Post: #1

Hello. I am 19 years old and from Scandinavia, I am just finishing my high school/college education (Basically, one step before uni) and I plan on taking two gap years to work on myself and maybe even a blog and a web-based business. As soon as I am done with school, I will take my drivers license and eventually try to do what is described here: http://www.thumotic.com/the-alternative-mba/ . I already have an offer from a good friend to live with him in London and use his old car for a couple of months and I know that I can borrow a very nice apartment from some of my parent's friends in Berlin.

I plan on trying to create a web-based business while blogging about my experiences, my short-comings and my growth and a shit-load of book reviews/recaps, I have three goals with these 2 years: to make money, get laid a lot and travel a lot. When the 2 years are done, I will re-evaluate and ask myself if it is leading me ANYWHERE towards financial success, if not, I will go back to my country, go to university and study for a candidate level education in economy. I know that if I choose this education, I will have very good possibilities in the job market in my country later on and I will also have very good posibilities to get a paid internship meanwhile.

I wanted to share this, because I would like input on my idea. Anything to be improved on? Anything that seems pointless? Any other good ideas for my 2 years of free time?

Cheers.

Post: #2

Imagine a big funky-shaped bubble that represents the current outer limits of everything in business that humans are doing and making available to other humans. Then imagine how close you currently are to the center of that bubble or its surface. To get rich you have to push out a point on that bubble. You have to do something newer or better than 90% of the other people around that point. Do you feel you can do this now at 19? Do you think the insight in your blog, at 19, will be superior to other similar blogs by older more achieved men, such that you will produce a readership sufficient to monetize? Do you believe you have the skills and market insights required to fulfil an online service or product need that no one else can or has thought of or to beat existing suppliers? Because that's what it takes.

This isn't to dampen your enthusiasm, which is good and absolutely necessary to succeed. But you should however have a clearer starting point than the things you've mentioned, which every man and his dog are already doing, and which thus has little marginal market value.

If you do have a specific idea in mind that you've checked the market for competition for, and checked for periphery demand around that idea, then sure, it's worth a shot. Produce an MVP and market it. Better yet have 3 ideas to test. Otherwise, best have a job in mind for those 2 years that will help you gain market and industry insight in some area.

Post: #3

Good for you. For you or anyone else reading this, don't think because you have a job you can't start side hustles, you can't blog, etc.

I was working kind of a deadend job. Not a bad job pay wasn't horrible and benefits were okay but just not a career, wasn't going to lead anywhere. I kind of fell into the trap of staying because it was easy, however it also allowed me a lot of freetime. Instead of just watching Worldstar and playing Tetris I used all my freetime at work, oftentimes up to 6 or 7 hours a day out of an 8 hour day, to blog, create youtube channeels, try my hand at internet marketing, learned new skills, etc.

A couple years in I had a business going. Nothing I could quit my job for but a few grand extra a month. I worked at it for about another 3 years and finally grew it big enough to quit and now I'm self employed.

I have a lot of buddies who are always like one day I'm going to do this or I wish I could quit my job to focus on such and such but just wanted to say don't think you can't get something started just because you have a job or other obligations.

Post: #4

@Phoenix

I totally agree, just keep in mind that these two years are GAP YEARS, I will be doing these, because I am simply so exhausted and tired from being in the school system ever since I was 6 and starting uni right away would crush me. I do have a starting point however, which at the worst will make leave me with the same amount of money as when I started out but with a lot of new experiences and skill sets and at the best leave me self-employed and happy.

My idea so far (I am VERY open to criticism and ideas for improvement of this idea):

Follow the link in OP as a rough guideline but teach myself photoshop, WordPress, SEO and marketing (at a basic level first, but I will try to become as good as possible with it). Then I will find local start-ups and/or stale businesses who do not have a clear brand or an online pressence.
I will then outsource the OUTLINES for things such as logos, t-shirts, bu isness cards with QR codes, "about us" pages etc. via. Fiverr and collect these outlines in a portfolio folder. I will then try to set up a meeting by phone and pitch the outlines of the portfolio to the owner(s), making them choose what I can improve on and describing EVERYTHING they would like me to emphasize or change, I will then do what needs to be done by myself and bring it back for reevaluations until client is satisfied. I will make sure to become an affiliate with as many services (website hosting, t-shirt printing, business card printing etc.) I use to provide the client with branding and presence as possible, so 1. I will earn money from referrals and 2. I do not have to charge the client too much.

I also have a starting point to create a blog from. The first goal of having a blog, would not be money (yet), but becoming a good writer, holding myself accountable and creating a decent audience. I know that I am not NEARLY old or experienced enough to teach other people what to do, because I will not be talking from experience but rather copying someone else's experience, which is lame. No, the main theme of my blog would be about how I am trying to escape the mediocrity of my generation. I will not be speaking from long-time experience, but rather from an immediate/learning sort of experience through growth and pain.

