Business

[lubaby]

Do you have a service or product that is unique? Otherwise you are selling.... Which means it does not matter what you are selling... If you are good at selling,  you will be fine.

If not,  go get a job or go to college

+1

Do that for a while. You can work on creating your new business ventures during the evenings and weekends. This way you'll have a steady income and learn about the business / work industry, while giving you time to try things on your own (and not have to worry about paying the bills).

[aygart]

Starting a business will almost always take start up capital and can take time until you see a profit. If you are struggling here and now then a job may be your best bet in the short term. While on almost any job you can gain valuable experience in what the business world is all about. From the looks of it here you do not have much knowledge on that front and if that is lacking it can cause significant issues with whatever business you start. Do not expect to go from in your words "a true yeshiva boy" to being the hotsy totsy CEO with no stops in between. With some time and experience in "the fake world" (yeshiva is the real one) you can then use it to start a successful business.

[george]

The easiest/best way to learn a business is by working in that - or a related - business.  99% of people that try starting a business from the ground up, without any finanacial or business knowledge base are destined to fail.  If it was that easy everyone would do it.

+10000000

[george]

Interesting. I wonder if this is fact.

It absolutely is true. Best prep for starting a business is working in that industry first.

[shoobi]

My 2 cents: 1. Get a job, learn the industry you are working in reasonably well, and only then open your own business in that field... otherwise you have no idea what you are doing. Or, 2. Go to college and then get a job and then #1.

My experience is that just getting into the "working world" helps to figure out what you want to do. Take any job you are reasonably comfortable with now, you're not married to it forever.

Also, the vast majority of people who like what they do didn't go straight into that field. It takes trial and error to see what you like, don't be afraid to move around, and don't despair if you don't know exactly what you want to do now.

Hatzlacha!

[Centro]

My 2 cents: 1. Get a job, learn the industry you are working in reasonably well, and only then open your own business in that field... otherwise you have no idea what you are doing. Or, 2. Go to college and then get a job and then #1.

My experience is that just getting into the "working world" helps to figure out what you want to do. Take any job you are reasonably comfortable with now, you're not married to it forever.

Also, the vast majority of people who like what they do didn't go straight into that field. It takes trial and error to see what you like, don't be afraid to move around, and don't despair if you don't know exactly what you want to do now.

Hatzlacha!

[zale]

Hi,

"Newbie alert"

I've recently gotten married and am looking into starting my own business. It seems like everyone is doing it and has just figured it out, but I can't seem to get a grip on what to do and how to do it. This makes me wonder what everyone is doing and how they started and figured it out. Am I just stupid?

Sorry if this has been discussed before.

I would like to point out a few things:

• Just because everyone has a business, it does not mean they are making a profit or putting bread on the table. Many (perhaps even most) of these people merely have the business as a "front" for other people to believe that they are busy or successful, while in reality they are living off government benefits and support from their parents/inlaws. Sadly, in some cases, they are running some kind of illegal business behind the scenes. Nobody really knows what other people are earning.
• "Revenue" means nothing. Many businesses move lots of money around and turn over very little profit. I personally know a business (now defunct) that was moving over $3 million a year, and the owner made less than $10K in profit.
• In most cases, a good education, followed by a good job with a good salary is superior to running a business. Do a simple Google search. 8 out of 10 businesses fail within the first 18 months.
• If your dream is to own a yacht and live in a mansion, then you only have one choice and that choice is clear. If you are satisfied with being "comfortable", being able to provide for your family, pay for your children's education and take a few vacations here and there, then if you are able to, get a degree.

[grodnoking]

I would like to point out a few things:

• If your dream is to own a yacht and live in a mansion, then you only have one choice and that choice is clear.

What's that choice?

[Aaaron]

What's that choice?

Marry money.

[yuneeq]

What's that choice?

Starting a business

[Sport]

What's that choice?

Stop dreaming.[/list]

[yuneeq]

The easiest/best way to learn a business is by working in that - or a related - business.  99% of people that try starting a business from the ground up, without any finanacial or business knowledge base are destined to fail.  If it was that easy everyone would do it.

False, no need to make up statistics.

[churnbabychurn]

False, no need to make up statistics.

According to Bloomberg it is 80%.

It's fair to say that the inexperienced fail 95%+


http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericwagner/2013/09/12/five-reasons-8-out-of-10-businesses-fail/

[yuneeq]

According to Bloomberg it is 80%.

It's fair to say that the inexperienced fail 95%+


http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericwagner/2013/09/12/five-reasons-8-out-of-10-businesses-fail/

1) It's never fair to make up statistics, especially blatantly false ones. Way more than 1% of businesses are successful. And the difference between 1% success rate and 5% (another made up #) is one is 5 times likelier to succeed.

2) 8/10 startups may fail, but according to that same statistic, a person has a 40% chance of success their second time around.

3) every industry has different success rates. There are plenty of micro businesses or online businesses that require little or no capital to start, success is easily attainable while not risky. No wonder many inexperienced friends were able to start up businesses.

[Aaaron]

1) It's never fair to make up statistics, especially blatantly false ones. Way more than 1% of businesses are successful. And the difference between 1% success rate and 5% (another made up #) is one is 5 times likelier to succeed.

2) 8/10 startups may fail, but according to that same statistic, a person has a 40% chance of success their second time around.

3) every industry has different success rates. There are plenty of micro businesses or online businesses that require little or no capital to start, success is easily attainable while not risky. No wonder many inexperienced friends were able to start up businesses.

I don't think you read what I wrote.  It doesn't matter what business you're in, if you don't have the knowledge or some serious money to throw around you won't be successful.  I stand by my made up statistic.

[yuneeq]

I don't think you read what I wrote.  It doesn't matter what business you're in, if you don't have the knowledge or some serious money to throw around you won't be successful.  I stand by my made up statistic.

Not my fault you're not reading the conversation, but my last post (which wasn't quoting you)  was aimed at the general convo and at CBC who was defending your post but also adding his own 2 cents.
Either way, your 99% number is a random and false number and just discourages people from starting a business today when there are plenty of opportunities to start a business with zero experience and/or little money.

[churnbabychurn]

I guess if you call reselling items on eBay / amazon a "business" it does have a very low barrier to entry. I would classify this more as a hobby or something.

The fail rate grows when the online retail  gig turns into something real. Here the inexperienced and underfunded very often fail. - can't guess the percentage but definitely more than 65% fail

[yuneeq]

I guess if you call reselling items on eBay / amazon a "business" it does have a very low barrier to entry. I would classify this more as a hobby or something.

The fail rate grows when the online retail  gig turns into something real. Here the inexperienced and underfunded very often fail. - can't guess the percentage but definitely more than 65% fail

You can make a living on amazon without turning it into something big.
If you wanna make big bucks online you'll need more experience, but at that point you may already have a nice chunk of it.

[aygart]

2) 8/10 startups may fail, but according to that same statistic, a person has a 40% chance of success their second time around.

And after five times it is 100%?

[yuneeq]

And after five times it is 100%?

Yup

Eta: that's kinda my point, how ridiculous these statistics are.
Businesses aren't created in a vacuum where you can point at any particular business and say "you have a 20% chance of success because that's what statistics say". Well statistics also say that for every 5 businesses you create, you'll have one that's successful.