The Days Of Waiting In Line For Your Big Break Are Dead.

Part of working as an entrepreneur is helping other entrepreneurs along the way.  As a guy that spends most of his time helping people build apps and grow startups, it happens to me quite a bit.

So when one of my students, an impressive young entrepreneur, came to me with an idea, I thought he should go for it.

He did, and found a gaping hole in his local market.  As any good entrepreneur should do, he went to exploit it.  The idea is solid, he was able to validate it (which is a must) and went to build.

In order to get started, he wanted to incorporate.

This is a great idea.  It helps protect your personal assets if something goes wrong, it can help you with taxes depending on where you are and honestly, it helps make you look professional if you are in the B2B, consulting or services spaces.  It’s quick & easy and you can get it done for a small fee in a few dozen places online.

Lucky for this young hustler, they have a family friend that’s a lawyer.  Sweet!  Time to save some cash and get some expert advice in the process.

Sadly, that’s not quite what happened.  Instead, my student got an earful of horrible advice that totally put him down and out.

“You’re in high school.  You’re too young for this.  Focus on getting into a good school, work hard, get a job, THEN do this.”

This pisses me off.

The opportunity is right in front of him.  There’s no law saying a high school student can’t start a business and make money.  There’s no rule that says you can’t have an app business and get into a good college.  There’s no guidelines that say this is a bad idea. 

The time to do this is NOW.

When I was in high school, I ran a business with one of my buddies selling bootlegged anime (I didn’t know that was legally frowned upon at the time.)  When I was in college, I started a web development agency and a SaaS company (which I later sold) selling web templates to competitive gamers back in the days when Major League Gaming was a thing.

I didn’t wait to start those companies because I was young and inexperienced.  I didn’t pay my dues to follow my dreams.  I knew I had a skill that others were willing to pay for and I offered my services to them.  I didn’t start being the cheapest in the neighborhood — no way.  I didn’t want to be the cheapest, I wanted to be the best.

So I set my pricing accordingly, and people paid.

Does that sound like “skipping to the front of the line?”  It should, because it is.

There were definitely people doing way, way better than me in those fields, but I was competing on their level.  I didn’t work my way up for 10 years, I took the risk and did it. 

I built my empire one client at a time.

Fast forward to today:  I have students working on their first apps in the same situation.  Some are in high school, some in college.  One thing my students in traditional schooling get a ton of from the world is bad advice.

People that they perceive as authority figures (parents, legal counsel, etc.) telling them to stop this nonsense and pay their dues so they can get a good job and do this on the side when they’re older.

WTF?!?

Yes, building an app on the side when you have a job is a good idea.  It’s called a “side hustle” and if you want to do it, do it.  It’s a great way to make money on the side and transition out of your boring 9-5 and into a full time app CEO.  If you don’t want to go full time, it’s just a great way for some passive income on the side.

But if you’re a student…. why not do this right now?  You’re in the perfect position to do this.  You probably have limited responsibilities out of school.  You have all the resources you need right there at your fingertips:  Resources to help you with business or technical challenges and tons of time to get some solid training on the Internet.

On top of that, you have the creative output of a toddler learning to play with blocks for the first time  — which is a TON of creativity that most in the working world will never see again.

So why wait to pay your dues before you find your success?

Screw the old way of the business world.  Don’t wait.  If you have an idea.  If you have a dream.  If you have the passion and the drive, do it.

Let them say “you can’t” right up to the day where they ask you “how did you do it?”