How are you supposed to start a business before you have any marketable skills

[Gubolo]

I’m 14 and I have summer break right now. I want to dedicate this summer break to entrepreneurship and developing myself. I have though about learning coding and also about starting a YouTube channel (as you may see in my other posts).
I know I am just 14 but I want to try to in some way take action towards owning an online business that follows the CENTS framework.
I am wondering how I am supposed to start a business before I have learnt a marketable skill / while I am learning one. If I decide to try to learn coding for example, as a marketable skill, how can I start a business and start selling before I’ve gotten “good enough” at coding?

 

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[NathanN]

I’m 14 and I have summer break right now. I want to dedicate this summer break to entrepreneurship and developing myself. I have though about learning coding and also about starting a YouTube channel (as you may see in my other posts).
I know I am just 14 but I want to try to in some way take action towards owning an online business that follows the CENTS framework.
I am wondering how I am supposed to start a business before I have learnt a marketable skill / while I am learning one. If I decide to try to learn coding for example, as a marketable skill, how can I start a business and start selling before I’ve gotten “good enough” at coding?

Online skills are definitely great to have when you come across an idea that might need them, but starting off with the pretty standard skills of sales and marketing would be your best bet. What is some type of work you could do around your neighborhood, mow lawns, wash cars/driveways ect. You'll learn a ton more doing that at your age, and learn to code on the side but most importantly learn why you need to learn to code.

 

[Subsonic]

I’m 14 and I have summer break right now. I want to dedicate this summer break to entrepreneurship and developing myself. I have though about learning coding and also about starting a YouTube channel (as you may see in my other posts).
I know I am just 14 but I want to try to in some way take action towards owning an online business that follows the CENTS framework.
I am wondering how I am supposed to start a business before I have learnt a marketable skill / while I am learning one. If I decide to try to learn coding for example, as a marketable skill, how can I start a business and start selling before I’ve gotten “good enough” at coding?

SIDE HUSTLE - [FULL GUIDE] Starting a Window Cleaning Business (by @piano)

Preface This is a long guide with a lot of information. Before you read this, I just want to tell you something: The reason you don't need this guide. When I started out, I didn't have such a guide but it was ok because I had a starting point; I need the tools, ok I searched for them and bought...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

 

[WJK]

Online skills are definitely great to have when you come across an idea that might need them, but starting off with the pretty standard skills of sales and marketing would be your best bet. What is some type of work you could do around your neighborhood, mow lawns, wash cars/driveways ect. You'll learn a ton more doing that at your age, and learn to code on the side but most importantly learn why you need to learn to code.

I totally agree. The skills you learn by hiring yourself out will carry you for the rest of your life. First, you will learn how to go out and find jobs -- AKA marketing & selling. You will learn how to show up on time with the right tools -- known as job & time management. You will learn to politely take directions and criticism from your customers. You will learn to talk to people and improve your communication skills. You will learn to negotiate and live within your agreements, good or bad. You will learn to please your customer and fix it when they aren't happy. You will learn how to work hard even when you don't feel like it. You will learn how to take care of your tools since you must spend your money to buy new ones if you trash them. You will learn the value of the money you earn and to say no to your non-working friends. And the list goes on...

PS. I've worked just about every day since I was 11 years old and I'm a senior citizen.

 

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[Nightwolf]

I know I am just 14 but I want to try to in some way take action towards owning an online business that follows the CENTS framework

You don't need to start with a CENTS business right away. I am 16 and I thought I'd start with a totally awesome CENTS business that no one can every possibly beat!
Ofcourse that was just my excitement of starting out.

Heavy_industry put some sense into me and encouraged me to just start.
You learn most by doing after all. So I started my web design business (i already knew how to code before reading TMF as a hobby).

Since you really want to start a business this summer, I'd suggest the same as Nathan. Lawn mowing, window cleaning and car detailing are all local businesses that you can start to acquire and improve the most important skill of all - communication - and also earn money along the way! How cool is that? If you want to learn more about these businesses I'd suggest reading the threads of these absolutely amazing people:

Car detailing - perchboy
Window cleaning - piano
Lawn mowing - Johnny boy

 

[Andy Black]

I’m 14 and I have summer break right now. I want to dedicate this summer break to entrepreneurship and developing myself. I have though about learning coding and also about starting a YouTube channel (as you may see in my other posts).
I know I am just 14 but I want to try to in some way take action towards owning an online business that follows the CENTS framework.
I am wondering how I am supposed to start a business before I have learnt a marketable skill / while I am learning one. If I decide to try to learn coding for example, as a marketable skill, how can I start a business and start selling before I’ve gotten “good enough” at coding?

