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17 too young to start a business?

Reply 20

Cortez

17

samba3

thanks for clearing that up :wink:

also, he is open to ideas as he doesn't really have a clear plan of what to do, he just wants money! so does anyone have any business ideas? :wink:

If they did, they'd probably use the ideas themselves. You kinda have to think of your own ideas!

Reply 21

El Scotto

15

samba3

thanks for clearing that up :wink:

also, he is open to ideas as he doesn't really have a clear plan of what to do, he just wants money! so does anyone have any business ideas? :wink:

If hes got a reasonably good idea of what to do, tell him to contact the princes trust. They give out money to all sorts of causes. Including lost ones (they've given money to young people to start busienss's with ridiculous ideas!) :smile:

Reply 22

ashy

17

El Scotto

how do you cope with those new-fangled textmessages from those portable telephone boxes? :biggrin:

thing is that text speak has basically developed into its own language which sort of makes sense. That post was just wrong :wink:

There's no need to blow this out of ALL proportion is there?

Reply 23

Cortez

17

w00tt

You wouldn't have to pay tax - I believe - until you start earning like over 5500 GBP or something isn't it?

Anyway, I'd recommend doing it during the summer. I tried it out, and unfortunately it didn't work. However due to the type of business I was trying - it didn't need a lot of money to start up. The experience I gained was invaluable. Experience in planning, advertising, negotiation, organisation, accounting was brilliant. I was in it with a friend from school, and had we been a bit older, with a bit more of a business mind it would have worked for definite. However, it didn't and I think we're both wiser for it.

ALSO, it's not wise to let it interfere with your studies - they come first and foremost - if you fail at business you need to have some education to fall back on. Best of luck to you and your friend.

w00tt

Yeah something like that but you still need to register.

Reply 24

El Scotto

15

ashy

thing is that text speak has basically developed into it's own language which sort of makes sense. That post was just wrong :wink:

There's no need to blow this out of ALL proportion is there?

I live with a girl whos obsessed with the over-usage of an exclamation mark.

Aparently that sometimes when its used ---> !!!! it looks like people are shouting to her. Punctuation nazis just make me laugh thats all.

Reply 25

thefish_uk

14

I don't have a clue at all about businesses but surely someone over 18 would have to be kinda legally responsible? In that there's someone to sue if he takes their money or something? Also of course if he wanted to borrow money to set it up.

Depends what the business is I guess.

Reply 26

Ourkid

12

samba3

thanks for clearing that up :wink:

also, he is open to ideas as he doesn't really have a clear plan of what to do, he just wants money! so does anyone have any business ideas? :wink:

Make sure your friend doesn't expect people to just give him business ideas. They are ways to make money, and people won't just reliquish these to him for free. This is something he'll have to work out.

What can he provide that he can charge for? Can be buy a product in a large quantity, cheaply enough, with enough demand for him to shift it all at a higher price than he bought it for?

In year 7 - other than doing homework for a charge I cant think of much else you can do which will bring in any substantial money.

w00tt

EDIT - Cortez - that's assuming you do it all by the book, and actually end up making money from it.

Reply 27

ashy

17

El Scotto

I live with a girl whos obsessed with the over-usage of an exclamation mark.

Aparently that sometimes when its used ---> !!!! it looks like people are shouting to her. Punctuation nazis just make me laugh thats all.

lol I'm not a punctuation Nazi! I just had to work quite hard to read that post and got a little pissy about it!

I get the impression that!!!! usually denote emphasis of a point, but then again I know nothing about those new fangled portable telexes.

Reply 28

Country Kid

shame your friend isn't 18, that would open up oppurtunities such as arbitrage (sp?), poker and casino bonus 'abuse'.

Why not buy and sell some junk on ebay? or is that for 18+ only? :|

It sucks being 17, you cant do most things legally

Reply 29

Ourkid

12

Country Kid

shame your friend isn't 18, that would open up oppurtunities such as arbitrage (sp?), poker and casino bonus 'abuse'.

Why not buy and sell some junk on ebay? or is that for 18+ only? :|

It sucks being 17, you cant do most things legally

Want money? Work for it, by getting a part time job down your local high street.

It may not be glamorous, it may not be fun, but it's securer than a business, pays better (unless you're exceptional and lucky with your business), and takes up less of your time.

w00tt

Reply 30

cutcopy

I don't think it's too young. A friend of mine set up an internet hosting business when he was about 16, I remember him planning it in class on a piece of paper in about year 7..

Reply 31

ChrisA

I started my businesses when I was 13 and 14 respectively. One can be a director of a Private Limited Company (e.g a fully registered official distinct legal entity with limited liability for the shareholders) at any age, or at age 16 if in Scotland.

