Do You Have a Teen Entrepreneur (You’ll Want to Read this Either Way)

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).

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.