The first part of this call is aimed precisely at people in your situation:

NOTABLE! - MEETUPS - [TFLF Call Replay] - For teens & students getting started

Hi all. @Lawtiti (who changed his forum name to @Chet Shen) created a Meetup Thread a few days ago and had a Zoom call with @ZCP who gave advice on getting started etc. I offered to do a Zoom where I'll go through some of the main things I think holds people back when getting started, and how...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

 

[amp0193]

You don't know anything until you do it. Doesn't matter that you're 14. Same problems for anyone getting started.

Read Google/youtube/library books for the question or problem you have right now, today.

Learn one new thing at a time.

 

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[Panos Daras]

I’m 14 and I have summer break right now. I want to dedicate this summer break to entrepreneurship and developing myself. I have though about learning coding and also about starting a YouTube channel (as you may see in my other posts).
I know I am just 14 but I want to try to in some way take action towards owning an online business that follows the CENTS framework.
I am wondering how I am supposed to start a business before I have learnt a marketable skill / while I am learning one. If I decide to try to learn coding for example, as a marketable skill, how can I start a business and start selling before I’ve gotten “good enough” at coding?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_58zPgArb4&t=15s&ab_channel=MJDeMarco
Here you go man from the boss himself!

 

[Gubolo]

Thank you guys for all the help. I have gotten a lot of people telling me to start one of these simple physical service businesses. The thing is I already have almost 7500 USD saved up. If I dedicate my summer to doing one of these physical services I could maybe make around 1000. That is why I'm thinking it maybe would be better to learn a specialized skill since I don't really need that money. Do you guys still think that is the best path?

Also I just came home from a 2 week vacation in Bali. I saw a lot of entrepreneurs working from laptops living there. My mom has a friend who also is an entrepreneur and lives in Bali half the time. This has really motivated and inspired me to work towards achieving that lifestyle.

Do you guys have any ideas to how I can use this money to get towards being an entrepreneur? I think the money I have is a lot more than lot of people my age that want to be entrepreneurs. Does this money mean I can kind of skip the low tier jobs phase and move on to actually starting something bigger?

 

[Andy Black]

Thank you guys for all the help. I have gotten a lot of people telling me to start one of these simple physical service businesses. The thing is I already have almost 7500 USD saved up. If I dedicate my summer to doing one of these physical services I could maybe make around 1000. That is why I'm thinking it maybe would be better to learn a specialized skill since I don't really need that money. Do you guys still think that is the best path?

Also I just came home from a 2 week vacation in Bali. I saw a lot of entrepreneurs working from laptops living there. My mom has a friend who also is an entrepreneur and lives in Bali half the time. This has really motivated and inspired me to work towards achieving that lifestyle.

Do you guys have any ideas to how I can use this money to get towards being an entrepreneur? I think the money I have is a lot more than lot of people my age that want to be entrepreneurs. Does this money mean I can kind of skip the low tier jobs phase and move on to actually starting something bigger?

Wow. Good for you saving so much at such a young age. Well done.

What type of work are you envisioning doing from a laptop, at home or somewhere else?

What business owners do you look up to or aspire to be?

What skills and interests do you already have?

What do people come to you for help with?

 

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[WJK]

Thank you guys for all the help. I have gotten a lot of people telling me to start one of these simple physical service businesses. The thing is I already have almost 7500 USD saved up. If I dedicate my summer to doing one of these physical services I could maybe make around 1000. That is why I'm thinking it maybe would be better to learn a specialized skill since I don't really need that money. Do you guys still think that is the best path?

Also I just came home from a 2 week vacation in Bali. I saw a lot of entrepreneurs working from laptops living there. My mom has a friend who also is an entrepreneur and lives in Bali half the time. This has really motivated and inspired me to work towards achieving that lifestyle.

Do you guys have any ideas to how I can use this money to get towards being an entrepreneur? I think the money I have is a lot more than lot of people my age that want to be entrepreneurs. Does this money mean I can kind of skip the low tier jobs phase and move on to actually starting something bigger?

My suggestions were not about the money you would earn this summer. Money is totally secondary to your personal growth and education in the school of hard knocks. It's all about the people and business skills you would learn by being out there in the real world. What appears to be a "simple physical service business" entails a lot more. This is stuff that you cannot learn in a book or on your computer.

