I got hooked on to the idea of starting a business when I was just 16 years old. As a result, I started my first teenage venture as a very young “entrepreneur”. After I got started, it took only a short while to realize that working for myself and keeping up with my high school and university studies wouldn’t fit together seamlessly.

If you’re a teenage business owner and you’re still in school or college, you must know what I’m talking about. It can be a real challenge to balance these two sides of your life if you don’t want to sacrifice one for the other. It can be a daunting task to find enough time to pursue both, especially if you want to be happy at other aspects of your live as well.

SEE ALSO: 5 ‘What The Heck’ Business Ideas That Made Millions

In my case, it has always been my parents who insisted on me continuing my university studies, and I was the one who wanted to focus solely on becoming an online entrepreneur. Since there was only one reasonable compromise to this problem, I was forced to find a way to balance running a business and preforming well at university, too.

Some of the few strategies I came up with after years of living this

lifestyle are what I’d like to share with you below. Who knows? If you’re walking in the same shoes, my advice may offer you the perfect solution.

Step 1 – Prioritize

No matter what, you can’t avoid prioritization. You have to decide which is more important for you: your studies or your teenage business.

And you have to decide this for yourself, without letting anyone else decide it for you. Remember what Frank Zappa said:

“If you end up with a boring miserable life because you listened to your mom, your dad, your teacher, your priest, or some guy on television telling you how to lead your life, then you deserve it.”

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying you have to sacrifice one for the other. However, it’s vital to know which means more to you so that you can make the right decision when it’s necessary, for example when you’ll only be able to work on one project at a time.

Editor: Another good solution that you might want to consider is taking online classes. Many programs have been created to help students to manage get their degree while having a part or full time job. If you have some difficulties prioritizing, this could be a good solution for you. Plus you could graduate with a master of science in cybersecurity, which will open doors for amazing career opportunities in the World Wide Web sector. You could use these classes to help you build your online business and get an overview of the most recent techniques used online, in a matter of security but also in intelligence and computer forensics.

Step 2 – Focus on ONE Business Model

This is a vital step for young and elder entrepreneurs alike. If you keep chasing dozens of different business ideas, you’ll end up nowhere. Actually, the worst thing you can do is bounce from one idea to the next. Even doing no business at all is better than wasting your time and money like this.

Instead, you have to choose one proven, reasonable business idea and focus all your energy on that.

How do you know what is a proven business model? First of all, you shouldn’t rely on those clichéd “earnings screenshots” and “lifestyle photos” with red Porsches and beach-side houses in them. You have to look for a company that offers real proof that you can verify by yourself.

By focusing only on one, proven-to-work business model, you’ll guarantee that you’ll achieve results sooner rather than later. This is the most secure way to grow a viable and thriving business online.

Step 3 – Find the Right Teachers

This step is just as important as the previous one. Don’t waste time following bad or mediocre advice. Find a “teacher” you can trust, follow their advice and stick with them.

For example, the Career Geek Blog offers lots of great advice for free and they look like an experienced and honest team who’ll do everything they can to help you. You’ll surely succeed if you follow people like them as your guide and stay away from shady gurus and self-proclaimed experts who offer get-rich-quick opportunities.

Bonus Step – Take Action

Of course all the steps above won’t do you any good if you don’t take the last, but probably most important, step: taking action on what you learned.

What Napoleon said a long time ago still holds true:

“Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action comes, stop thinking and go in.”

And once you’ve gone through Step 1, 2 and 3 above, I think you’ve deliberated enough. Now it’s time for action!

And don’t worry if things don’t go as you planned from the beginning. They rarely do. What’s important is to keep going, no matter how many times you fail, and get back up again. Remember that every failure brings you one step closer to your dream.

And finally, if you ever get stuck or need some personal guidance, you can always reach me via my site. Besides, I’m sure the Career Geek team will be just as happy to help you.

About Author: Steven Fabian is the webmaster over at Business-Online-Guidance.com, where he shares his strategies about starting an online business, making money through affiliate and internet marketing, and other work-from-home opportunities. While most of his stuff is focused on helping adults achieve success online, you can find plenty of helpful information as an aspiring young entrepreneur as well.

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