What It Takes to Become a Teen Entrepreneur

Starting your own business when you’re a teen can be exciting. Many options are available, and there are some great resources to help you with your decision-making process. This guide walks you through the steps involved in starting a business as a teenager.

Benefits of Starting Your Own Business

As a teen, you may have quite a bit of spare time, so you can potentially earn money while using your time doing something productive. Starting your own business gives you an outlet to develop skills and better understand how they relate to running a business. Plus, more teens are realizing their dreams of entrepreneurship; this means you can do it too. 

Find a Profitable Idea

There are many ideas for business startups to choose from. The first thing to do is brainstorm ideas that you're interested in doing or focusing on something that you love. Think about your strengths and how they can apply to a business. For example, if you’re good at writing, perhaps you can write content for websites or blogs or offer proofreading services. Or if you love pets, you could start a house sitting or dog walking business. If you’re great with kids, a babysitting business can be a great way to make money. See? The options are endless.

Choose a Niche

The world is your oyster. There are plenty of teen-run businesses out there, but some options are more suitable than others. Jobs that allow you to work at home with flexible hours tend to be great for teens who want to run a business. However, if you’re looking for something more exciting and active, perhaps starting a sports-related business (such as selling sneakers) or a lawn care company suits you better.

Best Practices

Start tracking your income and expenses from day one. Keeping records helps you accurately track your finances — and makes tax time easier when you’re in business for yourself. By keeping track of your income and expenses, you can determine if you’re turning a profit on your business.

Eventually, you need to consider registering your business with the state and choosing a business structure. The structure of your business determines important details. For example, an LLC can be a great choice. There are many benefits to forming a limited liability company for your business structure, such as personal asset protection if something goes wrong, tax advantages, and less paperwork. States have different rules pertaining to the formation of an LLC, so check the regulations in your state before proceeding.

Marketing Your Business

Consider digital marketing techniques, such as an email list, to help market your business, but also use business cards. A business card is a powerful marketing tool, a form of promotion with more staying power than email, and a physical reminder of your business to your customers. Designing a custom business card is a snap using pre-made online templates you can modify with your own images, text, color schemes, and fonts.

Develop Your Skills

There are a lot of skills needed to run your own business, and getting an online business degree after high school graduation can help. Courses such as business management, management and leadership, or marketing can help you hone and develop business skills. Skills you learn now come in handy throughout your professional life.

The Advantage of Youthfulness

You don't have to wait until you're older to start a business. If you have an idea that excites you, do the necessary research, create a business and marketing plan, and go for it.

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to share it with other teenagers! Have you started your own business? Tell us a bit about your experience so far!

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