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It’s not necessary to be an adult to launch your own company. Teens have the advantage of time and experimentation, establishing a variety of ventures to help them on their entrepreneurial journey.
Oftentimes, entrepreneurs try their hand at multiple ventures until they find one and make it successful. Entrepreneurship is a great educational opportunity for teenagers since many of the concepts you learn from operating your own small business apply to other jobs in the future.
Although everyone has their own pace and timeline, there is no better time than now. Check out these suggestions for small business ventures and see if there’s anything you’d want to do.
Deciding What Job to Do
When deciding what type you want to do, you have to consider two things: resources, availability, and talent.
Resources
Given that you’re still, well, a young entrepreneur, it’s safe to say that your capital may be close to nonexistent. Although that may be the case, this is the time to be creative and resourceful. Make the most of what you already have! Everyone has to start somewhere. With your resources in mind, you have to decide on a business that will not cost you a fortune to start or better yet, make use of what you already have.
Availability
You still have homework, soccer practice, and other school-related and non-school-related things on your schedule. With that said, maybe it’s best to opt for something more flexible. Don’t forget to prioritize rest in your schedule too!
Talent
Talent is usually counted as a resource already, but it’s worth mentioning here. It may even be the center of your business. Whether it’s a talent for teaching or having a way with children, that’s something worth exploring. If you’re already good at something, that skill makes you more marketable and desirable to prospect clients.
Market Yourself to Your Market
Thanks to social media, reaching people from different corners of the world is no longer an impossible feat. Whether you’re looking for parents in your neighborhood interested in a babysitting service or a young entrepreneur looking for digital art services, utilize your social media platforms. Make yourself visible to prospective customers and clients!
Whether your small business is about providing products or services, social media is a valuable and free tool to make yourself known to your market. Although there are other methods of doing this, such as word of mouth or posting posters around town, social media seems to be the most cost-effective and efficient way to go about it. No wonder why a lot of startups utilize social media!
Babysitting
Babysitting is a classic job for teens. There’s always a market for it too. You can watch over your neighbor’s kids after school or on weekends. What’s great about it is that your new customers will most likely become repeat customers too.
Pet Sitting
If you’re a dog person or a cat person, this might be for you. This allows for flexible scheduling, and your customers will most likely supply all the equipment you need, including treats, leashes, and more.
Tutoring
It takes a lot of patience to teach. If you have never-ending patience and a talent for teaching, tutoring might be the small business for you. This is also a flexible job that you can take on weekdays after school or on weekends.
Music Lessons
Do you know how to play the piano, guitar, or flute? You may offer music lessons for beginners! Musically-inclined teens can be moderately hard to come by. Being the only one in your whole neighborhood could make you in demand.
Social Media Influencing
If you’re not shy and love to post on social media, influencing may be a job for you. Although it may take time to grow your following and subscribers, it’s a flexible type of job. Note that it takes a lot of work to get there though. Brands primarily seek out people who have a significant number of followers. By promoting products on your social media platforms, you as an influencer may earn money.
Blogging
If you have a talent for writing, consider offering blogging services online. SEO content writing has been an in-demand service in the e-commerce industry. You can channel your writing into doing this. If you’re not sure how to get started, you can opt to do your research about SEO. You may even take free courses online too!
Graphic Design
If you love technology and art and you’re into graphic design, try and offer graphic design services! You can charge per project, per output, or however, you like. Graphic design is an attractive service that many local and online brands would appreciate for their marketing needs.
Web Design
Many business owners want websites for their business but may lack the funds to pay a pro. Although you may be considered an amateur, you can provide your skills at a reduced, more favorable price. This is an excellent opportunity to hone your abilities and earn some additional cash while you’re at it.
Videography or Photography
Everyone wants to document special memories to the best of their abilities. If you have the equipment and the eye for it, you may provide your services as a videographer or photographer for local businesses, birthday parties, community affairs, and other festivities.
Why Start Now?
There are some great benefits to starting a small business as early as now. Although the benefits may not be felt until later in the future, your future self will surely thank you for trying today. Here are some reasons why it’s worth starting your small business now.
Get a Head Start On Your Savings
This is the most obvious yet one of the most significant benefits of working early. You get to start saving for your life savings, college fund, etc., this early. This helps make plans happen sooner.
Shaping Your Work Ethic
How you treat your customers, act under pressure, and handle tasks says a lot about you. If these traits are put to the test, they may be sharpened and improved along the way. The way you work is something that can either make or break you as an entrepreneur.
Practicing Time and Money Management
Being able to manage your time and money well is a practical and essential life skill everyone should have. This early exposure does not only prepare you for the future, but it impacts your growth too. Being exposed to bigger responsibilities pushes you to do these as efficiently as you can.
Conclusion
Starting your entrepreneurial journey now is primarily the time and space to experiment and test the waters. Although there is some restraint in resources, this shouldn’t stop you from trying. Besides, everybody always starts somewhere.
It’s important to remember that there’s no need to feel pressured by those who seem to be ahead of you. Although your plans for the future are malleable, your small business today serves as a stepping stone for what’s to come. The only person you should compare yourself to is the person you were yesterday. Today, you’re ahead than you were yesterday and that’s what matters.