19 TPE Bonus I - The Youth (And Young At Heart) Advantage-converted

Young people have advantages when it comes to starting a business. They have resilience and the ability to bounce back after defeat. They are more open to trying new things and have more energy. Education and background don't matter as much as believing in yourself and being persistent. Living with parents can be a money-saving opportunity. Starting a business while in school is a good idea, as it allows for learning and making money. Partying in college is important for building communication and networking skills. Bonus. The Youth and Young at Heart Advantage. The greatest disadvantage of young people today is that they have too many advantages. Anonymous. Unless you know the secret to the fountain of youth, you'll only be young once. Milk it for all it's worth. I sure did. I pulled many all-nighters, paid little mind to my unique living conditions, and plowed ahead with excitement and hope for the future. You can go far on hard work and big dreams, often a hell of a lot farther and faster than people with more education and experience. Resilience. Youth brings an ability to rebound that many people lose as they age, unless they remain young at heart. This resilience allows you to bounce back after defeat and try again, unscathed. The entrepreneurial path is littered with pitfalls and roadblocks. You need the capacity to come back again and again relentlessly. No false pretense. How come most curmudgeons are gray-haired folk? Probably because they are pissed at how their life turned out and depressed about the lackluster ride ahead of them. The young foresee many more possibilities and great experiences ahead. The old saying is true, as a young person, your life is still ahead of you. The best part is, you can determine just how great the ride will be. And if you are a curmudgeon, your life ain't over yet either, fella. Make it a great ride. Few responsibilities. Most young people fresh out of college don't have children and spouses to support. You can put all of your energy into launching your company the right way. This is a huge advantage. Energy. No question, a young person has more energy than an older person. Likewise, the person at any age who is living her passion has tremendous amounts of energy. If you are young and living your passion, you are unstoppable. No preconceived notions. Young people, in general, are far more willing to try something new than older people. Just think about the crazy things you tried in college. No need to share, just think about it and keep the smile to yourself. As we age, we often look back at our younger years and can't believe the crazy things we tried. We become less and less open to risk because of all our fears we've picked up along the way. Be young, be crazy, and launch your company now. Flexible schedule. You pulled the all-nighters in high school and college and still made it to the keg parties with your friends the next day. Without commitments to your own family, you can exploit the flexibility of a single life. You can party all day and work all night, or is it the other way around? Money isn't a big deal. You've been eating ramen noodles for the last four years. Another couple years won't kill you. Since most young folks have yet to experience what it's like to have lots of money, going without won't be much of a hardship. Plus, when you start out young and poor, there's only one way to go, up. Chicken pork oriental, anyone? The clock is ticking and you're getting older. Use these advantages while you have them or someone else will. Tick, tick, tick. Ivy League or County College, so what? I don't care how smart you are or how talented you are or what college you went to. When it comes to launching a company, that stuff just doesn't matter. What does matter is how smart you believe you are, how talented you believe you are, how driven you are, how focused you are, and how persistent you are. I have presented at college campuses throughout the US, from the Ivy League to the community colleges. Almost every student I meet explains how her education is about mastering certain processes. 14 weeks of accounting 101, 16 weeks of investment strategies, etc. This is important stuff, don't get me wrong, but it sure as hell won't have a significant impact on starting a company. To the contrary, if this is the stuff you worry about when you are starting out, you are doomed. The early days of business are about survival. Classes for cooking on a dime and how to make one cheap suit look like three different, not so cheap suits, will probably serve you better. It doesn't matter what your background is or how much education you have. What matters is what you believe you can do or can't do. Yes, your background experience have great influence on your beliefs, but once you realize you have the right and the ability to change your beliefs, you can achieve whatever you can envision. So, if you are a college dropout, don't sell yourself short. You can achieve the same level of success as an Ivy Leaguer can, and will most likely pass by those well-educated types in a blink of an eye. Just follow your passion, be relentlessly persistent, and truly, truly believe in yourself. The same applies to Ivy grads. Once college is over, we are all on common footing. The people who believe the most will achieve the most. Move in with your mom and other painful thoughts. If you are a young entrepreneur, you may have the good fortune in a supportive mom and dad. If your folks will let you move back home after college, then