<p>How good would starting my own company look on my application to an Ivy or to Stanford?</p>
<p>What exactly do they care about in particular if I stated that I started my own company since I was around 12 or so? Or does just saying I started my own company 'good enough'?</p>
<p>a lot of people claim they "started their own company" of lawnmowing or babysitting. it doesn't hold much clout by itself. you have to substantiate it with evidence of a real business. include some successes/pitfalls, handling the taxes, managing money, etc., anything that shows it's a real company and not some cash labor.</p>
<p>How many employees did you have? That is the real test of whether this will give you a real edge or not.</p>
<p>I owned one internet business that employed eight other people and was operating around a few thousand a month - wrote one of my essays about it. Unless you are willing/able to explain it (and it has a good explaination, and not just a babysitting operation like the other poster suggested) then don't put it on an application - you will just look stupid for trying to squeeze every little thing you ever did in your entire life onto a sheet of paper. I think the real test is, as the last poster said, how many employees did you have? More than two is a good standard - just one or two others just doesn't cut it in most situations.</p>
<p>By the way, I found business far too much work [those long nights staying up FIXING everything that went wrong], so next time I guess I'll just pay people to do it for me, once I'm rich and famous =)</p>
<p>Starting a company, in and of itself means nothing, nor does the number of employees that company has. As a self employed consultant I have no need for permenant staff. So that would be an incomplete indicator. Many businesses operate with additional staff beyond the owners.</p>
<p>What matter is if you developed and found a market for an end-product. That is, did you make something or introduce a service that people actually pay for? </p>
<p>Furthermore a good interviewer is going to ask you if you
(1) sold your company
(2) you still operate it
(3) or if it folded
(4) how long you have been (or were) in business for yourself</p>
<p>In general, if I am reading the context of your question correctly, you are doing this for all the wrong reasons. Starting a business, even to bolster your resume for Stanford, is a bad idea. Businesses require constant attention, inexhaustible energy and sheer determination. They also require dedication. They don't do well when the owner just wants to look good.</p>
<p>I own a eBay store and I export products to Mexico...Wharton told me "my grades sucked compared to their very competitive application pool" grades are everything, extracurricular activities / your other achievemnets are important too but not as much as your grades</p>
<p>A business should not be made for any other purpose other than for the pursuit of profits and future development. My partner and I are starting a money management firm in August and college is pretty much the last thing we have in mind when we think of the benefits of the firm. The goal is to provide the maximum profits possible. Thats it. However, there are different types of business to consider. Many businesses are really just very common such as a web design business, or an Ebay store. Most of them have pretty much insignificant cash flow that cannot even be considered businesses. Unique businesses on the other hand will definately give you a boost and if its a very successful venture will outweigh other blemishes of your apps.</p>
<p>I agree with mahras and ifasehun...the people i know who started their own businesses didn't do it for their apps. It was just out of passion for something. A buddy of mine here at wharton started an exotic snake breeding company when he was 15. He managed it and is still partially managing it while at school ( he hired someone full time to manage it). He showed me his P&L statement and his EBIT were something like 5 million...it was amazing. He didn't do it for school it was something he was passionate about and he found a niche in which to start a business and be extremely successful.</p>
<p>Snake breeding business...who would have thought?! :) Very impressive. Best of luck to your friend.</p>