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Yeah this is a huge issue IMO and it’s something I set out to fix with my online course on finding advice that isn’t a scam and advice marketplace. DM me for a discount codez

Entrepreneurship is a dynamic journey that demands a unique set of qualities for success. Firstly, a visionary mindset is crucial. Successful entrepreneurs possess the ability to see opportunities where others see challenges. This vision fuels innovation and drives the creation of solutions that address real-world problems. It's about anticipating trends, understanding market needs, and charting a course that aligns with a compelling vision.

Secondly, resilience is an indispensable trait. The entrepreneurial path is riddled with uncertainties and setbacks. Those who weather these storms and bounce back from failures are the ones who thrive. Resilience is not just about overcoming challenges; it's about learning from them, adapting strategies, and persisting in the face of adversity.

Lastly, effective communication and networking skills are paramount. Entrepreneurs must articulate their vision persuasively to attract investors, customers, and collaborators. Building a robust network opens doors to valuable resources, mentorship, and partnerships. Connecting with others in the industry fosters a collaborative spirit and provides insights that can be instrumental in navigating the complex terrain of entrepreneurship.

In essence, to be a successful entrepreneur requires a blend of visionary thinking, resilience, and adept communication and networking skills. These three pillars form the foundation for turning innovative ideas into thriving ventures in the ever-evolving landscape of business.

It’s a different journey for everyone. IMO here is what to look out for, and I’ve already seen it in these comments.

People will trip over themselves to sell you courses on Dropshipping. Or hell, anything. They will tell you they make 50k a month doing it and are selling a course for 49.99. Does that make sense?

The true way in my opinion is to dig a little deeper and find a way to serve a community. A group, a niche.

Find a way to add value by being your authentic self. Again, not easy but the only true repeatable way to earn money and be an entrepreneur. Add value. It’s a blanket statement but run anything you want to get into through that lens. Is drop shipping adding value?

Again, everyone is different and you can kill it. Who knows.

Get your MBA, Search where you want to base your operations to be, look for problems, then look to ways to solve those problems. You will find what you want.

Look, I'll tell you this from experience, I started out in my late teens to set out to become my own boss before my mid 20s, didn't work out so well... Doesn't mean it doesn't work for everybody BUT I made it in the end in my early 30s and I am financially free but that came with a lot, a heck of a lot of effort and equal amount of pain... The one thing I regret not doing when I had all the time in the world I.e. my teens and my early 20s is that, had I put my effort into learning modern day skills like social media marketing or coding, I could have gone a lot further, I'm doing it now but with so many responsibilities that comes with age, it gets quite difficult to take time out for your own self so my advise, take the time to master one or two skills and then move forward with your business pursuits... I know at this time, you might not feel you have the time to explore skills development... I did too when I was your age but trust me, I had time, so do you... You want to go into drops shipping but you don't if it'll be relevant anymore by the time you get there??? Learn social media marketing, once you master that, you can sell anything... I turned $300 into $150k....TRUST ME! Don't rush it, focus all your free time and then some into learning a new skill first... Best of luck!

Here is your first piece of genuine advice.

Use paragraphs.

Good luck.

It sounds like your primary motivation is money, and if that's the case, getting good grades and studying something that's lucrative and will be in demand for the foreseeable future like CS/Math/Stats is the path with the highest expected value. The vast majority of people here are earning significantly less than their counterparts in big tech/finance while working much harder and being significantly more stressed out.

Lemme tell you something. If you live in America. Then you are born in the gold mine, cause there is simpky no place in the whole world than America where making generational wealth is easier.

Because people spent years obtaining that information & experience so the real professionals aren't giving away that knowledge, experience for free.

Most stuff online that people are sharing can be Googled.

You pay professionals in business to get to work and help resolve things plus get things done quicker so you can move on to other things.

Hope you understand.

Try joining networking groups in your area and also check out joinEntre.

joinEntre is a site for Entrepreneurs, Freelancers and Investors.

