Do you have to be an expert in your niche to start a business?

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I've always wanted to start a web design+marketing company so I bought a domain a while back but left it because I feel like I don't have the knowledge.

I still have the desire, so I was thinking about this. Do I need to be an expert to venture into something like this?

I just turned 20 so I still got time to learn:D but I really want to start as soon as possible.
 
An expert... hell no!

You only need to be smarter at something than the people around you ( or the people you serve/sell to )

If everyone had to be an expert, no one would be in business.
 
No u need the idea and creativity. You can hire the experts
 
You don't have to be an expert (everyone starts somewhere), but it does help if you are passionate and willing to learn. Too many people start businesses for the money and aren't really interested in what they are doing. Those people never get ahead.
 
I'd read this thread before moving forward with this idea:
People Selling Services That Don't Know What They're Doing

Can you sell shovels without having dug for gold before? Sure. But what unethical stories are you going to have to tell to get clients?

Can you have other people sell your shovels for you who have dug for gold before? Sure. Have they done it successfully though? Did they find gold? Can you afford to hire them?

What success stories are you going to tell your first clients to get them to sign the paper?
 
Depends on what you mean by "starting a company"? Are you talking about a freelance type of business where it's just you, or do you mean hiring a group of staff with various kinds of expertise? Web design isn't something you're going to bluff your way through if you don't know how to do it, but if you're a business owner and surround yourself with people that do know how to do it, then why not? You're the boss, deciding what projects to work on and assigning tasks, but you don't have to be an expert in designing and coding websites as long as you've got a modicum of knowledge in what those tasks entail and can manage people correctly.
 
Well it depends on how you define an expert just by being here and gaining a lot of knowledge you are more of an expert than the average joe, just don't make promises you can't keep or don't know if you can keep, and if you are unsure of certain things just ask and I'm sure there will be people happy to help you.

Hell I've worked for an seo company that didn't know anything about seo, or adwords or facebook they just hired me to do the work, and their webdesign they outsourced to pakistan.
You should be carefull about outsourcing everything though, remember that the person you outsource to may steal your clients.
The best idea would probbly be to team up with someone in a joint venture, that way you could learn and make money and not worrying about loosing the clients, at least not losing them to the person doing some of the work.
 
I posted this in the wrong thread. (Irony)

From Paul Graham:

"In practice 'sufficiently expert' doesn't require one to be recognized as an expert—which is a trailing indicator in any case. In many fields a year of focused work plus caring a lot would be enough."​
http://paulgraham.com/ecw.html
 
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