Ep 324: 5 Tips to being a Teenage Entrepreneur

I get a lot of requests from teenagers who want to become entrepreneurs, so let me give you the five tips that I think you need to be a successful teenage entrepreneur. I put the word successful in there because I want you to achieve that. And you can do it.

When I first knew I wanted an entrepreneur, I knew I liked making money. I was mowing lawns and I loved the fact that I could buy my first pair of Nike shoes with that money, but then I learned that my friends would be willing to mow the grasses that I contracted for a dollar less than I was getting paid. I would give these assignments to my friends to cut the grass. I figured that I would rather make a dollar, not doing anything than to make the three that I would have made mowing it. So that was kind of my “aha” moment as a teenager.

I figured out that I was good at selling so I could get 15 lawns every week to mow. I could have my three friends mow the grass and I can make a dollar off of each one of them and do nothing, instead of mowing them all myself. That either makes me lazy or really, really, smart.

 

Find What Appeals to You about Entrepreneurship

Hey, the money is great, but it might be the last thing you make, so what else do you like about entrepreneurship?

I like freedom. I like freedom of schedule. I like creating a teamI was my own boss.

You need to know why you want to be an entrepreneur in the first place.

Have Initiation

Are you good at initiating things, launching things, or getting things off the ground? When I was a kid we’d backyard football games, baseball games, whiffle ball games. I got everybody to come out and play. You’re either good at that and you’re not, but I think if you want to be a great entrepreneur, you better be good at initiating things and getting things off the ground. This is a good opportunity when you get an opportunity to lead in something in school. Take advantage of that because you’re going to need that same skill

Start with a Small Service Company or Store

Start with something small. Mine was mowing grass. It can be anything. I could think of 50 businesses just involving around houses and cars, from cleaning cars to taking cars to oil changes, and  if you’re old enough to drive, doing errands for people liky grocery shopping.

It’s endless. Start a small service company or an online store. I want you to get a win under your belt. I want you to launch something that makes money. If it makes money, you win. That’s the only goal. We’re just trying to get an easy win. And you need to start something.

Get a Job

But I wanted to be an entrepreneur.

I think getting a job is also good because there’s 168 hours in a week and you can do more than one thing. Getting a job 0r getting mentored by a successful business owner, (read the book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad) is a game changer and the concept works so well. I think it’s good for you to work for somebody because it teaches you responsibility. It’ll teach you leadership. You’ll see leadership in action. You’ll see confrontation. You learn how to resolve conflict with co-workers and customers, or at least you’ll see how it’s done.

Develop Sales Skills

Start selling something now! I don’t know how you could be a good entrepreneur without the ability to sell.