Be Your Own Boss

Every Tuesday is my Tuesday4Teens focused articles: entrepreneurship for pre-teens, teens and young adults. Last week’s article was the first one and can be read here. The topic of the article was making your own t-shirts for sale, and I’ll be writing about it regularly on future Tuesdays.

Today I just wanted to cover some basic thoughts about why teens should try entrepreneurship — self employment. The skills you work on in your teens will guarantee you a much better chance at succeeding when running your own business is your sole income and support mechanism.

Many of my readers are in their 20s, slaving for “the man” and wishing they could be anywhere but where they are. They’re in debt, they’re overloaded with paperwork and labor work, they’re not certain what their future will be in 10 years, and even worse, they don’t have the opportunity to start their own business without a huge change in their lifestyle combined with a big committment and risk. The common response that the average reader gives me when I ask them when they’ll strike out into their own business is “next year” but next year never comes. If only they knew to try their first risk when they were young!

I entered my first business at around the age of 13. I succeeded. Throughout my teens I had failures and successes — which was needed to see that risks can bring rewards and ruptures. Whatever the end result, though, as a young person you’re in a very unique situation: you probably get a few bucks from the P’s, you have no real expenses to cover basic living needs, and you have a lot of time. If you take all your savings and lose them, you won’t lose your house, your car or your job.

There are many things you’ll gain other than being able to face risk without a great deal of fear (some fear is acceptable and even needed of course). You’ll learn that being your own boss is not always sunshine and kittens — you’ll have stormy days with rabid mutts, but you’ll get through them. You’ll be busy on some days, and terribly slow on others. When you’re young, you can get through these without fear of losing everything. You’ll learn to set aside a good portion of your profits for the times when you’re bringing in zero income.

Teens who explore entrepreneurship also learn to deal with adults with respect, to treat everyone as a possible customer and to learn how to deal with unhappy customers. The relationship skills you’ll gain will help you in every relationship in the future — love, friendships, family dealings and business contacts. Over time, even the most shy teen can become adept at public speaking. Even with my intense shyness, I still come off as one of the most confident person people know! I attribute this to being my own boss young, I sure didn’t learn it in school.

Young business owners also can face their first failures. This is not something to constantly be afraid of, but it is a reality in many businesses. My first failure was like looking at a videotape of my recent life: I learned that the only reason for failure is not being prepared properly, making some irresponsible decisions, and putting faith in people (customers, suppliers and partners) that wasn’t warranted. Every business of mine that failed can be directly tied to mistakes I had made in the past — bar none. When you first failure doesn’t require bankruptcy, you’ll be able to take bigger risks and see the opportunities for bigger rewards.

If you’re a kid and you’re thinking about running a business, make sure you talk to your parents first. Don’t ask them to be a part of your business, just ask them for advice. Make sure you set aside time for your education and family responsibilities, and stay on top of those first and foremost. If your parents are not open to you running your own business, talk with them and find what it will take for them to have faith in you trying something. Follow through with promises, increase your responsibility as a part of the family, and try your hardest to clean the clutter out of your life.

I make recommendations to adults to get rid of debt, downsize their house and their cars, and to clean up relationships before becoming their own boss. For teens, you still have clutter in your life to clean! Your room better be spotless. Sell all your junk on eBay (ALL your junk!). If you have a bad relationship with a peer, fix it. If your grades are low, get them to at least the average level. If you’re the class clown, quit it. If you’re sad, depressed or a bit off, talk to your school counselor (I did and I built a great relationship there).

You’re young — take a risk. You have time — put it to good use. You’re interested in new things — learn a trade that you don’t consider “fun.” The best thing you can do as a teen is to learn the definition of wealth — it isn’t being rich, it is being safe, comfortable and focused on the present and the future.