Best to you

Best to you

It’s amazing how much of foresight you have at the age of 21. When I was 21, I too was desperately trying to get into something where I could make an impact. Although I come from a decent background, I didn’t want to ever feel entitled, or lazy. So first off, congratulations on your mindset. Secondly, you have to work night and day to learn. Learning is the biggest skill in today’s world. And if you’re constantly willing to learn, you’re going to go miles ahead. There are free resources out there. Watch YouTube, read books and listen to Podcast. Pick a field that you believe will make you the happiest, or earn you the most amount of money, given that your goal. Thirdly, instead of focusing on which company to get into, pick a personality you can work under. Most people optimise for a brand name, say for example, working under an Apple or a Nike. Instead, pick somebody great who you can mentor you and show you how things are done. These kinds of people are difficult to access at bigger companies, but at a smaller ones, there’s a big chance that they will take you on. So, start connecting with these people and share your story. I’m sure there are many empathetic entrepreneurs who will help you. Once you start working with such a person, you’re going to get insights into how things are done. Trust me, skills will only take you so far. What’s equally important is process, mindset, structure, organisation and management. These can only be learnt with experience and over a diverse range of situations. As you’re learning and working, you’re also going to land on some money. Keep your expenses low, and save some of that cash. Slowly, look at opportunities that you can exploit. Start a small business online, whether that’s consulting or selling a digital product, or even breaking into the same industry that you’re a part of. Yes, some industries may require a massive investment, but look at ways that you can come in without any investment, say as a consultant or something. Keep your working your way up, and you will reach a place where things start going your way. All of this is again easier said than done. But it’s just a roadmap of how you can start to think about things. Feel free to reach out, I’m more than happy to speak to you as a friend and as somebody who also wants to make it really big in life.

I wouldn't afraid of start something that others say its a bad idea. Usually this is how good ideas born.

You are in one of the most perfect situation. Young, No experience but already have feelings to build business.

What I would do if I were you is I would spend a few days with my thoughts to find the perfect business idea that I would really love to do. Lets say ecommerce. If I have the idea I would start to work out a plan from the first step until the very last. What I want to sell, where I want to sell it, how my website would look like, who are my competitors, who are my potential customers, how can I advertise, how can buy items that I want to sell and what is the journey of this item etc. there will be a lots of question that you need to find answer.

While Im working out my business plan (Probably takes months to fully finish it) I would try to find a job where I can see all of these in practice. So I would look for job at an e commerce business and I would also write a list what are my goals to work there (what I want to learn) and I would try to be friendly with every department so I can ask questions about their jobs. The smaller the business the closer the people to eachother. Ohh and I wouldn't care about the payment I dont want to spend my entire life there I just want a 2-3 years of experience to start my own business.

If you stay consistent with your strategy and your goal stays clear you will be already ahead of 90% of the entrepreneurs when you start your business.

Another thing I would take into consideration is to start a "practice" business while I have a full time job. It will be awful and probably cringe aswell but at least good for building experience. Experiment with a lots of thing and when you feel ready you can restart everything with the new brand.

Why do you want to do dropshipping?

Read $100M Offers by Alex hormozi, and consume his YouTube content. I’ve been consuming business and entrepreneur content for like 8 years and he’s easily the best out there. He provides more value than anyone I’ve ever found

Most of the people here are individuals who find the idea of working for little money or free or not being the majority shareholder or having all the power to be unacceptable. In other words older people who want to make money for themselves or only themselves.

If you are 21, you are young. That means you can take years off or time off and probably have little in the way of responsibilities (ongoing costs) unless you have a child or sick parent. That means you can join an accelerator or pre-accelerator. They will take you, work with you for six months and after the end of it you will team up with three or five or ten other people and use a fair equity sharing model to proceed.

https://slicingpie.com/the-new-pie-slicer/

Most people here cannot do this because they are not interested in creating a company that scales globally, only enriching themselves. That's why you hear dropshipping, opening this or that store, doing real estate and so on. All of that is actually not what most serial entrepreneurs would call global scale. On top of that, most of these are low skill in that they don't take ten thousand hours or a lifetime to master or hone the skill. That sounds a lot like having a job, but you actually have to bring something to the table or else your compensation and equity in a fair split (say slicing pie model) would scale accordingly (and you would end up making up for lack of skill or assets or value with excessive work which would make it like a job for sure).

Your best bet is to join the accelerator and work in a group (working in a group greatest chance of success). Your next best bet is to gain skills and be very good at whatever it is you do (which also carries into a career or a job). Most people here are actually going down the wrong path and will have very low chances of success. As always be careful what you listen to on the Internet. Go local, join a local group of entrepreneurs and you will make it real and actually accomplish something as opposed to locking yourself in a basement for years or trying to do everything yourself and failing because you don't have all the necessary skills.

Why would anyone give you proper advice? What value do you bring to the table for anyone worthwhile

many of my peers progressing in their lives and graduating universit

Why not ask these people? It sounds like they're successfully doing what you want to do.

Totally understand your pain. I’ve built a few dropshipping sites and sold a few as well. My biggest advice is stick with it. Drop shipping is how you get started in Ecom, not how you last. It’s a stepping stone to buying more product in bulk. Digital skills are paramount. Seo and influencers will give you a better roi than anything. Dm me if you want to partner up

Shopify dropshipping is not dead and will never die. Marketing is the name of the game and if you master it you can sell any product to anyone.

