Do you have a teen entrepreneur?
Whether you do or not, you’ll want to hear what this mother learned when her daughter became a teen entrepreneur.
First, it’s actually not as hard as it once was (we’ll address this in a moment, thanks to Solo Build It by SiteSell.
Second, whether or not your child or teen wants to be an entrepreneur after high school or college doesn’t matter. It’s all about the entrepreneurial mindset, whether you’re working for yourself or for an employer.
Because the truth is that our economy IS CHANGING. We will be living in a ‘gig econonomy’ soon, where a large portion of the population will be hired as contractors rather than being fully employed by businesses.
In fact, estimates are that by 2020, 40 percent of the working population will be part of this new economy. And they’re predicting that will rise to 70 percent by 2025.
And even if that isn’t your child, even if they do find themselves fully employed out of high school or college, as Gerri Detweiler points out, the days where people held jobs for 20 years are gone. Most employees bounce from job to job every 3-5 years in order to move up the corporate ladder more quickly, develop new skills, or because of financial incentives.
So what can you do to set your child up for success in this new economy? How can you give them the entrepreneurial mindset?
Take a look at what Gerri Detweiler did with her teen.
How to Become a Teenage Entrepreneur (Mother Shares Story)
When Gerri’s daughter was just 8 or 9 years old, she was looking for a solution to build a site for herself and came across Solo Build It.
She and her daughter decided that rather than do something for herself, they would build something her daughter could learn from. And because of the educational nature of Solo Build It, they learned not only to build a website, but a web business.
Today Horse Crazy Girls reaches up to 27,000 visitors per month. (And with a connection like the Horse Radio Network, the reach could be even further amplified.)
But the experience is about more than just building a business and making a side income (which Gerri’s daughter did do, as the business gave her the money she needed to buy her own horse).
More than that, though, it taught her skills that she’ll be able to use in her career for the rest of her life. She learned about marketing and audience development. Though shy, she’s been on podcasts, has cold called sponsors and even spoke at a teen entrepreneurs conference.
These are the skills that aren’t traditionally taught in school.
And the experience is giving her a competitive edge in college, as well. She could write about it on admissions letters and was even offered an entrepreneurial scholarship.
Gerri advises all parents that, if a child expresses an interest in entrepreneurship, to help them find a way to develop it. And if you don’t know anything about entrepreneurship yourself, either find someone who does who can be a mentor to your child or figure it out together (Solo Build It is a great place to start).
What business can a teenager start?
Here are 55 different business ideas both online and offline (click here) for your teen. This post talks about many successful teenage entrepreneurs, but the life lessons either way are unmeasurable.
The great thing about starting an online business is the entire family can assist and, as you can see, Syndey had great flexibility in creating Horse Crazy Girls and now can continue in college with an impressive 27,000 visitors a month.
We talk a lot in our Peak Performance Playbook 2 about finding your true vision as a middle schooler or high schooler. The benefits of doing this are it builds responsible children who hold themselves accountable without us, moms or dads, having to nag and it can also help in picking a business to start online.
What’s your child’s vision?
My daughter for instance has a passion to rescue animals and loves cheerleading, thus she’s started selling online matching Bows for Cheerleaders and their Dogs. This is teaching her critical thinking as she figures out how to build the site and set up the payment processing, she’s learning to do cold outreach to influence for marketing, understanding how important pricing is and why you must take the time to think through all expenses BEFORE you price your products… and so much more.
Conclusion: Life-Lessons in being a Teen Entrepreneur
If you have a child who is interested in entrepreneurship, figure out a way to help them develop and build on that interest. Solo Build It is a great place to start if your child wants the flexibility of a web-based business or wants to sell products online. Or perhaps he or she is interested in doing something locally, in your own community.
The list above will give them some ideas to start with.
Regardless of whether your child wants to be an entrepreneur or would prefer to work for someone else, the reality is that the economy is changing, and the skills that are developed through an entrepreneurial mindset can set him or her up for major long-term success.
What wonderful and educational information! First of all thanks very much to @dinnertablemba (Mike K) For the kind shoutout to Solo Build It!.(SBI!!). It is an honor to be included.
As the founder of SBI! (2002) AND the father of a teen back then, I, too, had this opportunity – it was not only an excellent chance to get closer to my daughter but also to use SBI! to teach her about online business.
(This is a vital skill set for any young person. Whatever your teen Does as an adult, it won’t be based on anything important learned in school.)
Nori (my daughter) has grown her web – based business into a substantial venture. Not only does it earn her good income, she lives totally free…
She “plays” when she likes, works when she likes and provides a wonderful service both for Anguilla (a Caribbean island where we live) and for those planning a living here.
As for me, it was every bit as rewarding, and in every way, as I had hoped.
Thanks again, Mike, and all the best!
Ken Evoy
Thanks Ken and I’ve watched what Nori has done over the last several years with her brand and it’s so amazing. It’s also great to hear stories like Gerri’s daughter who through your service was able to get the best education ever through the School of Hard Knocks (one of the best educations ever). I’m sure what she learned with her site over the years is helping make her current college experience that much better. Like you I find this so rewarding to see the great opportunity available to our youth today.
Sheena, myself and other parents appreciate you ~