I haven't had any problems with schoolwork and now one of the businesses nearly runs itself (I've gradually replaced my work by writing computer scripts that do the work for me) so I have a steady profit coming in without using up much of my time now that the hard work is done :smile:

Reply 32

steve2k6

Nope! i started my business when i was around 16. as one of the previous posters said, you can become a share holder / director of ltd company at any age. i rang up a few banks as well as companies house and they both said that there is no age limit. only thing was the banks said that they will not be able to let you borrow money untill you are 18.

As other people have said, its best to start up during the summer, and don't let it interfere with your education cuz if your biz doesn't work out, and many don't (due to cash flow problems, bad advertising or just low demand for the product/service) then at least you have your education to fall back on

Reply 33

Cortez

17

ChrisA

I started my businesses when I was 13 and 14 respectively. One can be a director of a Private Limited Company (e.g a fully registered official distinct legal entity with limited liability for the shareholders) at any age, or at age 16 if in Scotland.

I haven't had any problems with schoolwork and now one of the businesses nearly runs itself (I've gradually replaced my work by writing computer scripts that do the work for me) so I have a steady profit coming in without using up much of my time now that the hard work is done :smile:

What's your business called? What does it do?

Reply 34

ChrisA

Main business is GameSwitch Ltd. www.gameswitch.co.uk

A brief summary of what we do is there :smile:

Reply 35

paperclip

18

your never too young to start a business
at year 8 i started selling snacks (cans of coke, crisps, chocolates) in school, in year 10 i was stopped by the assistant head of year because i was putting the school canteen out of business
i wouldnt call that a proper business but i was making more then £30 a week
starting corner shops near schools is a great idea, primary schools though, more shoplifters in high school

Reply 36

Clubber Lang

15

No not too young

I wouldn't bother doing anything 'by the law' (i.e registering for tax) until serious money in being made (i.e thouands)

One of the perks of owning a small bsuiness is that you don't have to declare all your income for tax....

Reply 37

Country Kid

w00tt

Want money? Work for it, by getting a part time job down your local high street.

It may not be glamorous, it may not be fun, but it's securer than a business, pays better (unless you're exceptional and lucky with your business), and takes up less of your time.

w00tt

actually there is no risk in either arbitrage or casino bonus abusing....

arbitrage involves betting on sports where if either result comes in you will gain a profit. It involves using 2 different bookmakers, and can usually give you a profit of between 1% and 10% of your initial stake (so if you stake £1,000 total, you will get about between £10 and £100 back) eg. right now... there is an oppurtunity on the KK Zagreb vs KK Crvena Zvezda (basketball) game, where Primebet offer 2.05 and Goldbet offer 2.0 for each team respectively. Therefore if you stake £481.86 on primebet, and £493.90 on goldbet, you will be staking a total of £987.80. If either of them win, you will receive £1,000 (either way!), which is the same as a £12.20 profit... all for 20mins worth of work researching the prices and then placing the bets.

Casino bonuses can be 'abused' by simply getting a matched deposit, most sites offer 100% on $100 so you deposit $100 and get a $100 bonus. Then you have to stake 24x (roughly) your bankroll = 24*200 $4,800 total. Then you play perfect blackjack with a 0.5% (or less) edge for the dealer... therefore your going to lose 0.5% of your total $4,800 stake = $24 roughly is your expected loss over the session (sometimes you'll lose double that, or sometimes you'll be up by a lot) $200 - $24 = $176 which is a $76 profit for about 2-3 hours of work (2 if you play non-stop) which is about £40 which is about £10-£20 an hour.

I could never work 9-5 personally, working crap hours for someone making millions when i could in fact be making money by being independant.

Reply 38

Cortez

17

Country Kid

arbitrage involves betting on sports where if either result comes in you will gain a profit. It involves using 2 different bookmakers, and can usually give you a profit of between 1% and 10% of your initial stake (so if you stake £1,000 total, you will get about between £10 and £100 back) eg. right now... there is an oppurtunity on the KK Zagreb vs KK Crvena Zvezda (basketball) game, where Primebet offer 2.05 and Goldbet offer 2.0 for each team respectively. Therefore if you stake £481.86 on primebet, and £493.90 on goldbet, you will be staking a total of £987.80. If either of them win, you will receive £1,000 (either way!), which is the same as a £12.20 profit... all for 20mins worth of work researching the prices and then placing the bets.

How does that work?

Primebet 2.05
Goldbet 2.0

Stake 481.86 and 493.90 which is 975.76 total stake.

If you win the Primebet you get 481.86 * 2.05 = 987.81
If you win the Goldbet you get 493.90 * 2.00 = 987.80

Actually yeah I can see how that works .. got different figures to you though which confused me. Not sure how you worked your total stake out? lol.

Anyway, seems like a waste of time for £12, unless there is some website which works it all out for you :wink:

Reply 39