In the meantime, what do these people do on their computers? What kind of businesses do they have? Have you talked to them? Can you make friends with any of them? Can you interview a bunch of them? Those people skills are part of what I’m suggesting that you learn through a hands-on business.

 

[Gubolo]

My suggestions were not about the money you would earn this summer. Money is totally secondary to your personal growth and education in the school of hard knocks. It's all about the people and business skills you would learn by being out there in the real world. What appears to be a "simple physical service business" entails a lot more. This is stuff that you cannot learn in a book or on your computer.

In the meantime, what do these people do on their computers? What kind of businesses do they have? Have you talked to them? Can you make friends with any of them? Can you interview a bunch of them? Those people skills are part of what I’m suggesting that you learn through a hands-on business.

Wouldn’t I learn the same things from a job? In the community I live in I don’t know if going door to door and asking if I can mow lawns or something would be the best service to provide, because that’s not really a thing that people do around here and I’m afraid people would just think “wtf is this kid trying to do”. I think I would earn a lot more working a job. I live in Norway and people are pretty rich here so I don’t think one of these door to door businesses would work as well here as in another county.

 

[WJK]

Wouldn’t I learn the same things from a job? In the community I live in I don’t know if going door to door and asking if I can mow lawns or something would be the best service to provide, because that’s not really a thing that people do around here and I’m afraid people would just think “wtf is this kid trying to do”. I think I would earn a lot more working a job. I live in Norway and people are pretty rich here so I don’t think one of these door to door businesses would work as well here as in another county.

Actually, it will work better since people have money to spend on outsourcing services. They hire help all the time to free up their time. Your first job is to figure out what services they hire out. Once you get a few customers, the word will get around and you'll have too much work. I'd talk to my mom if I was you. You are obviously from a class of people who are well off. I bet her friends would love to hire you.

No, you will not learn the same skills from a job. Jobs have bosses... who find the leads... who become customers... with the agreements that the boss negotiates... then they do the planning for you... tell you what, how, and when to do the work... manage your work and working hours... collect the money for you... do the accounting.... give you your share in a paycheck...

 

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[Gubolo]

Wow. Good for you saving so much at such a young age. Well done.

What type of work are you envisioning doing from a laptop, at home or somewhere else?

What business owners do you look up to or aspire to be?

What skills and interests do you already have?

What do people come to you for help with?

I could maybe learn a skill like coding for example (if AI doesnt make it obsolete) and then start some kind of agency where I sell a service that I can provide because of the skill I have learnt. I have seen you comment on my other posts so you maybe remember I've also thought about YT.

I look up to a lot of these business owners I've seen on youtube you've probably heard of like for example Alex Hormozi, Iman Gadzhi, Brandon Carter, Hamza. But I know a lot of them are just trying to sell you courses and shit so I don't let myself get completely brainwashed by what they say. I also know some people through real life connections that I look up to, like my mom's friend who is a yoga teacher and takes people on yoga retreats, and is now starting an online yoga platform. And her son who owns an online jewellery brand. My moms colleagues husband who is a serial entrepreneur who sold one of his businesses for around 10000000$ I think it was. My grandparents also have a friend whose name is Arthur P. Becker who I've had lunch with once, I think you can just google him.

I don't really have any skills I think other than the stuff you learn in school (I get pretty good grades). I am a pretty big gym addict, that is my biggest interest, so I know a bit about nutrition and anatomy and stuff that has to do with building muscle. I've tried to learn a bit of coding but I've only just started so I wouldn't say you could call that a skill yet, but I don't know if I want to continue since I've heard a lot of people talk about coding getting obsolete because of AI. If I can adapt my programming training to work with AI, I will gladly do that because I think AI will be very big and the people that can use it welll will make a lot of money.

My mom asked me recently if I could make her a website because she works as a psychologist and she's thinking about starting her own private therapist business. I often help my friends with workout programs and such, but they don't really come to me, I usually ask them if I can help and they say yes. I often get told by classmates in the locker rooms and other places we're shirtless that I have a great physique. At school people always want to get in groups with me and get help since I get the best grades in my class.

I have a pretty good work discipline when I have a clear goal and I know what I need to do, it's just with entrepreneurship I find it really hard to find what I want to work with.

 

[Andy Black]

I could maybe learn a skill like coding for example (if AI doesnt make it obsolete) and then start some kind of agency where I sell a service that I can provide because of the skill I have learnt. I have seen you comment on my other posts so you maybe remember I've also thought about YT.

