to start poor rather than to be able to throw my parents money around freely with no consequence.

With that said, I don't think I can really give you advice OP, but what I'm doing is just reading books right now everyday so I can equip myself for the future. I'm going to do the copy-writing challenge too, it's pretty cool!

I can't express how grateful I am for stumbling a upon this forum. If I'm ever feeling unmotivated, it takes me 5 minutes of reading any posts on here to bring me up. Everyone has a sort of drive and mentality in them that I am striving to get engrained into my brain.

 

[randomnumber314]

You need to fail. You need to learn what works, and what doesn't. It's a rare bird that has an idea and starts making serious money instantly. Most people start a venture, spend some money, and it burns out or they learn it was a bad idea. Along the way, though, you learn about things that business owners seem to know about--things like insurance(s), gov't paperwork and regulations, what methods of advertising work/what doesn't, where to find good help...

There are a thousand skills a business owner has, the primary one being that they can solve problems and secondly that they keep going no matter what.

 

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[Guest]

How much time do you spend working out and do you do it for a specific reason other than staying healthy? Because for the longest time I've worked out with the intention of becoming freaky big but its such a massive time commitment I am beginning to see how it could interfere with my entrepreneurship goals. I hope this post makes sense to those of you that exercise and can offer different opinions on the subject cause thats been something running around in my mind for a long time.

First of I want to say Welcome! Secondly I'm kinda envious you've found your way here at 19, not that I'm that old, 26 years young haha.

You pretty much answer your own question in a way when you say "...it..interfere with my entrepreneurship goals." You just have to prioritize. I used to be a gym rat myself working out on average 4 hours a day. But you really need to ask yourself are you training for the olympics or a triathlon, or are you just keeping in shape for health. If you answer the latter than you really don't need to work out that much and use the time instead to focus on your business.

So what I do now is HIIT. Sounds like you've probably tried this before too, burns more calories per workout than regular exercising. I do this about three times a week, for a total of 4 hours. You save a lot of time this way. I also cut down on my carbs, shakes and all so I've thinned up a bit, but hey if you're willing to work your butt off to build a business for the next few years, it's trivial matters. Once you have passive income you can live in the gym all you want.

 

[randomnumber314]

How much time do you spend working out and do you do it for a specific reason other than staying healthy? Because for the longest time I've worked out with the intention of becoming freaky big but its such a massive time commitment I am beginning to see how it could interfere with my entrepreneurship goals. I hope this post makes sense to those of you that exercise and can offer different opinions on the subject cause thats been something running around in my mind for a long time.

You can get some serious mass only lifting weights an hour a day. Do it early, before the gym fills up, and there's no waiting for equipment.