This is the third post in my five-part guide on how to launch a startup in high school. In it, we’ll look at the process behind turning ideas into reality.
After you’ve come up with an idea for your business, it might seem like the hardest part is behind you. You already know what your business is going to be right? Now all you have to do is launch it and watch the money roll in!
Ideas are a dime a dozen.
If my sarcastic tone wasn’t enough to tip you off, coming up with an idea is perhaps the only easy part about launching a business.
Everyone has ideas, everyone thinks that their idea is going to make them millions. However, I’d go out on a limb and say only about 5% of people will ever take the first steps to turn their ideas into reality.
My goal with this platform is to get that number as close to 100%.
Five Crucial Steps For Turning Ideas Into Reality:
- Do some market research.
Is anyone else already doing what you want to start doing? If not, what’s the reason behind it?
Are there any potential red-flags that you might not have realised at first? Are you going to be competing against multi-million dollar enterprises, or are you going to be the first to capitalize on your idea?
These are the questions you have to research and find answers to before moving further. - Write out a one-page business plan.
I strongly believe that you should spend your time working on only the absolute necessities at the start.
Here is a link to the “One-Page Business Plan” created by Chris Guillebeau, author of the $100 Startup. I do plan on revising it and releasing my own version tailored for high-school students, but for now, go through and fill this out!
If you’re confused about any of the questions, a quick google search should clear it up. - Get some feedback.
Before committing to any large project, it’s important to first ask yourself, “Is this a service/product that people actually would use?”
Ask your friends, ask people on online forums, create surveys, get a general sense of what people think of your idea.
I’d take any feedback given by friends and family with a grain of salt, though. They’re going to be overly optimistic since they want to support whatever you do, which isn’t what you need at this time.
Be realistic in your analysis of their feedback and make sure that you’re creating something of actual value. - Evaluate your skills.
This is a very crucial step in the process and can save you a lot of headaches if you get clarity on this now.
I want you to take the time to list out all the potential skills needed for starting your business. After this, I want you to write out all of your skills, strengths, and weaknesses.
In the next post in this guide, I’ll help you decide whether you need a team or if you can go about doing this on your own.
Having all this information ready will save us a lot of time then. - Get permission and support.
If you’re a high school student, it’s likely that your parents still have a big say in what you spend your time doing.
Approach your parents with your idea, showing them all the research and work you’ve done so far to prove to them that you’re serious about this.
Make sure they know what you’re working on and understand the time commitment.
(If your parents are hard to convince, and don’t want you “wasting your time” on a startup, don’t worry. I’m currently working on another post outlining how exactly to approach them with your idea).
Most of the time, they’ll want to help you out in any way they can! Having their support can make things a lot easier.
If you’ve followed all the steps that I’ve outlined above, you’re ready to move into the most crucial stage when it comes to turning ideas into reality: execution.
The Most Important Piece Of Advice For All Entrepreneurs:
Spend as much time as you need on planning and spend as much time as you can on executing.
It’s easy to sit in front of a notebook or computer all day and come up with potential ideas and features and ways to scale. You can spend days detailing a 40-page business plan, you can spend hours polishing your pitch deck.
In the end, none of this matters if you’re not doing what’s most important: working on your startup. Whether this means writing out blog posts, coding parts of your app, or designing your website.
Prioritise action over planning.
Now that you have a well-researched idea in mind, and have a clear plan of action, you can click here to move onto the next post in this guide.
