There seems to be this stigma that in order for a teenager to earn money, they need to deliver the paper or walk dogs. Even from a young age, I have had an entrepreneurial spirit, but I was always hesitant to start a business because I didn’t think that was something most kids my age would do. This prompted me to try to find teenagers who have tried their hand at business and have been successful. To my surprise, I found several impressive young entrepreneurs. Here are some of my favourites.
The first is a 13-year-old Internet marketer named Chris Long who has successfully built an online business that generates over $20,000 a month. Chris learned of an online business opportunity at age 11 and has been steadily expanding his company. He started with blogs and simple websites, now builds an average of four websites per year, and plans to release an eBook on internet marketing within the next six months. His most recent website is 13andrich.com where he offers a free eBook on how to generate website traffic.
The second teen entrepreneur I found is similar in that he made most of his money through web marketing. His name is Ben Cathers and at the age of 12 he started his own Internet-based advertising and marketing company targeting teens. Since then, his firm has grown at astonishing levels and now operates two offices and employs ten people. Currently, Ben is attending the Boston University School of Management.
The next teenager I met started a jam business at the age of 14, out of his home in Edinburgh, Scotland. When he started, Fraser Doherty had no intention of earning the million dollars he now has, he just wanted to sell it to friends and neighbors for some extra cash. However, the business quickly recovered and, at the age of 16, he left school to pursue his business in full force. He made slight improvements to his recipe and gave his jam a name; Supermarmalade Soon so many orders came in that he couldn’t produce enough jam to meet the demand, so he expanded. Last year, Fraser was approached by two UK supermarkets about selling Superjam in their stores and he was happy to agree.
In 2004, at the age of 14, Ashley Qualls, the fourth young entrepreneur I found, launched Whichlife.com, a website that she used as a portfolio for her digital artwork. Later, she added free MySpace templates and tutorials for teens who want to learn how to make their own graphic designs and coding. Ashley is able to make money through her website by having paid advertising. Whichlife.com has been a great success with around 7 million visitors per month and a purchase offer for $1.5 million.
Catherine and Dave Cook were flipping through their high school yearbooks when they suddenly came up with the idea of developing their own interactive version for the web. They convinced their older brother, a prosperous internet entrepreneur, to help them in the form of financial backing. He did and before long, his website; MyYearbook.com started doing very well. Now, his website has paid ads ranging from Disney to NBC and has grown to 3 million international members.
After reading so many stories about such young and successful people, I became more and more inspired to progress in my business, of course. But I also noticed something, as you may have. All but one of the aforementioned entrepreneurs made their fortunes on the Internet. Coincidence? I do not think so! I’m far from the first to say that the Internet is where business is headed. Almost every form of interaction and companionship now has a place online. So I say if you take one thing from this article, know that the Internet is the cheapest and possibly the fastest way to get your business up and running.