Where to start as a student

[dkt91]

As I already mentioned in my introduction post I am a 16 year old student from Germany, currently attending the 11th grade of 13.

I do actually see it rather positive that I'm still going to school since there is more time left I can invest into real business than I could if I already went to work.

The question I'm asking myself several times a day, however, is "How can I get started?". I really don't have a lot of capital I am allowed to use. My parents have put a few thousand € onto a term account but I am really not allowed to touch that money.
Therefore I am forced to use the money that I earn with a job which I do twice a week after school at a local supermarket.
The problem about this money is just that it is not too much. I could use only 100€ (~150$) per month for my business.

The possible solution I've thought of is to start an e-commerce (even though it's probably slowlane) in order to get a decent capital first and then take the fastlane.

Do you think this is a realistic thought or is 100€ (and 300€ I have on my bank account) per month even too less to start an e-commerce?

If you guys have any other ideas of what to do I would be thankful if you could share them with me.


Thanks in advance,


Florian

 

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[Dejan M]

100 € / month is enough for starting a small web biz. I had a very small modeling webshop a few years (<25.000 €). The lessons I learned and they could apply to you as I also started with little money:

• Don´t go into ecommerce that needs a lot of diverse products (for example: I had plastic/die-cast models in 1/24, 1/18 scale, 5+ different brands, colors, glues, ...) because you do not have enough capital to buy enough stuff that will interest buyers.
  
• Accounting for a lot of different products can be expensive and time-consuming.
  
• Stay away from low margins - I had 25.000 € yearly revenue (our average wage is ~800 EUR) but almost none of it was profit.
  
• Try to have small products, otherwise you will have problems with stocking them in your room/house.

So, if I´d go all over again, what would I do?

• Preferably ONE product but not more than THREE.
• High-margin product.
• Small product.

Because I´m all about action, I´d say you should start as soon as possible. This would be my action plan:

1. Find an interesting product for your own market (Germany).
2. Get to know the market, find a dealer for your product, get to know as much as possible about the product and the market.
3. Learn as much as possible about ecommerce.
4. Learn as much as possible about AdWords (I linked some useful articles at the bottom).
5. Create a sales letter for your product: 12-Step Foolproof Sales Letter Template
6. Get a programmer for creating a small sales letter script.
7. Make an AdWords campaign.
8. You could dry-test the product to see if it sells before selling it "for real".
9. Start selling and keep optimizing.

And I´d also suggest reading The Four Hour Workweek as it describes in more detail what I´ve written here.

Some useful articles about AdWords:

Net Business Blog

• 22 World Class Headline Templates 22 World Class Headline Templates | NetBusinessBlog
• Split-Test Your Adwords Ads In 2 Minutes Or Less Split-Test Your Adwords Ads In 2 Minutes Or Less | NetBusinessBlog
• Do You Make These 8 Mistakes With Google Adwords? Do You Make These 8 Mistakes With Google Adwords? | NetBusinessBlog

Shoemoney

• Is It A Waste Of Money To Bid On Keywords Where You Are Not In The Top Spots? Is It A Waste Of Money To Bid On Keywords Where You Are Not In The Top Spots? - ShoeMoney®
• Google Adwords Arrow Trick To Increase Click Through Rates Google Adwords Arrow Trick To Increase Click Through Rates - ShoeMoney®
• The $10,000.00 experiment with ppc Part 1 The $10,000.00 experiment with ppc Part 1 - ShoeMoney®
• 10k ppc experiment part2 10k ppc experiment part2 - ShoeMoney®

Super Affiliate Zac Johnson

• 
  The Super Affiliate’s Guide to PPC Marketing The Super Affiliate’s Guide to PPC Marketing | Inside the Secret Life of a Super Affiliate - Zac Johnson dot Com

Hope that helps.

 

[dkt91]

Thanks a lot - that was a very useful post indeed!

I'm already getting a basic idea of how it will run but I need to take some time for detailed planning.
Are you OK with it if I add you in MSN so I can ask you for advice in case I need help?


