Being a young entrepreneur is both incredibly exhilarating and incredibly daunting, all at the same time. Especially if you are doing a balancing act of school, work, maybe another job, getting plenty of sleep, family/friend commitments, and time for you. Word to the wise, always make time in your day/week for the last two- you won’t regret it. Even if it’s 30 minutes before bed looking at your favourite social media site (maybe eventually this one!) and chatting with your Mom while you both watch a TV show together. 

Being an entrepreneur at any age, be it 13, 30, or 60, has its benefits and challenges. It is all too easy to think about the reasons why you shouldn’t and the negative aspects, so I will just focus on what I believe are the top 5 benefits of being a young entrepreneur. Keep in mind, these are just my observations based on my personal experience being a young entrepreneur.

  1. Unique Job Creation.
    • No one is ever going to have the exact same job or the same business as you.
    • Unless they copy you exactly down to the last detail, no one in this entire world is going to do exactly what you do.
    • Plus, you yourself are unique. No one else has had the experiences nor the outlook that you have had and will continue to have. 
  2. You have the ability to take risks more easily, and bounce back from them.
    • Chances are good that you live at home, have not yet started to accrue debt, nor have bills to pay (of which I am very envious).You can take bigger risks
    • If you trip up or fail (heads up, you will), you don’t have to worry about all of a sudden not being able to buy groceries or pay the hydro bill.
    • That being said, you also still need to make sound decisions and think things through quickly instead of winging it all the time (sometimes it is OK to wing a decision and think about them later). 
  3. People are more likely to cut you a break. 
    • You’re young, and you are still in school. People get that, and know that you are still learning and figuring things out. They were there once too, and this can lead them to wanting to help you out (either by providing advice, purchasing your product/service, or doing some promotion for you) or even be the one to give you the big break you need.
    • That being said, this does not give you an excuse to slack on customer service, quality or go solely on the fact that you are young and new to the industry your business is in. There are plenty of people out there that will not cut you that break on the sole premise of you being young and inexperienced, especially your competitors.
    • Know your stuff, put the work in, play fair, and use this rule of thumb: treat every customer as you would like to be treated if you were in their position. 
  4. You grew up/are growing up using the technology that is needed by businesses in order to succeed in this day and age. 
    • Technology that older generations and older adults need to take night/online courses and workshops in order to fully understand is what you grew up with integrated into your every day life. Think Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Microsoft Office Suite, Skype, Google, Apple, Android, and website/app development. 
    • Use this to your advantage, and also use this to differentiate yourself, especially if your competitors are not so tech-savvy. Most people these days are looking things up on their smartphone, and they want to find the information quickly.
    • If they can not find a certain person online or if their website either looks like it hasn’t been updated since 2002 and is not mobile-friendly/appealing, they will skip them and go to the next business. But of course, you already know that. 
  5. You have a very large support base that extends beyond the usual friends and family. 
    • Most people in your life want you to be successful, and this extends beyond your family & friends, and into your community. There is an endless of supply of people who want you to succeed. If you don’t, they want you to at least learn and grow from the experience. 
    • There are organizations like YBE. I want more than anything for all of you who are reading this, regardless of age or if you are/become an entrepreneur, to be successful, however you define success. I am always here to help you out in developing your business (I’ll leave the personal stuff to those close to you). Once the social media platform is up and working, there will also be an online support system of other young(er) entrepreneurs who are going through the same thing.
    • Your teachers want you to succeed, and so do your customers because it means that you will continue to grow and offer a great product/service. Your village/town/city/province/country want you to succeed/learn because it means economic growth and job creation (which will be a much bigger deal when you get older, trust me). It also means that you will be a much more engaged, empowered and informed young member of your community. 

If you have any questions or comments, shoot me an email through the contact page. Like I said before, these are my opinions based off of my own experience as a young entrepreneur and through helping other young(er) entrepreneurs.