Many of us have had a lot of spare time on our hands over the past few months and being out of work and school has been hard. Not having something to get your brain thinking and something to put your energy into has been tough too!
So we were thinking of somethings that you could do. One of those was to try to start up your own business. It doesn’t have to be the next Amazon, but who knows? it could be, and you won’t know unless you try!! We decided to put together some reasons why you could start a business in your teens.
1. You’ll get a chance to earn your own money
As a teen, I remember wanting lots of different things but not having my own money to buy them. Starting up your own company can give you the chance to earn your own money while also having a cool way to learn the value of money. You will love earning your own money and spending it without feeling guilty about asking your parents!
2. You could learn how to manage finances
Profit, loss, cost of goods sold, gross profit, net profit. All important business terms, and things notable in the “real life world” as well as the business world! Hopefully, you will get the opportunity to watch a small amount of money grow into something more.
3. You could gain invaluable experience
Let’s face it, starting your own business is cool. There is nothing quite like the knowledge you can build from creating a product or service and seeing it through right from concept to market. It shows you that not everything works the first time around, but that’s 100% okay. You get back up and you try again.
4. You are brave and a risk-taker
Being young or a teenager, and creating a business is not something everyone does. That is a scary thought. It takes someone with real guts to want to put that into action. Be proud of that. Let’s be real though, you are braver than anyone and are forced to take on so many changes in such a short space of time and do it like bosses! So why not channel some of your bada** energy and be the CEO of your very own company.
5. Teens are way undervalued and underutilized
All the way through growing up, I was in this annoying cycle of not having a job because I didn’t have the experience but to get the experience, I need a job.
By starting your own business, you will have the opportunity to share your creativity, energy, fresh perspectives, enthusiasm, a willingness to try new things and your thirst to learn. These are incredibly valuable assets that most businesses wish more of their employees had.
6. You’ll get the chance to make excellent connections
It’s kind of known that it’s all about who you know and not about what you know. Despite what so many think, there are people out there who are genuinely supportive and willing to help you. A lot of the time you’d never expect the friendships that come out of starting a business.
7. You’ll learn the value of making mistakes
There’s a lot of power in not letting things get you down, especially things you can’t always control. The fact is mistakes happen. The value in mistakes is that it’s unlikely you’ll make the same mistake twice. You learn and you move forward but never hyper-focus, leave it in the past!
8. You can learn time management
Having your own business is the ideal opportunity to learn this important life skill! You could start with simple things such as dedicating 10 minutes at the start of each day to write up a to-do list, download a useful calendar app to keep track of important meetings, learn to multi-task (start simple and work your way up) and just have small goals to try reach (whether it be daily, weekly or monthly goals), achieving them will make you feel all your hard work is worthwhile.
9. You have a marketing advantage
Teens nowadays have grown up with social media and are absolute whizzes at it. One of the most difficult things about setting up a business is getting the company’s name out there. You guys already know how to use social media and have a reasonable number of followers, so why not use this advantage to make your company known.
10. Its FUN
Finally, who doesn’t want to have the ability to travel the world when they’re young? Having your own business as a teen could put you on this path in no time. No one said it be easy so you may have to forgo the little things like shopping every weekend and just put your head down and focus on work and the bigger things.
Entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone, but if you’ve got an interest, why not start now? Who knows, even something you may want to do temporarily could turn into a multi-million-euro business!
We are lucky to have Katie, one of our amazing ambassadors, give us a little insight into her experience of setting up a business as a teen. Her advice to all those budding young entrepreneurs is “Don’t let anyone or anything stand in your way of positively affecting the market. If you’re lucky enough to have an opportunity to create something positive, grab it. Don’t let yourself wonder if things could have been different.
Another piece of advice is to be polite and respectful; don’t ever let it be said that you didn’t graciously accept every opportunity that comes your way because chances are the person putting it your way wants to see you succeed too! Resilience is key; always lift yourself up, dust yourself down and try again, you owe it to yourself and your idea! “.
You can check out what Katie gets up to on the following:
Twitter: @katiemcgloin
Instagram: @katiemcgloin_
Have you set up your own company? We would love to hear your story! Pop us a message on any of our social media accounts or email us here.
