Steps to be an Entrepreneur
Honestly, great life choice, you have nothing to lose as a teen.
The biggest thing an entrepreneur does is: Figure it out as they go. Learn while doing.
So you must start. The way I see it, there are 2 options
Build something, and get people to try it 😅❤️
Work for somebody ASAP, even if it’s for free. Shadow a company you admire, ask to do their grunt work
I’ll go into detail on both, but let me emphasize: Doing is the only way. As dumb as you will feel in the early stages, start doing, and finish an experiment through. The skills you will gain as a founder are UNMATCHABLE.
You need to put yourself in front of real people. Whether that’s getting first customers of your own, or working for someone else, SO MUCH is learned by having the pressure of a real client.
To actually “build something of your own,” it will go in infinite directions. This is why 100-day in Entrepreneurs Academy was set up in a way, where every individual teen creates something, in their unique direction. There is a framework of 100 days, that gets the student to ideate and execute. I’m going to outline what those steps are, and if you think you have what it takes to be in this environment, you should check it out and apply
Steps for Building a Startup Idea
Decide what to build. Decide what you care about. It’s crucial that you choose to create something that you truly believe the world needs. Hopping on trends like “drop shipping” is not a lasting way to learn your craft, or impact the world.
Understand people. (Never stop doing this). Study people. Interview and research people from around the world. Act as if these people are your customers!
Come up with lots of ideas. Brainstorm in all directions. Keep all dumb ideas.
Test your idea on real people. Find low-resource ways to test your idea. For example, make an app using Marvel and Canva (free tools, here is an example of a School of Future student’s prototype). If you’re trying to provide a service, host zoom calls. Get human response, and run with the things they’re saying. Sometimes their responses are your business.
Watch your experiments closely. And keep asking your users or customers because that is the only direction in which you should go. Measure and refine your experiment, and do it again. Develop the product and sales funnel based on what these people want!
Look at other business models and companies. See how your product or concept can flourish and sustain itself.
I hope this process helps! Having a co-founder, or being around other founders is insanely important to have the stamina to keep going. I repeat: YOU WILL FEEL STUPID AT TIMES.
We’ve graduated over 700 teen founders from 37 countries, and here are some of the biggest flaws we’ve seen:
Most Common Mistakes
Not finishing an experiment, not seeing it through to the end, to measure what works and doesn’t work
Building something they think is cool, instead of what can actually be woven into people’s lifestyle
“I need capital before I can do anything” - Bull shit. No one is going to invest in you until you have proven people need it. Test. on. People. That is your proof. And no matter how hi-tech or large scale an idea is, there is always a way to test out the idea, using little to no resources.