So to offer a rebut to your comment FM, about most start ups not making money, I'd also like to present the fact that most start-ups actually fail. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10000872396390443720204578004980476429190 http://www.statisticbrain.com/startup-failure-by-industry/ While I'm not saying not to go into business, I'm saying to validate your business first. Dane Maxwell, creator of The Foundation, recommends cold calling businesses to find a need before creating a service for them. This way you absolutely know who is going to buy your product. When I launch a product over eCommerce, I have a general idea of who is going to buy my product. I will also have pre-orders to fulfill too. I like the video game system of pay me now and get your game in 6 months. I can get the business running faster that way. Creating a product or service, that isn't validated is stupid. Again, not a personal attack, just a generalized statement. This is why I prefer to have a income stream before I call anything a "start-up" or even a business at that. Start-up is a Silicon Valley term for incoming failure. Call your product what it is.
Most start ups fail because of the reasons you listed. Sure, pretending to accept that for the sake of conversation... However that doesn't disprove start ups don't make money for first 3 years... I again appreciate your advice, but trust me I have it covered. I've done and doing the necessary steps. Also: start up being silicon valley stand for incoming failure is just your opinion. Remember not to believe you're assertions as fact. The reason why I called polititalkus a start up is because then I avoid the "what's a politi taco?".
Sorry I haven't responded to this. I've been extremely busy. You're right for most start-ups not making money within the first 3 years. However there is a great correlation between businesses not making any money and failing. That is 95% of the reasons businesses fail. As for profit, I personally, try to be profitable withing 1 month of starting. We are in a different vertical, since you are Social Networking and I am eCommerce. That could be the main reasoning. However, have you really got your bases covered? Have you done an in depth competition analysis? Is there any competition at all? Who would use you network, instead of just complaining on Facebook? The major question you have to answer is, how do I get in front of my audience? Since you are in the SN market, if I were you, I'd watch the Zuckerburg movie to see how he got all of his people. Also, what books have you read correlating to your market? What is your monetization strategy? PPC? Link Selling? Subscription? What kind of value are you adding to people's life? There are so many questions to answer when it comes to business. Ask Stanky. He's been in business probably much longer than we've been alive. Also please don't take this as an offensive against your business. I'm offering constructive criticism on things that you may not of looked at. I wish someone would of told me these things at your age. I've only recently found things out that have helped me immensely. At your age I was too cocky to realize there was people who have "been there" and "done that".