I look up to a lot of these business owners I've seen on youtube you've probably heard of like for example Alex Hormozi, Iman Gadzhi, Brandon Carter, Hamza. But I know a lot of them are just trying to sell you courses and shit so I don't let myself get completely brainwashed by what they say. I also know some people through real life connections that I look up to, like my mom's friend who is a yoga teacher and takes people on yoga retreats, and is now starting an online yoga platform. And her son who owns an online jewellery brand. My moms colleagues husband who is a serial entrepreneur who sold one of his businesses for around 10000000$ I think it was. My grandparents also have a friend whose name is Arthur P. Becker who I've had lunch with once, I think you can just google him.

I don't really have any skills I think other than the stuff you learn in school (I get pretty good grades). I am a pretty big gym addict, that is my biggest interest, so I know a bit about nutrition and anatomy and stuff that has to do with building muscle. I've tried to learn a bit of coding but I've only just started so I wouldn't say you could call that a skill yet, but I don't know if I want to continue since I've heard a lot of people talk about coding getting obsolete because of AI. If I can adapt my programming training to work with AI, I will gladly do that because I think AI will be very big and the people that can use it welll will make a lot of money.

My mom asked me recently if I could make her a website because she works as a psychologist and she's thinking about starting her own private therapist business. I often help my friends with workout programs and such, but they don't really come to me, I usually ask them if I can help and they say yes. I often get told by classmates in the locker rooms and other places we're shirtless that I have a great physique. At school people always want to get in groups with me and get help since I get the best grades in my class.

I have a pretty good work discipline when I have a clear goal and I know what I need to do, it's just with entrepreneurship I find it really hard to find what I want to work with.

Help your mum with her website and see how that goes? Once that's good enough the next step would be to get her leads and inquiries. Maybe you then venture into that next, all because your goal is to help someone rather than to "learn".

 

[WJK]

I could maybe learn a skill like coding for example (if AI doesnt make it obsolete) and then start some kind of agency where I sell a service that I can provide because of the skill I have learnt. I have seen you comment on my other posts so you maybe remember I've also thought about YT.

I look up to a lot of these business owners I've seen on youtube you've probably heard of like for example Alex Hormozi, Iman Gadzhi, Brandon Carter, Hamza. But I know a lot of them are just trying to sell you courses and shit so I don't let myself get completely brainwashed by what they say. I also know some people through real life connections that I look up to, like my mom's friend who is a yoga teacher and takes people on yoga retreats, and is now starting an online yoga platform. And her son who owns an online jewellery brand. My moms colleagues husband who is a serial entrepreneur who sold one of his businesses for around 10000000$ I think it was. My grandparents also have a friend whose name is Arthur P. Becker who I've had lunch with once, I think you can just google him.

I don't really have any skills I think other than the stuff you learn in school (I get pretty good grades). I am a pretty big gym Youaddict, that is my biggest interest, so I know a bit about nutrition and anatomy and stuff that has to do with building muscle. I've tried to learn a bit of coding but I've only just started so I wouldn't say you could call that a skill yet, but I don't know if I want to continue since I've heard a lot of people talk about coding getting obsolete because of AI. If I can adapt my programming training to work with AI, I will gladly do that because I think AI will be very big and the people that can use it welll will make a lot of money.

My mom asked me recently if I could make her a website because she works as a psychologist and she's thinking about starting her own private therapist business. I often help my friends with workout programs and such, but they don't really come to me, I usually ask them if I can help and they say yes. I often get told by classmates in the locker rooms and other places we're shirtless that I have a great physique. At school people always want to get in groups with me and get help since I get the best grades in my class.

I have a pretty good work discipline when I have a clear goal and I know what I need to do, it's just with entrepreneurship I find it really hard to find what I want to work with.

You have the start of a good business right there with who you know. Go for it.

 

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[Tea&Tea]

I’m 14 and I have summer break right now. I want to dedicate this summer break to entrepreneurship and developing myself. I have though about learning coding and also about starting a YouTube channel (as you may see in my other posts).
I know I am just 14 but I want to try to in some way take action towards owning an online business that follows the CENTS framework.
I am wondering how I am supposed to start a business before I have learnt a marketable skill / while I am learning one. If I decide to try to learn coding for example, as a marketable skill, how can I start a business and start selling before I’ve gotten “good enough” at coding?

Go to YouTube and look up Ahrefs. They have tons of online marketing tools and courses you can learn. It’s very engaging and helpful. Do not start your business until you understand digital marketing and practice your skill set. Also, find a mentor.