I hope this is a bit more specific and therefore easier to criticize specifically.

@jamaicabound

Exactly, it would be so stupid to quit your job and try to live off small savings just HOPING that you might succeed. I will work a part-time job, try to drive Uber and spend free time on my business, my blog and getting laid.

Post: #5

(10-19-2015 11:12 AM)illus Wrote:  Hello. I am 19 years old and from Scandinavia, I am just finishing my high school/college education (Basically, one step before uni) and I plan on taking two gap years to work on myself and maybe even a blog and a web-based business. As soon as I am done with school, I will take my drivers license and eventually try to do what is described here: http://www.thumotic.com/the-alternative-mba/ . I already have an offer from a good friend to live with him in London and use his old car for a couple of months and I know that I can borrow a very nice apartment from some of my parent's friends in Berlin.

I plan on trying to create a web-based business while blogging about my experiences, my short-comings and my growth and a shit-load of book reviews/recaps, I have three goals with these 2 years: to make money, get laid a lot and travel a lot. When the 2 years are done, I will re-evaluate and ask myself if it is leading me ANYWHERE towards financial success, if not, I will go back to my country, go to university and study for a candidate level education in economy. I know that if I choose this education, I will have very good possibilities in the job market in my country later on and I will also have very good posibilities to get a paid internship meanwhile.

I wanted to share this, because I would like input on my idea. Anything to be improved on? Anything that seems pointless? Any other good ideas for my 2 years of free time?

Cheers.

Just a thought; if the Danish road test is anything like the Swedish one, take your DL in UK or Germany and exchange it for a Danish license on your return.

I don't want to get started about how retarded driver licensing on this part of the world is.

Post: #6

(10-19-2015 02:50 PM)illus Wrote:  @Phoenix

I totally agree, just keep in mind that these two years are GAP YEARS, I will be doing these, because I am simply so exhausted and tired from being in the school system ever since I was 6 and starting uni right away would crush me. I do have a starting point however, which at the worst will make leave me with the same amount of money as when I started out but with a lot of new experiences and skill sets and at the best leave me self-employed and happy.

My idea so far (I am VERY open to criticism and ideas for improvement of this idea):

Follow the link in OP as a rough guideline but teach myself photoshop, WordPress, SEO and marketing (at a basic level first, but I will try to become as good as possible with it). Then I will find local start-ups and/or stale businesses who do not have a clear brand or an online pressence.
I will then outsource the OUTLINES for things such as logos, t-shirts, bu isness cards with QR codes, "about us" pages etc. via. Fiverr and collect these outlines in a portfolio folder. I will then try to set up a meeting by phone and pitch the outlines of the portfolio to the owner(s), making them choose what I can improve on and describing EVERYTHING they would like me to emphasize or change, I will then do what needs to be done by myself and bring it back for reevaluations until client is satisfied. I will make sure to become an affiliate with as many services (website hosting, t-shirt printing, business card printing etc.) I use to provide the client with branding and presence as possible, so 1. I will earn money from referrals and 2. I do not have to charge the client too much.

Starting point is very decent. Plan is good, go ahead.
Obviously keep your eyes open during its execution, in case you spot any other juicy opportunities.

Post: #7

(10-19-2015 12:54 PM)jamaicabound Wrote:  Good for you. For you or anyone else reading this, don't think because you have a job you can't start side hustles, you can't blog, etc.

I was working kind of a deadend job. Not a bad job pay wasn't horrible and benefits were okay but just not a career, wasn't going to lead anywhere. I kind of fell into the trap of staying because it was easy, however it also allowed me a lot of freetime. Instead of just watching Worldstar and playing Tetris I used all my freetime at work, oftentimes up to 6 or 7 hours a day out of an 8 hour day, to blog, create youtube channeels, try my hand at internet marketing, learned new skills, etc.

A couple years in I had a business going. Nothing I could quit my job for but a few grand extra a month. I worked at it for about another 3 years and finally grew it big enough to quit and now I'm self employed.

I have a lot of buddies who are always like one day I'm going to do this or I wish I could quit my job to focus on such and such but just wanted to say don't think you can't get something started just because you have a job or other obligations.

I am in a very similar job situation, I have at least 5+ hours a day of free time that is spent surfing the internet and watching shitty you-tube videos. How would you recommend one get's started down the avenue you did?

Post: #8

I wish I did this after high school. You are still so young.
The worst that can happen is that it doesn't work out and you go back to study at 21 years.

I would say go for it. Just make sure you don't get to comfortable in these 2 GAP years and actually focus on your business as much as you would focus on studying or working for a boss.

Time is on your side my friend. I say go for it. There's so many opportunities in online marketing.
Good luck.