Billionaire Mark Cuban was solely 12 years outdated when he launched his first facet hustle, so he is aware of what it takes to start out a enterprise at a younger age.
And, he says there’s one easy factor it is advisable to contemplate if you wish to do it, too.
“The important thing to beginning a enterprise if you’re younger is doing issues that you are able to do your self — issues you are able to do with your individual time,” Cuban lately informed a gaggle of highschool college students at Lewisville Excessive Faculty in Texas.
Which means beginning with what you already know, he famous.
“If it is a product, do one thing that is straightforward so that you can get and simple so that you can promote,” Cuban mentioned, including: “It actually comes down to at least one easy factor. One of the best companies are issues you possibly can management and do your self. That is what being an entrepreneur is all about.”
Cuban famously bought an early begin studying to run his personal enterprise as a pre-teen promoting rubbish baggage door-to-door in a Pittsburgh suburb. Later, he offered quite a lot of collectibles, from baseball playing cards to cash and stamps, saying the proceeds helped pay for his school tuition.
In every of these circumstances, Cuban used home items and collectibles that have been accessible to a child and promote them for a revenue — following his personal recommendation for youngsters immediately.
Equally, as a school scholar, he labored as a bartender and taught dance classes to make extra cash. Cuban later confirmed off his dance abilities publicly by showing on “Dancing With the Stars” in 2007, ending eighth within the competitors.
“I used to be a hustler … I’ve at all times been promoting. I at all times had one thing happening. That was simply my nature,” Cuban mentioned throughout a 2016 episode of ABC’s “Shark Tank.”
Now, Cuban says he often tells youngsters and youngsters seeking to begin their very own companies to do what he did. Construct round “one thing they’ll make or a service they’ll provide to buddies, household and neighbors,” he informed CNBC Make It in September.
That is simpler mentioned than carried out, after all: Efficiently launching and rising your individual enterprise is infamously difficult. Roughly 20% of latest companies fail inside a 12 months of launching, based on information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Being an entrepreneur and beginning a enterprise doesn’t suggest it is going to be straightforward and swiftly you make some huge cash,” Cuban informed the scholars at Lewisville Excessive Faculty. “Being an entrepreneur is the more durable method.”
If it was straightforward, he added, “you all would already be doing it and approaching ‘Shark Tank’ and taking my place.”
Discovering one thing you possibly can management and do your self is tough sufficient. Turning into nice at it — which, by the way, is Cuban’s No. 1 rule for making a living — is so much more durable.
It entails extensively researching your marketing strategy and potential competitors, searching for out funding, and creating backup plans to permit for flexibility if it is advisable to modify on the fly, the billionaire has beforehand mentioned.
So long as you do not thoughts placing in that work, particularly after you select your enterprise alternative, a world of alternative can open up for you, Cuban informed the highschool college students.
“When you’re keen to take the initiative and begin a enterprise, something is feasible,” he mentioned.
Disclosure: CNBC owns the unique off-network cable rights to “Shark Tank.”
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