1)Don't put money in business which don't understand.

2)Honesty is an expensive gift.

3)KEEP PEOPLE WHICH ARE DOING SOMETHING WITH THEIR LIFE. CUT PEOPLE WHICH ARE AN OBSTACLE FOR SUCCESS.

4)No one in history has ever become poorer for giving.

1)Don't put money in stuff which don't understand.

2)KEEP PEOPLE WHICH ARE DOING SOMETHING WITH THEIR LIFE. LEAVE PEOPLE WHICH ARE AN OBSTACLE.

3)No one has ever become poorer for giving.

4)It's a personal choice love money or love business, but it will define if money choose where you are going, or you choose where money are going.

It’s not hard to find advice. It’s hard to actually take action and do something different. Everyone wants advice but very few people are willing to do anything once they get the advice. First of all you have no idea how fortunate you are. You’re only 21!!!! You have something many other don’t and that’s TIIME. And no, you do not have to be born into it. The key to wealth is what you do with money when you get it. Poor and middle class people use it to buy consumable items to make themselves feel like they have money. You’re so young that you can set yourself up for life if you start making the right decisions now.

Wanting to start your own brand is awesome and a great goal so don’t let the people around you influence your goals. Also, a phrase like “drop shipping is dead” can only come from a financially illiterate disgruntled wage earner who never did anything and still wants to give advice. Drop shipping is not a business, it’s just the method that a product is sent to your customer. E-commerce is the business. And anywho who hasn’t been living in a cave for the last 20 years knows people buy online all day every day.

Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money. Do you know why there’s 1 million people on social media right now telling you that they will build your Shopify store for free???? Because they are AFFILIATES of Shopify earning affiliate commissions on the strore they make you!!! That’s their method of earning.

There are so many things you can do. BUT no matter what you choose to do, you MUST put some of your income into something that will bring a return for later in life. It doesn’t even have to be a lot, but something.

Wouldn’t it be nice to pay a small amount per month into something for the next 30 years and then when you’re 50 years old you’re able to have a $10,000 or $20,000 a month income for the rest of your life because of your investment? At your young age you can do that! You have no idea how lucky you are to have the gift of time!!!!! Use it!!!!!

its so hard finding genuine advice

Chatgpt won't be suffice ?

This will be such a messy comment bear with me,

We’re almost the same age , i just started doing business earlier until war broke out in my country. Almost Everything people told me was a bad idea was one of the most profitable businesses i started, what worked for someone might not work for you, some people failed in e-commerce and others succeeded heavily , thats just how life works, and you’d never know what works for you unless you try.

The best thing and advice Ive ever got is read, learn while doing. Apply everything you learn. Ill tell you this right now, start any sort of small business on the side and read alot about business, marketing and sales. Everything that has to do with making money basically, then apply it in this small business, find your style of running shit and take off. The best way to learn is experience .

As you start growing a little bit, find a mentor, they’ll save you SO much time and effort, and they’ll give you the best advice. In my country we have this popular phrase that says “dont listen to an ‘expert’, listen to someone that experienced it (or did it)”

As for capital to start business, your job can provide it, just make sure you dont overwhelm yourself PLEASE, you’ll end up crashing in both, business and employment. You can start some businesses with almost nothing by the way, my first business cost me nothing (but a lot of time). Look into pre-ordering and the concept behind drop shipping, they can be applied to alot of businesses. (For a service you can have a client pay upfront then split the money with who you hire, or for a product , have your customer pay upfront then pay your supplier and deliver and so on)

Goodluck!

" It seems like nowadays the only wealth that lasts is being born into generational wealth, which I wasn't born into and so now I've gotta think outside the box."

Comparison is the thief of joy. There will always be people richer, better advantaged than you. If you look at other people you lose sight of your own track. At 21 a lot of people have 0 income, hell even at 40+ some people do. Anything worth having takes time and effort. I like your positivity though, your "disadvantage" can be your fuel source if you harness it correctly. Adversity builds determination. Daddy's money is a crutch for a lot of people, and trust me anyone who really wants to build a business has to put in the hours and tears regardless of how much $ is in the bank.

My suggestion is to focus on your unique individual worth. Just diving into drop shipping, selling courses or whatever is cool but what's your unique edge in that? The best way to make money is to start with building your own personal value. Learn skills, languages, soft skills like persuasion and empathy. Study like a sponge, learn to learn, get comfortable with adversity.
As far as "What to do" keep in mind that everything takes time so choose wisely. Picking something you're not suited for and gonna end up hating is a waste of time Your best bet is to do stuff you love. So if you love software/web design lean into a business model with that, but keep your options open and see what clicks.

