Does it make sense to stake your future on a business that?

is based on the concept of YouTube...social networking? Video sharing and so on...In my opinion, this sort of business is somewhat trendy. It's NOT gonna be around in 20 or even 10 years...I believe it MAY be good for some short term money but I won't expect something like that to pay my children's children.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?

The key is to find an untapped yet lucrative niche that you can exploit. Have a look around. What's popular? What's on the news alot? What are people looking for or interested in? What do you think lifestyle trends will be in 1, 5 or 10 years?

You have to be flexible and adaptive to social and technological change. Amazon diversified away from just books. Netscape went from a browser to a portal to social bookmarking. Google is trying to do everything!

Every enterprise entails a degree of risk. Do your homework, believe in yourself and have confidence. Failing is just a way of learning how not to do something.

If you do create your social network, be sure to list it on http://findasocialnetwork.com. It's a search engine for social networks.

That market is already over saturated. If you come up with a new angle on it, perhaps.... but even then, getting people to come to your site is a big problem.

AS A FOUNDER:

Betting on a social networking company is risky - it might be the next BIG THING, and earn enough money to establish a foundation that looks after your family for the next 3 generations - or it might be the next DOT BOMB. Statistically, it's likely to be the next bomb. (How many Internet auctions sites can you name? Bet you the answer is "only one" for most people.... What was the first store selling books on the Internet? Bet you the answer you thought WASN'T the correct one.? [Hint - it was UK's own "The Internet Bookstore", now part of WHSmith - Amazon came about 6 months later, but with $10,000,000 start up funding]

AS AN EMPLOYEE:

I think that anyone who believes ANY current job is going to be around in the same form in 20 years time is kidding themselves.

Loads of people staked their future on being miners... believing they had secure jobs - until the 80s.

Loads of people stake their future on being call centre... workers believing they had secure jobs - until the 90s.

Loads of people staked their future on being computer programmers... believing they had secure jobs - until the 00s. [1]

If you work in IT, you're going to have to expect to move jobs every few years... and a stint at a little startup is no bad thing to have on your CV. [A career of ONLY working for failed startups isn't so good, mind :-) ]
The next 20 years are going to see some radical shakeups in the way we all have to earn a living.


[1] My wife was one of them. Two months after she left the company (having had our first child and deciding not to go back to work), the whole department (about 20 people) was called into a meeting room, and told that their jobs had been outsourced to India, here were their redundancy cheques, and they would be allowed back the following week to clear their desks one at a time, with security supervision.

Hi big ,,, at the most you will be giving it your best shut ,, just put your profit on another business and see where it will take you .. perhaps five generations ,,, remember to teach your children the value of money so that they can teach the others .. other wise they will spend it all and your dreams will be for nothing .. GBU and May God Shine his face upon you .. yoli

A good strategy is to jump into the market of anything that is currently trendy or hot....make what money you can from it, and use that money to diversify.

One of the lessons of the Rich Dad Poor Dad series is to "put yourself in a position to take advantage of new opportunities when they occur"

While your current venture may not likely hold stability over 20 years...it may bring you a great income for 6...and it puts you in a position to take advantage of the next opportunity.

Diversify....create more than one company for yourself...keep moving and shaking in the business arena. Think beyond "just the one thing that will make money for years", because that is a guaranteed dead end strategy.

I also wouldnt be so quick to judge what may or may not be around in 20 years.

There was a very very large population of people who thought the internet itself was just a fad.

Good Luck