Should I Become A Young Entrepreneur?

SURE! I love young entrepreneurs. In fact I envy them. Their minds are still fresh and unadulterated by the monotonous indoctrination of adults and peer pressure that injects FEAR and kills their dreams.

Courtesy: Ashley Qualls

I caught the entrepreneurial bug since I was a kid, helping my mother sell tomatoes.

Coming from a humble background living in the slums, it wasn’t easy. Life was tough and there were few alternatives for a family to survive. Criminal gangs were all over the place and gang members were both respected and feared. We thought that was all there was to life.

My mother started selling tomatoes to supplement the meager pay my father used to earn as a foreman in the engineering department of a toll-bridge company. Naturally, I would help my mother after school and during school holidays. Handling money was something I enjoyed because I would not lack a few extra coins of my own, even after accounting for the day’s takings.

I couldn’t help thinking that, “perhaps this could turn out to be a bigger enterprise that would eventually get us out of poverty and enable us to live in the more posh neighbourhood”. I envied children from those posh neighbourhoods. I wondered whether we had wronged God to live in such poverty.

But as fate would have it, this never materialized. At the time, getting an education was regarded as the only way out of poverty and a better life. My parents didn’t know otherwise. The mantra of the day was; go to school, study very hard, pass with high grades in order to secure a high paying job in a big company. That’s exactly what I did.

After all, landing a decently paying job after years of hard work, investing time and money to earn that prestigious college degree or diploma is an opportunity only a few people can ignore.

One of the most heralded accomplishments in today’s mostly urban culture is securing the coveted 9 to 5 job. The prospects of a monthly pay-check with full benefits, and a loving community of fellow office workers striving towards a similar goal as laid out in a staff manual by a board of directors, is regarded as the ultimate achievement.

And it was not until I had to first go school, graduated from high school and secured a nice job in a large multinational company, while still a teenager, that I began to realize that I had lost my childhood entrepreneurship dream.

However, after only a few years or even months, of mechanical monotony accompanied with a few salary raises and promotions, I soon realized that I was getting deeper into debt than I was able to get out. And as I struggled through the “rat-race”, the prospect of saving enough money for myself and my children’s future became ever more elusive.

I began toiling with ideas, but by then it was too late. I was already sinking too deep into the corporate culture and the comfort of a monthly paycheck plus benefits made it harder to get out.
One day a friend introduced me to a book called Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, which I began reading. This got me on the right track and revived my entrepreneurial spirit, which had died many years ago. I will forever be grateful to that friend.

By 2004, with no particular business background, business education or business plan, I was ready to quit my 9 to 5 day job.

[I don’t encourage anybody to follow this path unless you know what you’re doing]

Armed with an accounting background and internet programming skills, I became another victim of the emerging breed of self-taught internet entrepreneurs.

I would encourage young entrepreneurs to start now, but not to give up school. Initially, you may need to get a job if you’re starting from zero, and from there, continue to build your business knowledge and skills.

With internet-based business models such as Affiliate Marketing and eCommerce, you can start from little-to-nothing and gradually build a lucrative business that can earn you a steady income and financial freedom.

But first, you should go to school. Only this time you should never let your dream die; having in mind that you aspire to become an entrepreneur.

If you aspire to be really good in entrepreneurship, study courses that give you an edge in the business world.

Particularly, I would recommend courses that are rich in the following skills:

Selling

Marketing

Entrepreneurship

Managing People

Managing Money

Managing Systems

Remember, entrepreneurship has no age limit. I know of several young teenagers who are richer than their parents and many young people have become successful entrepreneurs at the ages of between 8 and 23 years.

All you need is motivation, passion, business education and a business idea.

Entrepreneurship is just a matter of changing your mindset through business education and the right mental attitude. Fortunately, there are many courses and education programs that help build motivation, teach entrepreneurship and help to change your mindset.

Tony Robbins is considered one of the greatest motivators of our times. Here are some of Tony Robbin’s courses and education programs that you may find interesting:

Wealth and Lifestyle

Unshakable – Your Financial Freedom Playbook

Money Masters

Mind and Meaning

Ultimate Edge - Make Your Life Extraordinary

Personal Power II - Turn Your Dreams Into Reality

Career and Business

Mastering Influence - Become a Master of Sales and Persuasion

Creating Lasting Change - Inspire Others To Make Positive Change

You can find more courses and education programs at Tony Robbin’s website.