internet, young-entrepreneursI am not yet 18 years old. I have a nice idea, and I think it’s revolutionary. I am currently working on the code, as well. Although, for now, I don’t see any hurdles in my way, it may still be possible I am not foreseeing something in the future.
What are the problems that young people like me can face for an internet-based venture, and how do we tackle them?
And should I delay my work for the project until I get 18?
I’m 19 myself. I would definitely not delay if your idea is good enough. “Good enough” is definitely not an easy thing to determine, but that’s up to you. There are some things to consider about starting a business of any sort, like the time commitment (which can definitely be a range, I don’t mean to say running a website is a 24-hour/7-day-a-week job, at least once it’s up and running), the actual development, the logistics, and finances.
I’ve been programming for something like eleven years now, so believe me, I recognize the severity of taking on a full project. I’m even taking a break from school right now to invest my time in a few for clients. It’s not a task to be taken lightly. So make sure you’re ready to make the time commitment. And remember, however hard it sometimes is to believe, unless your idea is really good, you should make sure you’re keeping your grades up throughout the process. Easier said than done, I promise you.
But that’s all just logistics and it’s up to you how ready you are to take on a serious commitment like starting something. So let’s say you are.
Your very first step should be to protect your intellectual property. I’ve written a number of posts on Startups today that talk about IP, but the gist of it all is that the law doesn’t excuse your age: if you have an invention (a process, for instance, used in your app or what have you) that is patentable, then you publicly disclose it without filing the proper applications, your patentability might be adversely affected. You might want to speak with a patent attorney to talk through what IP you might have that should be protected before you go off disclosing it to anyone. Not to mention, if you get your IP settled, there won’t be as much of a rush to get things into production. Protection doesn’t last forever, but waiting a year is a lot more comfortable when you know nobody will steal the lifeblood of what you hope to release. It won’t be cheap to protect, but that brings me to my next point.
Finances are tough for any startup, and I imagine you’re no better. It can take a lot of money to maintain a website. The cloud has simplified that and made it significantly cheaper, but that doesn’t mean it’s free. It all adds up. So if you can, find an adult (a parent, even a teacher or family friend) who believes in you and your idea, and see if they’ll invest in you, or even just help you find people who will. There are lots of investors out there who believe in young people’s ideas, so if you’ve got a good one, you have a good chance with them. Even beyond that, you could look into crowd-funding. I bet a heart-felt story about a young developer trying to launch an exciting new product will get at least some money in.
Really, it’s all just a matter of trade-offs. Do you think your product will happen with or without you? Do you have the time and resources to put into a project right now, and will you have them as you start coming up on college apps (not that they take much effort, but I’m just trying to express that this isn’t a short-term game in most cases)? Are you ready to sacrifice some pleasures of youth for your idea?
That all said, I suppose I’ll share my bit of insight from my years of professional development: we’re young and we can waste time. If this idea falls through, you’ll probably have another later. By starting at such a young age, you can risk something by devoting a lot of time to a project that may or may not work. You can go years with little or no income and you’ll still be fine. So be keen to take advantage of that inherent advantage we have. If you can devote a few hours a day, or even just some time on weekends, to working on this, it’ll either work out (woo hoo!) or it won’t (and you won’t have lost anything substantial). You’re facing success or experience, and those are both good.
There’s no set age requirement when it comes to starting a business. Businesses usually development over an idea, a need for a product that doesn’t exist or the desire to try something new. If you have the maturity to talk about starting a business and you have a product idea and you’ve starting coding it, then I wouldn’t stop just because your not eighteen. I started my business when I was fifteen years old. By the time I was eighteen years old, it was a registered “S” Corporation. It’s definitely possible.
To be brief - the answer is yes - they can.
I will do my best to convey an unbiased list of items a business needs which have direct relevance to someone younger that average (I’m only 22, but we all have value to add right?).
#1: Who do you know?
This is a pretty straightforward question, and it might seem incredibly obvious. Young people tend not to have the networks. However, some young people have parents who do have the networks. Networking is key. Meeting people who have either experience in your industry or complimentary services can often change the future of your company in one phone call. The question always is, who can you call when you need to?
#2: What’s your source of capital?
Every business needs either money or time. If there’s one rule of economics, it’s that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Young people tend to not have savings (not surprising), and while there is obviously more dependence to capital in different industries, at any point in time your business needs either stability to produce or liquidity to infuse.
#3: What skills do you have?
In this day and age, skills are a prerequisite to success. I suppose they always have been, but competition has never been greater as the barrier to entry in most industries is getting relatively easier to hurdle. That aside, developing unique intellectual property is often only accomplished when the employees have some set of skills that put them in a unique position. It’s important to note that sometimes this just means a good team that can coordinate better than anyone else in their industry - it really is situational but I can say that I’ve seen a lot of startups fail just because there was too many unknowns.
It’s not always the unknowns that cause failure, but our ability to perceive the sub-components and abstract large problems to focus in between the lines.
EDIT: #4 could technically involve the legal aspects of age, if you’re under the age of incorporation. This is usually 18. But nothing is stopping you from getting your product built. You don’t need to do anything legal until you’re making money. Furthermore, I’m sure some sort of guardian could be established as a proxy for incorporation, in the case you’re a ways out from the legal age (or it just can’t wait!). I hope this is helpful.
I hope that answers your question. Best of luck with your startup!
There is already some great answers but I feel that this Tedx talk called If Not Now, When? by Jeet Banjeree answers your last question very well.
Also I'm 21 and doing something similar to you. I would say be confident in your skills, act like a sponge while trying to learn from others who have already succeeded, be persistent when tackling your problems, stay open minded, and treat relationships with other people as one of the most important things in the world.
You will probably face new problems every single day, so its hard to give a list of things.
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