Entrepreneurship, throughout the last couple of years, has been on a rise and can be coined as a trend that is increasing day by day. Even a few years back, young people with the right spirit had made headlines. But where do we set the bar? Or is there any necessity to set any bar at all? We used to hear a famous saying called “age is just a number” but what we hear now is news about little entrepreneurs making the saying real again. These teenagers across the world are making a point to prove that even they can take up the task of becoming fresh minds behind super successful businesses.
A lot of these teen entrepreneurs have a passion that is most often absent even in the most mature adult. Today, let us dive into a very fresh list of young minds who have proved that age doesn’t matter when it is about them not only starting but also running a successful business.
Kenan Pala
San Diego, age 17
Kenan was only 11 years old when he first launched his company called ‘Kids4Community’. It is a venture that addresses some key issues like homelessness as that was what startled Kenan when he was just 10 years old, and into volunteering work. The little teen entrepreneur believes if someone is passionate, then that person is capable of doing almost anything. This is what keeps him going strong when it comes to his non-profit organization.
He included some of his friends and family into the voluntary work, and like any other entrepreneur, faced a set of challenges which he had to overcome to finally take his company to the 500,000 marks, as well as reaching out to a million of hearts with what he is doing. His work includes finding activities in which kids could engage themselves. He has also raised $1 million for local homeless shelters.
He wants to grow his business outside San Diego and take the work out to newer areas. His brother who is also passionate about volunteering helps the company. Kenan wants to hand over ‘Kids4Community’ to his brother in the future.
Samuel Keusch
New York, age 12
As everyone in the entire world, Samuel had been through the harsh times of the Covid-19 outbreak as well. With the approaching coming-of-age Jewish ritual of Mitzvah, Sam was going into manhood. He watched his father schedule Covid-19 vaccine appointments for his grandparents and he closely noticed how overwhelming the entire procedure can get for people with no digital expertise, and the elderly in general. The 12-year-old knew then and there what he had to do.
In January 2021 the father-son duo launched a company called ‘Vaccine Helper’. It is a website that is dedicated to helping senior citizens of New York navigate through the State online registration system for vaccination, at no cost! All that the users had to do consisted of filling up an easy google form where it should be stated that they require assistance, and answering a couple of common questions that had to be put over in the registration system to receive the vaccination. The rest was managed by Sam’s speedy fingers. Did we mention before that his favourite pastime is gaming!
As the eligibility for vaccination has expanded, the pressure on Vaccine Helper became manifolds as well. However, it is beyond imagination that Sam still handles everything himself without any major form of help. More than 2500 appointments have been fixed by his company and he wishes to work harder. Samuel has proved that being a young businessman and also being socially responsible is a killer combination.
Laurence Moss
Kent, UK, age 15
When Laurence was 12, he wanted to try his luck out on Youtube and become a Youtuber. But things did not fall in place and soon he was a victim of cyberbullying. He recalls everything that he faced and it is not a very good memory. The amateurish videos that he used to make while talking to the camera, were made fun of by the netizens. But Moss did not lose hope and he strove harder.
At the age of 13, he switched to Instagram from YouTube. With the lesser emphasis on his face this time, he surfed the entire space of Instagram thoroughly – starting from memes to cars. So by the end of that year in 2018, he already had more than a quarter-million followers. He understood that he had a knack for trying to decode what draws a person to a different person’s content. He was interested in trying to create a social media consulting firm. He came up with his own company – ‘Greedy Growth’ the following year.
He was only 14 when Moss launched his new marketing agency called Greedy Growth. According to the company’s terms, it turns your Instagram page into a marketing asset. This is claimed by influential people like soccer star Joel Mumbongo or companies like Ossa Organic. They have earned revenues which come off to 5 figures in 2020. However, Moss wishes to continue working hard, balancing school and work simultaneously and also spend time on social media just like anybody else, as teen entrepreneurship is something that he didn’t think of initially, but things just fell in place over time.
Fabienne Overbeek
The Netherlands, age 19
While Fabienne was still in school, two years ago, she had participated in a project regarding young entrepreneurship. That had gone so well, that ever since then, she aspired to start something on her own. A year ago she founded her company, ‘Grow a Wish’.
She has always been ashamed of the fact that we tend to throw away beautiful birthday cards or keep them away from our sight in a drawer or something. She also thinks that the new generation has forgotten the simplicity and beauty of these actions of sending someone a card. Fabienne wanted to bring back that custom, but with a little twist.
In an interview, she says how horrified she was at the sight of a video where rainforests were seen to be cut down. And she also understood that it is not possible to keep on recycling paper forever. Hence she had to merge both of these observations to come up with a solution. Her exact environment triggered her to come up with greeting cards that would grow up to be a plant when put in the ground. This concept, which is still a bit undercover is called growth paper, and this is exactly what she resorted to. There are little seeds incorporated in the handmade paper that will turn into a plant in suitable conditions. “Grow a Wish” is her dream come true as it is fit to make other people happy and according to her, she learns every day from her company and nothing can be more important than that.
The young minds are proving to be harbingers of such fresh ideas, that the adults stand a very good chance of finding themselves in very tough competition, in the recent future. Teens nowadays, in the wake of globalization and modernization are in no way behind grown-ups when it comes to introducing something new to the world. Moreover, their contribution to the growth of the world economy is intriguing. The little minds are exposed to a lot of rigorous thought processes from a very young age if they show interest in being a young entrepreneur. From increasing their life skills to getting practical life experiences, young teen entrepreneurs are doing the rounds of the internet lately, and how!
