I’m A Teen Entrepreneur

Who’s the boss? You’re the boss! One of the best things about entrepreneurship is that you can start your own business at any age – after all, age is nothing but a number when it comes to pursuing your passions and dreams. Today, we have a panel of 10 teen entrepreneurs (and even a few kidpreneurs on deck!) to tell us about their experience getting their start-up running and what they love best about being an entrepreneur.

1) “The best part of being a teen entrepreneur is the ability to inspire other youth to follow their dreams. Due to my success in business, I’m invited to speak at many major conferences for both youths and adults. I recently spoke at the Disney Dreamers Academy with Steve Harvey and Essence Magazine, where I spoke to 100 students teaching them to follow their dreams. I will also be speaking to Facebook Interns and Facebook University participants at the Facebook HQ in Menlo Park. My success is not simply for me, it’s a platform to inspire others to become success. It’s a platform to show that following your dreams has no age.”

– Jaylen Bledsoe, Chief Executive Officer & President, Bledsoe Technologies, LLC.

2) “I’m currently an 18-year old student at Cornell University. Last year, I founded Hype Up Your Day, Inc. My company sends motivational speakers and trainers in to businesses in order to improve employee morale and productivity. The best thing I like about being a teenage entrepreneur is the fact that every day is a learning curve. As teenagers, we barely have any experience in entrepreneurship. So, we get to learn something completely new every single day as we are going through the process for the first time!”

– Nihar Suthar, Founder, Hype Up Your Day

3) “The best thing about being a teenage entrepreneur is to still be able to tap into a very  creative part of yourself while also being old enough to understand education and business but the ONLY way a teenage entrepreneur can STAY successful in business is to develop themselves, develop good  relationships, develop good ideas, and do their absolute best at satisfying customers.”

– Marcos Morales, Owner, Four Legged Runners

4) “The best part is that it is funding something really important to me. When I was thirteen, I moved to Ecuador with my family. I decided that since I was already in a developing country, I should do some volunteer travel. I signed up for a trip with Me to We, for which I all of a sudden needed $2000. I figured that, considering my situation, the best way to do that would be to sell products made by Ecuadorian artisans. So I did some research and found that there was a market for woven bracelets. I set up an online store called HandwovenBracelets.com.

I started my business with the intention of fundraising for an aid trip in Ecuador, and I’m currently using it to fundraise for another one to Nicaragua. Among other things, I’ve learnt that website design and Google listings are fundamental. I’ve also realized that I’m a lot better off aiming towards schools and churches, organizations with lots of kids who need fundraisers. That way, instead of having to fill hundreds of five dollar orders, all I need is a few big ones.”

– Nik Krause, Owner, handwovenbracelets.com

5) “What I like most about being a teen entrepreneur is that I have a completely different and unique way of running my brand than would an average entrepreneur. I feel like I am able to use my unique view to build an innovative brand and to create a style that men, women and teens can relate with. I also love that being a teenage entrepreneur automatically gets people interested and excited about my product.”

– Brandon Michaels, Founder, Veza

6) “I believe that being an teenage entrepreneur is a high risk but can be very rewarding as well. It is full of stressful situations, sure, but it’s also chock full of rewards and a sense of accomplishment. It’s not as hard as it seems — as long as you have some diligence, patience, and, of course, a good idea, you’ll be your own boss sooner than you think!”

– Abhishek Jain, Owner, TechCuppa

7) “My daughter Emma is only 6 years old, but lemonade stands wouldn’t cut it for this one. The idea for me to work for her someday was intended to raise her to be a savvy and empowered leader in business… when she was grown, of course. It started as a way to teach her the fundamentals of business and money. She is learning about why knowledge about the use of money is an important part of life as well as basic marketing, inventory, profit, and other very simple concepts that even a 6 year old can understand.

Out of that came Glamorous. Her tagline is “Jewelry, fancy things, and we even have snacks!” Her favorite part of being an entrepreneur is, in her own words, being the boss. Her title is Founder and CEO, and she is also a little philanthropist and wants to donate a percentage of our earnings to an animal or educational cause. We’re planning that out in the boardroom this weekend. Founded one week ago today (4/11/14), we’re ready for e-commerce, just approved for our merchant account yesterday, have email, website and DBA up and running. I’m working with Emma to set up wholesale partnerships as well as connect with artisans to make fancy stuff. We have lots of friends and family ready to grow this grassroots idea and teach Emma all about the ebb and flow of business.”

– Emma Laurin, Founder and CEO, Glamorous

8) “JuJu Sabra is a thirteen year old aspiring neuroscientist. An award winning inventor at eight years old, online business owner (blogger/designer) at ten years old, and bestselling Kindle author and infoproduct developer at twelve years old, JuJu loves computer programming, blog and graphic designs, and everything tech-related. JuJu designs the family’s eighteen+ blogs, manages two membership sites, and tinkers with a dozen software programs to assure profitability. Challenged by her book coach, she’s presently working on a Teen Success book and encouraging all kid and teen bloggers to profit from their passions online at TheTeenBlogger.com – her oldest and most popular blog to date. JuJu is dedicated to helping kid and teen bloggers blog with passion for profits!

The best part of being a teenage entrepreneur is experiencing failures and learning from them. I found that most of my failures are very different from the average teen, since I see them as a sign of empowerment and an opportunity to grow. Overcoming failures takes a lot of confidence, creativity and concentration, traits many teens lack today. I believe that every teen should at least attempt to be an entrepreneur, because he/she would learn things schools don’t even care to teach.”

– JuJu Sabra, Founder, Co-Owner, The Teen Blogger and Sabra Sisters

9) “The best part about being a teenage entrepreneur is creating your own lane and having others join in. Doing all this at such a young age gives you lots of time for growing and developing your business, but also time to inspire and give hope to others that they too can turn a passion into a career during any point in their life.”

– Mike Mejer, Founder, Livin’ Good

10) “Because I started my Healthy Living Blog, Freckled Nettles, and started social media marketing for various corporate brands, I was introduced to a startup company, Sweet Note Bagels. I began working alongside the founder of Sweet Note, Michelle MacDonald, and got the opportunity to gain equity and experience what it’s like to build a business from the bottom at the age of 18. I am now building my brand, Freckled Nettles, and building Sweet Note’s brand simultaneously.”

– Brittany Nettles, Founder, Freckled Nettles

Are you a teen who’s ready to become an entrepreneur? MyCorp is here to help you get started with your small business! Leave a comment below, or give us a call at 1-877-692-6772!