I have no idea if drop shipping can be a sustainable long term business, heck I don’t even know what it is really.

Find a problem to solve that people or companies are willing to pay for..could be a service and/or product and develop that.

To kick off, I would start doing research and a design thinking approach may be appropriate.

Try and get hold of the Strategyzer book series (except the team book) as these are great food for thought.

Also don’t kill yourself worrying about this…many entrepreneurs don’t get going until later in life.

Ignore the YouTube, tik-tok and insta noise and focus on your own path!

It is next to impossible for people who are currently a generation ahead of you to tell you what the best way for your generation to make money is. I always use tech as an example but tech was the millennial generations big money careers it’s not anymore. We ran that well dry and it’s up to the next gen to uncover their own path. That being said you have to think far far ahead to make it work and that has always been the case.

You aren’t in a unique situation you are in the situation every generation of human has ever been in and now it depends on what you do about it. If you can figure it out you can reach your goals but if you keep waiting for someone to figure it out for you you are destined to just float as the garbage does. Advice is just meant to be things like work hard stay on the goal and similar advice for how to achieve your dreams. It isn’t meant to give you a dream. Generational wealth is powerful too but it is held in a pedestal like it is more valuable and impactful than a good idea but look at all the billionaires and their “generational wealth” for the most part is first generational wealth not dozens of generations and you can find plenty of examples where generational wealth collapses as well as any other.

Basically any online method that’s been shared a lot is dead… UNLESS you put your own twist on it.

Following an influencer or guru’s advice exactly will probably get you no where, as thousands of people are doing the exact same thing.

Just a few thoughts from a 10-year solopreneur who also has a course business with over 4,000 paid students:

• Being able to sell via a 1-to-1 interaction is the single best skill you can learn. EVERYTHING that makes money requires a sale at some point. What you are selling matters a lot less than your ability to sell it, and this applies to every business or job you will ever have.

• the business model you pursue doesn’t REALLY matter that much. Most young people try to find the easiest, most trending one, and all that does is lead you to the most opportunistic course sellers. The best way to succeed is to find a business model where you enjoy the work, and then learn the industry, master the work, and build your sales distribution consistently over time. You will be 100x more successful committing to a tough business model long term than you will trying a bunch of “easy” ones.

• prior to the pandemic, it was pretty easy to reach a higher-than-average income by just diving into some form of freelance service. Services are still the most consistent initial business model, but startup is a lot more challenging these days. I recommend starting in-house in some form of marketing or sales position and getting paid to learn distribution.

Also, keep in mind that building your own thing has lot of downsides. I’ve had a $75k month and a $5k month in the same year, and I don’t ever really get to “clock out”, which is mentally exhausting. I have quite a few students averaging $15k months who frequently think about getting a job instead.

I agree, its really hard to find genuine advice. I go one step further to say any advice no matter how well intentioned has a very low value for the person receiving it.

Here are my chief reason.

When someone gives you an advice that solves your problem, they robe you of the skills need to solve such problems in the future. And if you succeed all the credit will go to your advisor. However, in case of a failure it's you who would fail.

Those who say don't know, and those that know don't say.

That's my feel anyway.

Commit to something and start and then keep figuring things out. Looking for others to tell you is not how it works. You get help when there is something to help.

Here's my two cents: Know how to repair/manufacture something or deliver a service, figure out what problems this know-how can solve, determine if people are willing to pay for that solution, and crunch the numbers if it makes financial sense.

People here are looking for a good business idea. Guess what? They cannot see it if they don't know what's possible to start with. This is where blue collar skills and some knowledge of applied sciences, like engineering, chemistry, and programming, come into play. If you want to sell pizza, you'll be better off if you know how to make pizzas from scratch.

The next question is: What problems can this knowledge or skillset solve? You can look around, even in your own life, and see what problems people encounter, and then ask if what you know can solve that problem. If yes, try to make a working prototype.

The next question is: Are people willing to pay for the solution you came up with? The only way you can know this is by doing it, testing your market, showing your proposed solution to potential customers, asking for feedback, and using people's feedback to refine your product or service. Here, you will be able gauge potential market demand, how much to charge for the product or service, who your customers will be, etc.

The last part will be financial in nature as this will require you to have a good idea of what the product cost or cost of service will be. Here, an accountant can guide you.

Don't be afraid to know how different products are manufactured or how different services are rendered. This is because this is what will allow you to imagine potential solutions to problems, potential solutions that you can test in the real world.

When people tell you that the first job of an entrepreneur is to sell, don't believe them. The first job of an entrepreneur is to find a product to see or a service to provide, and then sell. If you don't have a product or service to start with, then what are you selling?

I hope this helps.