Using Youth as an Asset When Starting Up a Technology Business

by Kevin Fessenden

One thing that I have learned is that a surprising amount of business is just about common sense, all you have to do is change your perspective a little. One of the perspectives that needs to be changed is the belief that you need to be a "seasoned veteran" before starting a business. This simply isn't true. I intend to tell you why I think it's actually safer, even smarter, to start your life as a budding entrepreneur straight out of college or younger.

Starting up a business can expend a lot of your resources, both time and money, there's no doubt about that. Young people can better handle the erratic fluctuation of their bank accounts. They have no mortgages to pay, no children who need diapers. If they fail miserably, they bring down only themselves, not a spouse and two kids too. Also, young people have the best access to those who think as they do and who have complementary skill sets to their own. By nature, young people have a higher degree of drive and determination and college campuses are perfect hubs for entrepreneurship. If there are not any start-up clubs at your school, I have no doubt that you can create one yourself and get a decent following. You will have the easiest access to all different facets of business: technology, marketing, accounting, management, and finance. All you need to do is find people with the appropriate majors, assemble your team, get everyone together to discuss your business plans, and most of all to learn from one another.

The technology industry is completely unique in that being young is actually an asset. That's right I said an asset. If you are straight out of college, you have to realize that you have the most up-to-date education available. With platforms and languages changing every few years, that's a huge advantage. You also have the most access to technology resources. Many companies want to target college students by handing out free copies of their development software. Microsoft does this with their product Visual Studio .NET and I know of a few others that do this too. This may sound silly, but a young person's brain is not bogged down with outdated technologies and languages either. Ask anyone who has written in Fortran or Pascal if that knowledge has helped them today. Most likely they will say it only gets in the way and confuses them. A young person also has the freshest perspectives on solutions for clients. For example, many older web designers still believe that websites should accommodate screen resolutions of 800x600, though most computers used today use resolutions much higher than that. Finally, the nature of technology affords you the chance to start up young. For the most part, as a tech entrepreneur I sell my time. If you have enough time, you can do what I do. There are very low start-up costs, very low overhead, and a plethora of reference resources available online to compensate for anything you do not already know.

Let me be clear when I say that you will have obstacles to overcome. The most serious of these being proving validity to your friends, family, and potential clients. At first you will not be taken seriously, I can tell you that, and your business will be treated with the same acknowledgement as if you were "playing house" in your backyard. Put in the hours to overcome this. When others see the serious nature of your commitment, the respect will come in time. Do lots and lots of research on your chosen technologies. Since you are young, any sign of inexperience will just reaffirm to clients the stigmas they had already placed on you. Don't forget to tell everyone you know about your business too, you never know who might know someone who knows someone who needs work done. Come up with a solid business plan and memorize a concise description of it so when someone asks you about your business, you can spout it off at a moment's notice.

There are a few good tips I can give you to help you navigate the world of business. First of all, choose your partners wisely. Many young people like to just pair up with their buddies and set up shop in their basements. Refrain from doing this. Keep in mind that in a small business, your most valuable asset is your people and every person in your organization needs to fill a unique purpose. They also need to be working at the best of their ability. When choosing partners, be sure that you find people whose skill sets complement your own. Make sure that all skills have been accounted for and that there is no imbalance in the company. It is common among young people to create a business with a bunch of "techies". The group is then dumbfounded when they cannot acquire any clients because they have no one to do the sales and marketing. Be sure to balance your skill sets. Just as important, be sure that you get along very, very well with your chosen partners. You will be working in close quarters with these people, at times for long hours, and anything that bugs you about them will bubble to the surface in time. This will especially become true once money becomes involved, either a lot coming in or a lot going out. Both can cause a lot of tension. Money changes everything.

This may come as obvious, but it always helps if the idea that your company is built around happens to be completely unique. Napster, Google, Microsoft - these once fledgling companies grew from the power of ideas. The young, pimple-faced college students who came up with them were mere vessels for those ideas. Your business will expand the easiest when you have a proprietary product that is unique and has a genuine need. If the product is really good, then nothing else will matter - certainly not the age of the creators. The product will speak for itself.

The most important thing is to stay persistent and not give up. Remember that business arrives at your door in "peaks and valleys", so keep your sales efforts going strong even through the peaks or else you may suffer a very harsh valley. Keep in mind that as a young person you have your whole career ahead of you. Entrepreneurship is not for everyone. If you decide that it isn't right for you, you can be comforted knowing that you have added a huge boost to your resume. What employer would not admire such ambition and determination in a candidate? None that I know of.

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