Life Lessons: 31 – Start a business before you turn eighteen

Not everyone can or wants to own a business; some people are happy to be employees for life. However, if you do wish to own your own business, like I do, then this is for you.

The statistics show that out of ten start-up businesses, eight fail before their fifth year. On the flip side this means that if you make ten attempts at building a successful business, there is the possibility that two of those ideas may turn out to be successful.

If it takes you at least a year to try out an idea to assess its prospects, loosely speaking, you need ten years to try out your ten most brilliant ideas. That is why it makes some sense to start this period at eighteen years of age. It is true that you will need some capital, but not all business ideas require loads of cash as your initial capital, especially in our information technology age. By starting at eighteen, it will enable you gain valuable experience for your subsequent endeavours.

This does not mean you should whimsically jump at starting any idea that zips into your mind. There are a number of things worth considering before starting a business.  When done, these will greatly increase your chances of success. There are a huge amount of online resources that can help you in this area; for example, Google Online Learning.

One reason many people in their thirties and above find it difficult to start their own business is due to the fact that they have many obligations; a family to feed, school fees to pay, etc. Leaving secure employment where you are guaranteed a monthly wage or salary to start a business, for which the success is not assured, is too risky a chance to take.

At eighteen, you may not have many obligations and yet be mature enough to know that you will soon have them. The time between eighteen and twenty something when you get married is a good opportunity for you to fail eight times at starting a business and establishing one of those two that will succeed.

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