Q&A for How to Start a Company

You can use loans from banks, lines of credit, your personal savings, and money from investors. You could find a partner for your small business who is willing to invest in it. One partner can bring the expertise and knowledge and the other partner can bring the money.

You could approach friends or family members about investing and show them a well-thought-out business plan so they know you're serious. If you want to attract investors you don't know, networking with potential investors in person and sharing your vision with them is your best bet. You'll want to have a business plan or a pitch deck (a presentation about your business model) ready to show potential investors.

You don't need a college degree, but you will have to be over the age of 18 to sign the appropriate business license application and tax and insurance documents.

Yes. You need somewhere appropriate to plan, build and work.

They can, but each would need a parent or guardian to sign for registration of their company, handle legal documentation, open and manage accounting and banking, etc. In essence, you would not only be entering a business with the other teens, but also their parents, parents' lawyers, etc. Someone over the age of 18 would have to be appointed to manage the business (which means paying a salary), and anyone under the age of 18 involved with operations of the business would have to abide by the area's child labor laws. There would also be special insurance concerns. So while the teens technically could do so, it may be impractical.

No, but you have to be over 18 for banking, raising finances without parental input and to be able to sign contracts.

Creating a sound business plan can take anywhere from 1-3 months of planning, research, and analysis. From there, it really depends on what field you're going into and what kind of product you're presenting. Permits, licenses, and the like can take up to three months to attain. Incorporating your company can be relatively fast. Finding investors can be one of the longest periods in a company's startup, but having a well put-together business plan and wisely choosing which investors to present to will definitely help get this phase behind you quickly and successfully. A ballpark time frame is about 6 months. Also, most businesses don't see profit for 1-3 years after startup.

One of the well known sayings is "see a need, fill a need". Analyze the markets you're thinking of entering and try to find a niche or opening that other businesses are not taking advantage of. An easy way to find a niche is to listen to the complaints that people have regarding the industry as a whole or regarding the big players in the industry. These complaints will usually be difficult to address, but if you think you have a model that can make those customers happy in an innovative way, then you likely have a successful business idea on your hands.

If you don't have the skills or resources to build it yourself, you can turn to machining shops or other manufacturers with rapid-development or prototyping capabilities. An alternative is to ask friends and family if they have skills or resources to help with prototyping your idea. Marketing is typically handled through internet ads, social media blitzes, billboards, newspaper ads, and word of mouth. Word of mouth is widely proven to be the most effective at generating real business, but is the hardest to get started because it requires a loyal and enthusiastic client base that is willing to pass their love of your product on to their acquaintances.