[paulthebob]

It's that famous first hurdle for every person wanting to start a business, so I hear.

Well yea.. I simply don't know exactly what I want to do.

I'm incredibly keen on starting a business.. I AM going to start a business.. one of my biggest motivators is, no one believes I am going to do it. But this makes me REALLY mad and it just fires me up PERFECTLY.. it's the perfect motivation.. if money and independence wasn't already enough, this was just the cherry on my cake.

So a little bit of background on myself.. I'll keep this short and sweet.


I live in the UK (Belfast, NI) went to primary school, completed, went to high school, completed (although due to certain circumstances at the time I didn't study for my GCSE's basically at all.. so the grades aren't good. Although as it may happen, a lot of places and people say that there is NO correlation between a high flying education and making it rich. I know of one story personally, and I believe Richard Branson was the same.)

Anyway I work for the Planning Service (UK Gov) at the minute, which is part in parcel of a Business Administration course (just to get my knowledge up a little bit) which is going to NVQ Level 2 (A-level)

Interests of mine are...

Architecture (from planning at the minute)
Photography (hobby)
Outdoors (mountain hiking.. forests.. anything OUTDOORS really)

A success story that has my eye on the prize is, a very good friend of mine, her dad was the same as me I believe. He got out of school, realised he's going nowhere with what he has, and to make something of what he can do. So he got a few jobs, built up 100K, and bought a business... now he's a millionaire.

I'd like to start a business along the lines of architecture or construction. This is however, quite big, and with having no money at all that's a problem.
Also, at a meeting I had yesterday with "Enterprise Northern Ireland" which helps people start their own business, the one KEY thing I have to do is start VERY small. Like by myself.

I use ArchiCAD to design my own houses etc, but I can't see anyone coming to the smallest fish in the biggest pond, and I certainly don't have the knowledge required to make the drawings technical/detail. They'd pass for planning permission and that's about it. I don't want to do 7 years at college to learn how to draw a house. By that time a small business could have grown considerably.

I'm 17, and I want to begin the first steps of this dream, this year preferably.

But again, back to square one - I don't know what I should do.

An idea is a business that does floors, walls, roofing, windows, doors, etc. But that's thinking too big. Where do I start?

I'm open to suggestions. I have the sensibility, the brains, the guts and all it requires. Now I just need the know-how.

I have 2 business mags, and a very long list of ideas (3 A4 pages of size 8 font, 2 columns) and I have selected the following for want and possibility.

Architect (want)
Architectural Model Maker (want and possibility)
Boarding Kennels [dogs, etc] (perhaps a second business further along the road.. it's a want)
Photographer (want. My current equipment though [Finepix S5000] is good but it won't cut it in that very precise market)
Roofing contractor (want.. but it'd obviously take a lot of building up to)

So far of all that list the most plausible seems to be the model maker for architects. I really enjoy craftwork, both wood and metal, and in the Planning Service we see our fair share of models, and generally they're just bits of shaped foam, cut to scale, and stuck on a board with a perspex lid. Really not that complicated, or expensive to do.

In February or March I have a 4 day (split up on 2 weeks) course that shows me exactly how to open a business, and giving me the essential knowledge like finance, law, etc. After this I get a £400 grant from Invest Northern Ireland. That could go a long way in buying bits of foam.

I think I'm going to opt with the architectural model making. It's not high flying, but it IS a start, and that's exactly what I'm looking for, SOMEWHERE TO START. Because let's face it. Unless you're minted and/or Richard Branson, you're not walking into a £500,000 a year business.

If there are any current business owners out there that can help me gain knowledge, I am asking you to contact me.. I want all the help and knowledge I can get.

Thanks for taking this time.

Paul.

[Fr_Chuck]

I always liked raising fishing worms.

Ok, hope that got the shock value, if you don't know what you like, go to work for some various companies, work here 6 months, there 6 months, see what is good or bad about various business, Find one you like then work there for a longer time and sort of learn it first.

Opinion, although nothing wrong with fishing worms either

[animal advocate]

Hi Paul,

Check out

Barbara Sher's Official Website

And go to the bulletin boards. There you will find a multitude of help with anything you can think of about what kind of business to start along with other people that are as interested in as many things as you are. They are called Scanners. Barbara Sher has written many books to help people like us. Her boards are full of highly intelligent and interesting people.

Hope this helps.

Molly

[paulthebob]

Thanks Molly, will repost this there as well.

More input in this topic however is still wanted!