Regards,

Florian

 

[Happy]

Florian,

Depending on your aptitude and/or your willingness to learn an Internet business “may†be just what you are looking for, for the following reason:

Little capital is required. Web hosting plans can be found for as little as $4 a month. Purchase of a domain name and the possible purchase of web publishing software (which is not needed in all cases) can be had for less than $350

The Internet and all that it comprises is still very much in its infancy. In my mind I compare it to the great American “Land Rush†of 1893 or “The Wild, Wild, West†- but only better because many people are unaware of the opportunities hidden within this electronic frontier. There are few laws governing this international expansion and “There’s GOLD in them there hillsâ€

A more profitable electronic endeavor, in my opinion, would be to sell or rent information rather than products or services over the Internet. The work comes in determining the type of information people and/or companies are willing to buy. What have the most profitable Internet companies sold over the last 5 years? What is the next “Big Idea?†Creativity will be the “Pick and Shovel†of this Gold Rush.

Enjoy the ride my friend!
Happy

 

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[dkt91]

Hi Happy,

thank you for your very inspiring post! Alongside the content itself I really liked the metaphors you used and the comparision with the landrush just to let you know

I think you are absolutely right with your claim that selling/renting information is more profitable than simply selling goods.
The most significant advantage is in my opinion is that depending on what kind of information I want to sell there is less to no cost for me (apart from time) which results in a higher profit-margin.

At the moment I don't really have a clue what kind of information to sell but I'll talk to my parents, friends and relatives and I'm pretty sure that together we'll find something.


Regards,


Florian

 

[Andrew]

In order to successfully run a business you have to figure things out for yourself every single day. This is the most important skill for you to learn, and you can start learning it now.

Right now everything is realistic for you. I have friends who were able to bank several hundred thousand dollars from their businesses while still in high school (no high school millionaires though.)

As for lack of funds, most broke entreprenurs use credit cards. The most important step for me was getting a credit card. I think I had my first business going within a month or two from that. If your under 18, things aren't so easy. I'll leave it to you to figure out a solution.

 

[dkt91]

Hi again everyone!


I do have an idea now of what I'm going to do. There won't be an e-commerce in the classical sense and nothing really having to do with selling goods or information of the classical type.

A friend of mine from Switzerland helped me getting an idea of inventing something innovative, something new - something that doesn't exist in that form yet, something absolutely unique.
Of course I can't guarantee my success but I'll work hard on it and I think I have what it takes to make my vision come true.

Thanks for your helpfulness - I'll keep you up-to-date of my project's latest progresses.

 

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[dkt91]

Alright guys - I've done most of the planning. This is the planned progress of development:


1. Register domain -> done

2. Buy webspace (I got me some German webspace for the beginning) ->done

3. Find someone who can code and design the website for me. I'd like to have this done by an American as my site's gonna be in English and I can save money due to the $ course (anybody have recommendations?)

4. Launch the site + blog

5. Massive publicity - This point is crucial! I need to get articles about my site into newspapers, magazines, etc.



Regards,


Florian

 

[marknels]

You might want to contact Jorge@latamconnect.com

Great service, great price.

Tell him Mark from http://www.financialhat.com referred you.

 

[Dejan M]

You can try to find a programmer on sitepoint marketplace, digitalpoint or elance and similar websites. Or you can always find a student in your area for small pay.

If you´re doing a content website, don´t forget to look into www.wordpress.org which is one of the best content management systems (CMS) and is totally free.

 

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[TJPLD]

You don't even need money to earn money.
I got my first 1000 Internet Euros with tools and services that are available for free.
Only time was needed and not even that much.
Setting up the website took me about 30min -1h.
Spreading the website to about 4 hours but I did it while doing other stuff I had to do anyway.
I used MS word to "design" the website ( you can imagine it looked pretty simple but good enough to get the job done) free Webspace from Lycos and a Euros 4 Clicks Service.
I knew the income would reach a peak and die out slowly but it made me money.

 

[Happy]

You can try to find a programmer on sitepoint marketplace, digitalpoint or elance and similar websites. Or you can always find a student in your area for small pay.

I agree that students are an overlooked resource. They generally do excellent work for a bargain price, as they are more interested in increasing their portfolio. ++REP added

Florian - I can't wait to see how this project turns out for you.

Enjoy the Ride
Happy