use this to your advantage as long as you can, and as long as they can stand it. I know you don't want to live with them any more than you have to, but if you bunk with the folks for a year or two after college, you can save some serious money. Just don't live at home into your 30s and 40s. That's just plain old embarrassing. Reduce your personal or business expenses by starting your company in the basement or your bedroom. Borrow the car, use the home phone, and there's nothing better than mom's home cooking. Besides, it's free. Eat at home and have the leftovers for lunch. Meet part-time staff? Perhaps Uncle George can help with the accounting and Aunt Jane can help handle emails. Maybe mom and dad could be your office cleaning crew. Mine were. Launching a business is about surviving and doing it intelligently. No, it's not glamorous to have mommy answering the phone for Uncle George reviewing the books, but it is economical and prudent. Save your money every cent you can and use the pennies you have to grow. Live off the land as long as you can. Master Bocce Ball. Too old to move back home or have another really good reason not to? There's still a way. There's always a way. I found a way when I started my first company. I could have moved home, but it would have been tough since I was engaged and had a child. Try springing that one on the folks. Hey Ma, great news! I just started my first company. Yep, but it gets better. I found the girl of my dreams and we're going to get married. No, no, no, that's not all. I'm going to have a son. Would you mind if we moved back home? Nope. That wouldn't have worked for any of us. Not my folks. Not my wife. Not me. So we needed to find an alternative. And when you have no money, it's amazing what you can do. Within a few short days, my wife had found a retirement complex that welcomed us with open, flabby arms. That's right, an old-age community for people between 80 and dead. So why choose retirement community at the tender age of 24? Because we could afford it. Rent was something like 475 bucks a month for a two-bedroom. For New Jersey in 1995, that was a great deal. Plus, the retirees could make some good food. Life was not luxurious, but we managed. And I ate a lot of ramen noodles and hand-me-down fruitcake. And of course, we became masters at bocce ball and pinochle. If you have the will, there is the way. You may have to eat a little of your pride, but it's worth it and it builds character. Who knows? Maybe you and I can have a no-nonsense pinochle game one day. Winner gets a coupon for the early bird special. Still in school, graduate profitably. When the last final exam is done and the last beer bash concludes, your classmates will trod their way home with the parting words, see you next year, biatch. They are off to enjoy some summer sun and maybe get a summer job. You should not follow suit. This is an opportunity to launch a small business, even if it's just for a few months. Make a product that you can sell. Freelance service you have to offer. Do whatever you want to make money. This is about making some payola and learning the critical parts of starting a company. Plus, you will probably make more than the minimum wage and have more fun doing it. Hold on a minute. What about a polished resume that you can show to a future employer? If you are thinking along those lines, you are reading the wrong book. This is about learning the core principles of running a successful business and there is no education better than doing it. But what happens when you have to get back to school? You have options here. You can close up shop or you may be able to keep your business rolling along. Part-time, of course. You do want to keep up the grades and get a good education. Try to recruit a few people on campus to work for you, but avoid using friends so that you can treat them as beer buddies, not colleagues. This is an opportunity to build your leadership skills and learn to manage a team. Make the most of your college days. Make a little bit of money and most importantly, don't forget to party. Party. You and your folks laid down some serious cabbage to pay for your college education and you better take full advantage of it. Go out and party right now. You heard me. Party. I'm not suggesting you get involved in the booze fest. Well, maybe just a few. I am suggesting you learn how to communicate with others and network. Entrepreneurial success is dependent upon your ability to lead and communicate with people. You are going to be the CEO, communicator, energizer, organizer of your new business, so you better start acting like one. Use your party time at school to find the people you click with. Investigate what it is about your closest friends that you like. What are the values they share with you? Figure out the best and fastest way to meet other people who share your values. Try planning a party, strictly legal of course, with your friends. Can you set a common vision of how the party will go down? Can you get your friends to not just buy in but feverishly support you? How great can you make the party? All with volunteer work. Can you get people to do the PR, the collections and accounting, purchasing and customer service? This is a great opportunity to learn your own values, hone your skills, discover your strength, and learn how you best manage people. If at the end of the night everyone makes a toast to you and applauds you for a job well done, then congratulations. You have potential to be a great CEO. You also have a backup plan as an events coordinator.