So how was the experience making your own yo-yo. Was it as fulfilling as you’d hoped? I bet it was a dream come true in a lot of ways. What did you learn from that experience. What are your future plans for the company?
I’m going to update my original post, with a list of all the services you guys offer, and links, if you have a page. That way, if people want to support young businesses, they can come in here and offer up their support. I will get that started now.
Start learning the facets of customer service and overall interaction with people. You never know who could help you in the long run. Networking is key.
This is exactly what I wanted to do as I stepped my game up… I have a full time job, but student loans are killer…
Do you make money consistently? Is it a big city with lots of foot traffic?
I live in a college town with a ped mall area with dozens of bars and hoping that would be a good place to try it out…
Sometimes I think the entrepreneurial spirit is dying… I was told the best way to be successful was go to college… They neglect to tell you how tough paying off a mountain of debt really is… I feel I missed my chance to be an entrepeneur or allow my yoyo skills to take off…
I won’t say going to college was a mistake, but I wish I had done it differently…
That post is “real” and in today’s economy, I can especially see why you feel that way. I had the “college experience” living on campus and all that, and nothing for me can replace that experience. People who experienced things I have not, such as the military, would likely say the same about that. I would not trade it for the world. I did not have much by way of loans for undergraduate, but I did have them from graduate school. It is tough in the beginning, not only because of the loans, but because it is a tough time in your life. You are independent at that point usually for the first time, paying your own bills, then on top of it, you have these student loans for something that does not seem to give any benefit financially. In my experience, the rewards of college usually come later as the years go on in the workforce. With college experience, you will find it easier to navigate positions, get promotions, or be called on as the leader to gain new experience. Also, that leads to more money in the long run. In the short run, the gains cannot really be seen, especially in today’s economy. I know…I was there, and I can remember.
There are many professions that people do quite well, despite not having gone to college. But, there is much greater competition for those jobs, for that reason. Everyone knows it, so everyone is trying to get them. The firefighter, police, hospitals, transportation department and such have often times, great pay and great benefits. People will take money from those jobs and run a side business too. They do quite well at it. I know nurses, with 2 year degrees (cheaper than a 4 year), making six figures in this part of the country. If I could give advice to a young person that I wish I had when I was 14/15 years old, would be to start thinking about what job you want as soon as possible, make it specific and go for it. What usually happens, I’ve noticed, is that even people who fail at what they wanted, still do quite well for some reason, and often in an unrelated field…but still well. The point is to channel energy toward a goal and not just kind of be undecided without a path. I have a friend who wanted to be a doctor…she’s a lawyer. I have a friend who went to school for computer programming, and she’s a nurse. So, you will fall into place, it just takes time as this is a tough time in life in general for you. I remember it. I didn’t get settled until my late twenties where I was happy with the way career was getting me what I wanted.
Now for my advice to those who do not want to go to college, or do not think it is for them would be this. Find a job that pays well, in the fire department, the police department, the hospitals, or even the transportation department in your area. I will tell you why.
Whether you are the doctor, the nurse, in housekeeping, dietary, a secretary or whatever in a hospital…the hospital is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Same for the police department, and fire department. Transportation only shuts down where I live for about 4 hours…so they are thrown in there too. A place that runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, is very important, and it is necessary for positions to be covered. They have a lot of money and a nice budget. That means overtime and opportunities to work more to make more are better. This is relative to size and location of your city, but these jobs are usually on par with the standard of living in your area. A job in an office…they are open from 9 to 5 usually, so not as much opportunity on average. You can feel like you hit a glass ceiling in an office. Another thing about hospital, police, fire and transportation is that, with seniority, you choose your shift. You determine what works best for your family or your hobbies or whatever. With a place open 24 hours a day 7 days a week, they need at least 3 shifts covered…and somebody has to do them. If you prefer to work at night…work at night instead. More on this stuff later.
So, I think I communicate better, because of my college experience, and I have been able to earn more in the long run because of it, but it is not the only way, for those of you reading. I do still advise to go to college, if you can afford to, and if you can tolerate the academic process. For those who feel college is not for them, or too expensive right now, put in for the best job you can at any of those places I mentioned. It is okay for school to come later…but definitely try it before you count it out.
I wonder what others think.
Abby makes wire jewelry and sells it for money Abby males a lot of money at yard sales, booths for parent teacher conferences and other stuff. Abby doesn’t know why she’s referring to herself in the 3rd person. Abby is going to post pics of her wore jewelry later. Abby finds this half hobby and half money maker.
