We spend a lot of time on this site discussing the pros and cons of entrepreneurship and exit ops. Most people agree that it would be great to be your own boss, but a lot of you stick to the tried and true career path for a variety of reasons. Everyone agrees, though, that entrepreneurship looks good on a resume and/or MBA application.
I wanted to make you guys aware of a contest that is beginning January 1 and runs through June 30, 2010, although you can get started right now - today. It is sponsored by Shopify.com and Tim Ferriss (the author of The 4-Hour Work Week). First prize is $100,000.
It is a contest to see who can start a business from scratch and grow it the largest in six months. The winner will be the entrepreneur with the highest combined sales of their two best months (out of the six). In addition, the rankings will be posted (so even if you don't win, you will still know where you finished relative to the competition and can include that information in resumes/applications). There are several prizes for runners-up, including $5,000 prizes for the best in several categories.
Unfortunately, the prize money is only available to U.S. residents, however the contest is open to everyone worldwide. So, even if you can't win the dough, you can still participate in the contest and see where you rank after six months if you live outside the States.
The object is to start an online company that basically runs itself, and there are tons of tools and tutorials to speed your progress. Look at it this way - even if you didn't win but you managed to put together a business that generates an extra $2,000-3,000 a month for you, how would that change your life? It would certainly make it easier to hold out for an offer from your first choice instead of settling for just any job to put food on the table.
You never know, you might just knock one out of the park and be faced with the problem of figuring out what to do with your life because you no longer have to work.
I hope a lot of you give this a shot, because I'd love to see a WSO member walk away with the grand prize.
Good Luck!
Here's a great article on what Amazon does better (that you can emulate) than anyone on the web that helps them crush their competition:
http://www.retireat21.com/blog/making-money-online-the-amazon-way/
Where can I find some good online resources that would help me to get started building an online business?
I am actually graduating soon, and may be interested in this. Anyone want to think about this and work together to see if its feasible?
I'll PM you. I think this could be good if we get a team together.
So I can't enter if I'm in Canada ? I already have an online store experience.
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