Your Guide To Success: Trade, Business, or College — Get Rich Quick
One year feels like a deadline when you’re 17 and everyone keeps asking what you’re doing next. We start with that exact panic and then do what most career advice skips: we put real numbers and real trade-offs on the table so the decision stops feeling like pure vibes.
We compare three routes young adults actually consider: a college degree, trade school with an apprenticeship, and starting a business. We talk college timelines, why you’re typically negative cash flow for years, and how community college can dramatically cut the cost while giving you space to explore majors. Then we shift to skilled trades like electrician, plumber, HVAC, welder, and even elevator technician, including what “paid to learn” really means and why committing early can be both the strength and the risk.
Finally, we get honest about entrepreneurship. The upside can be huge, but the downside is deeper than most people admit: you fund it yourself, you teach yourself, and half of businesses fail within five years. We also call out the trap that kills momentum fast, bouncing between “new” ideas instead of committing long enough to learn from the market.
We wrap with the questions that actually choose the path for you: time, money, difficulty, whether you’ll hate the daily work, and whether you’re decisive enough to start. If this helped, subscribe, share it with a friend who’s stressed about their future, and leave a review. Which path are you leaning toward right now?
00:00 - Panic Before The Deadline
00:25 - A Simple Way To Compare Paths
00:59 - College Costs And Flexibility
01:16 - Trade School Pay And Commitment
02:51 - Business Risk And The Idea Trap
03:57 - Money Timeline And Big Swings
04:41 - The Questions That Decide For You
05:22 - No Perfect Path And Final Prompt
Panic Before The Deadline
SPEAKER_01Guys, guys, guys, I have one year to figure out what I want to do with my life, and I have no idea what I'm gonna do. Bro, chill. It's Tuesday. I could go to college, I could go to trade school, I could go to community college, and I could start my own business. Okay, wait, well what do businesses even do? Sh uh, do I need a logo first?
SPEAKER_00Brin. Breathe.
SPEAKER_01I am breathing and I'm freaking out and breathing.
A Simple Way To Compare Paths
SPEAKER_00Okay, here's what we're gonna do. Instead of panicking about the four paths, we're just each gonna take one and go through it.
SPEAKER_01I'll take trades.
SPEAKER_00I'll take college.
SPEAKER_01Hmm. I'll take business. Clearly, I need the most help here.
SPEAKER_00Hold up, real talk. We're 17 too and we're going through all of these decisions with you. And if you're like Brandon and you don't know what path to choose, stick around with us because we'll help you make that decision.
SPEAKER_01One year. Just one year.
SPEAKER_02Dude, you've had 17 years.
SPEAKER_00Let's actually break this down. Pros, cons, real numbers, not just vibes.
College Costs And Flexibility
SPEAKER_00So for college, your degree is gonna be about four years. Eight years if you want to be a doctor or lawyer, and there's no shortcuts there. You're gonna have to do it all.
SPEAKER_01Eight years? I just did 12.
SPEAKER_00The money you'll spend on a four-year college like ASU runs about $35,000 a year. Or you could do community
Trade School Pay And Commitment
SPEAKER_00college for about $2,300 a year. And most community colleges have a pipeline, so you could do two years there and then go to a state school and finish your last two years there, and it's much cheaper than a regular four-year degree.
SPEAKER_02So you're negative the whole time?
SPEAKER_00Negative the entire time you're at school. That's the con. Here's the pro though. There's flexibility. If you don't know what you want to do for your major, colleges plan around that. Your first two years are general classes, so you can try out different things until you want to come in. Try doing that in a trade school or when opening a business.
SPEAKER_02There.
SPEAKER_00And it's way easier to pivot later and switch industries with a degree. With a trade, you're stuck in one place.
SPEAKER_02My turn. It's gonna take about 18 months, and you're an apprentice for most of it. Meaning you're getting paid to learn. Positive money day one.
SPEAKER_01So opposite of Emily.
SPEAKER_02Exactly. Electricians, plumbers, HVACs, welders, you pick one. Real numbers. Electricians make $62,000 a year. The top 10% make over 106. Plumbers are actually out-earning electricians for the first time ever. Give them a fun one. Elevator texts average over $109,000.
SPEAKER_01Elevators, bro pushes a button.
SPEAKER_02Nobody wants to learn it, and that's why it pays. Here's a con though. You have to pick one trade early. If you're undecided with one trade, you're stuck. Just like Emily said. Once you're skilled, you get a choose. You get to stay employed or you can open your shop. You choose.
SPEAKER_00So there's overlap. Trades can lead to businesses too.
SPEAKER_02Exactly. It's not really one lane forever.
Business Risk And The Idea Trap
SPEAKER_01Okay, business. This is the one where I can make over a billion dollars. What I'm thinking is a Roblox training academy where I teach kids to get good at Roblox for money. That's not a business.
SPEAKER_00Here's the real numbers on business. It's the biggest swing of all three paths. The ceiling is basically unlimited. It could be worth billions. But the floor, a lot of small business owners land around $60,000 a year. Same as many trade jobs, just with way more risk to get there.
SPEAKER_02And the failure part?
SPEAKER_0050% of businesses fail within the first five years. So you're not just risking money, you're risking years. And nobody's making you learn anything. You have to just self-educate the entire way. There is no professor signing off that homework.
SPEAKER_01Okay, but what if instead I did a drop shipping company? You said Roblox 10 seconds ago. Ideas evolve, Austin.
SPEAKER_00This, by the way, is the actual trap. If you can't commit to one idea, you'll never open anything. It's the same problem as being undecided in a trade.
SPEAKER_01Fidget spinner company? Brandon!
Money Timeline And Big Swings
SPEAKER_00Okay, let's put it on the board money-wise. College, you're negative the entire four years. Eight, if you're in medicine or law school.
SPEAKER_02Trades, positive day one. You're an apprentice and you get paid to learn. And business?
SPEAKER_00Also negative. The deepest negative of all three, because you're funding it all yourself.
SPEAKER_01So business is the worst option?
SPEAKER_00Short term? Yes. Long term, it's the widest range of any path. You could land at $60,000 running a small shop, or you could land at $10 billion if it really takes off. College and trades, they don't swing that wide in either direction.
SPEAKER_02Like I said, trades can eventually feed into businesses too.
The Questions That Decide For You
SPEAKER_00So, what do you actually decide? Ask the boring questions before the exciting ones. How much time do you have? How much can you spend before you start making? How hard is the path, really?
SPEAKER_02And the big one, are you gonna hate the job at the end of it?
SPEAKER_01And are you gonna get FOMO when you see everyone else walking into a dorm?
SPEAKER_00All fair questions, but here's the one nobody asks. Are you decisive enough for this path? College gives people two years to figure it out. But business or trades, if you're undecided, you never actually start.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. You never actually start. Which is why I've landed on my final idea. A company that sells fidget
No Perfect Path And Final Prompt
SPEAKER_01spinners.
SPEAKER_00The truth is, there is no right path. Just the one that fits your time, your money, and how willing you are to go in the negatives before you go in the positive. Figure that out, and you're already ahead of most adults.
SPEAKER_01We're triple the money, and we're going through the exact same thing as you are. Let us know which path you choose.