I don’t know how old you are, but it is never too late to be an entrepreneur. Depending on your business, you may be better off getting a job and working for someone else for a few years. Put in some time, become an expert in your field, and go out on your own.
I’m on my third career. I finished my graduate degree at 38, started it at 34. Worked for 5 years. Got good at what I did. Started a new business last year. Making a lot of money, and good progress. Hoping to have enough security established to quit the day job by the end of the year. Never too late.
Great point here. Remember, just because things don’t happen as you envisioned them, does not mean there isn’t something special meant for you down the line. Just when you think things are not going as planned, what seems like a miracle can happen. I felt the same as you, out of school making money that was… :-\ In a one year period, I more than doubled my salary moving to an unrelated field I never saw my self in. Strange things will probably happen to you too. When things do happen, you can take a little money and invest in your own business as Rob did, and not only have some extra money, but be proud of yourself that you did it on your own and it’s yours. Nice post Rob.
I’ve heard about this jewelry, so awaiting seeing some pics. 
Im a freshman in High school and currently in the process of starting my own clothing line.
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Right on, I ran a fashion show my senior and had some homebrew streetwear brands sponsor it. Some of them were also student run 
You can do it! It is a business that I’d be a fish out of water in, but it is one thing everyone needs…clothes, so depending on what you are making, your market could be huge. I found an interesting article on the subject.
how do you know? i haven’t said much of it on the forums O.O… weird
also pics will be in the next post
If you worked hard in high school and put in the effort to find and apply for scholarships, you really shouldn’t have a mountain of debt to pay off later
When I went to college, back in the late '80s/early '90s, it was cheap by today’s standards. I had no one to pay my way, but was lucky.
I lived in MA, we have a great community college system. If you graduate, you are guaranteed acceptance into the 4 year colleges in the MA public college system, including UMass.
I got my associates degree, which was so inexpensive I paid my own way through, including rent, by delivering pizzas part time. Graduated, got into UMass. UMass was affordable enough that I was able to get a work/study job that paid well, a part time job on the side, some small scholarships, and paid my way through as I went. Working hard and saving during the summers. I graduated without debt. I don’t think this is possible today.
I also think a lot of kids look down on the idea of community college, but let me tell you, the school I went to was great. I had better teachers there than I got at the flagship campus of UMass, and class sizes were small, something you don’t see in freshman and sophomore classes at a big school. My poverty pushed me into an opportunity to get a better education than I might have if I had a little more money.
If you can get into some of the top tier schools out there, some of them accept you regardless of your ability to pay. Beyond that, I don’t know if it is possible to get through the way I did anymore, even going to community colleges and state schools.
Just one thing to consider, though I believe in education, a lot, it is not always best to just keep going to school because that’s “what you’re supposed to do.” If you don’t have a clear vision for what you want to do, getting a degree with poor job prospects and a lot of debt is a scarry scenario. I think kids today need to be a lot more careful, and better informed about what kinds of jobs you can actually get with the degree they are going to pursue. I have a lot of friends, working low paying jobs, not in the fields where they got their degree, because there aren’t opening for what they want to do, or that their degree is useless unless they want to go on to grad school, and eventually teach the subject they’ve studied. It’s tough, 'cause you can’t get a job these day it seems without a degree, but a lot of them don’t pay enough to pay back the cost of the education. You have to go in with your eyes open, and with some sort of plan and direction.
You probably know what I do 
Thanks for the Shoutout!
Sponsor yourself? Yea, we know that 
@ robk
I really respect the fact you worked your way through school. The total cost of attendance per year at an average public 4 yeah university is currently around 24 grand. That to me is insane. Some of my friends are going into degrees in which there are almost no job prospects.
In conclusion, American education sucks… A lot.
I agree totally. I think the current generation of young adults is getting screwed. The opportunities to work your way through without debt are gone. At least it seems so from my perspective. I don’t have kids, so I don’t really know, but the stories I hear are pretty frightening. $24 is just the average. That means there are many schools more expensive.
I have a friend who just bought a house for $100k. Not the nicest house, but it is all his, and liveable. You can’t buy 4 years of college for that if you include cost of books and other related expenses. Maybe if you work hard, these days, a person trying to work your way through can save what, $10k towards tuition if their parents let them live with them for free. That seems like you graduate with a minmum of $56k in debt, plus living expenses. Does anyone know what the average 4year debt load looks like these days for student loans?