The entrepreneurial spirit is one that is attainable by each of us, yet it begins to encourage some sooner than others. No matter our motivation, some just seem to have a knack for igniting change through business ventures at very young ages.

In particular, some young entrepreneurs take on the role of business owner and manager to target financial goals – such as those of Adajah Scott in her home town of Hagerstown, Maryland. The twelve year old is looking toward costs that might come along far down the road… such as those of college and university Expenses. Scott is looking to spark an early college fund through her unique candy-based venture.

Adajah has created, in Montgomery County, with the help of local business partners, resale shops of well-known candy brands, various snacks, and sodas. The brands include high-selling names such as M&Ms, Skittles, Double Bubble products, Mike n Ikes, and so many more.

Adajah founded her brand (in 2020!), DejaVu Candy, at just twelve years old. Scott, in her home area of Montgomery County, has engaged business partners of all kinds – those you might not expect to partner with such a young entrepreneur. Scott has managed to hook several stations across Montgomery County through her captivating story – where they now allow her to sell these products.

Adajah is thinking early – and not just about Candy. She has delved into the concept of profit – and with intent to increase margin and build a business around what she has chosen. She has garnered immense early attention from business and station owners. With great reason, they are impressed with such an initiative young woman and encourage others to follow in her footsteps – to ask questions early and form ideas. Most recently Adajah has even increased her platform for her business – in the form of a web page that will allow her brand more recognition than ever.

Bolstered by her upbringing and interest in healthful living habits and lifestyle – Belgium-based organic foods distributor Kazidomi and founder Emna Everard have expanded on the ever-evolving global diet trending toward more preference for healthy options.

Emna Everard, raised by two nutritionists, honed her passion for business through education first. She completed her bachelors and two masters degrees – adding a great deal of academic and field business experience to her young career. She now directs her experience and her degrees toward serving a vast population of healthy eaters with their gastronomical needs – to the tune of very specific orders on many occasions. Most stunningly – Emna began her venture on less than $10,000!

Though her background was strong, Emna encountered hardships and slow-goings along the way – as many entrepreneurs have so many times. Most interesting about her story and that of the building of her company – were those of her approaches to the vital functions of her young business. Emna knew that getting each one right – without a lot of capital – might be difficult.

In building her web page – she was sure to seek help, even when she had to muster the courage to ask a former teacher of hers to work for free in creating it. Additionally, her marketing efforts targeted Instagram figures – whom she in turn promised a sales-linked commission payout for their services. Most importantly, though – as we all know the cost of inventories for retailers and wholesalers are high – she began to outsource capital – and managed to secure more than $50,000 in inventory funding from venture capitalists with whom she had built a connection.

The story of her journey and moves she made to evolve her company to its present state are nothing short of inspiring in many ways – and should in turn inspire entrepreneurs the world over to never fear the unknown when beginning a new venture.

Supporting Sources: https://www.forbes.com/sites/elainepofeldt/2020/10/31/this-young-entrepreneurs-goal-to-make-healthy-foods-available-at-price-everyone-can-afford/?sh=72189fc23286

An industry that none of us could have anticipated the quick rise in demand for, is the market for face coverings. With the onset of COVID-19 in 2020, face coverings such as masks have become an integral part of our daily lives – no matter where we live. It has been the mission of many companies to differentiate their offerings of face covering varieties in order to rise above the general market for disposable masks, for example, and increase sales through a unique sales pitch.

This is exactly what the San Francisco-based “New Skool” mask-making company has done. First introduced through the San Francisco Mask Envy blog site – the company has since reached far corners of the Bay Area and beyond. The benefit to a potential buyer of this company’s offerings of masks is their unique selling proposition: customization of any kind. “New Skool” specializes in creating whatever kind of mask design – through stencil, freehand, or airbrush – that a client might request. Through customization of mask design, New Skool appeals to every buyer of face coverings and to the market at large. In the local Bay Area, customers have chosen designs such as the Golden Gate Bridge or the Skyline of San Francisco or Oakland.

The concept for New Skool was initiated by Nate Tan, who has background in graphic design and became passionate about the creation of facemask design, as many others did, through the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic. New Skool has a variety of social media outlets that allow its customer and fan base to experience its brand in different ways. Tan has fashioned an interactive website to facilitate purchases and customizations and has created a branded Instagram where New Skool designs can be demonstrated and shared by both the company and its fan base. Undoubtedly, Nate and his team are keeping Bay Area residents safe and, at the same time, allowing them to be creative and make the most of the pandemic.

Anna Brightman and her brother, Will took to incorporate two things they found they had a passion for: running their own business and aiding in the fight against harm being done to our planet and climate. In their young adult years, they found that much goes to waste on our planet – and among that waste are the coffee grounds that are seldom repurposed and almost always end up thrown out. Anna began to think of how to recycle the grounds in a meaningful way one day while sipping on a cup of coffee.

After pondering on uses for the grounds – they arrived at their solution: skin care products. Their research confirmed that coffee grounds had such benefits and began to experiment and sell their product on a small scale at various fairs and exhibitions. Born was their company – UpCircle Beauty. Their primary business offers range from moisturizers and eye cream all the way to cleansers and face toners – all formed from basic repurposing of material originally doomed for the landfill. Their products are available nationwide through their extensive website.

Anna and Will did not only begin this venture to earn a profit – although that was part of the goal. The idea blossomed out of concern for our environment. During their research – they found that coffee grounds left to waste away in landfills create methane waste – to be specific. Methane contributes heavily to climate damage and the sibling’s business began around this realization. Additionally, their entire process attempts at being purposeful in its use of each element of both production and sale. For instance, packaging and oils used are particularly important to UpCircle. The sibling’s proudly claim refillable services for their products – reducing waste greatly. In addition, they boast products free of Palm Oil – a contributing factor of deforestation and the displacement of people groups. The Brightman sibling’s business is not only fascinatingly creative – it is redemptive as well.

The folks at this innovative company took plant-based to an entirely new level. “Nuttin Ordinary” is the first plant-based cheese producer of its kind. Its base ingredient – cashews – were certainly not previously considered for the production of plant-based cheeses. Founder Josh Velsaquez drew his inspiration from his childhood – as he grew up around family members who stuck to the vegan diet. The New England-based manufacturer, after securing several loans from a generous bank eager to take on their – at the time – “risky” venture, operations were underway.

With sales doing well, Nuttin Ordinary turned to an approach to manufacturing that would both be profitable and allow for longevity. In line with their health-happy outlook, they have developed the outlook on operations of “Zero Waste” (or “zero WHEYste” as they dub it). This plan for sustainability aims to repurpose every element of production that is possible – keeping as much waste from local and regional landfills as possible.

Offering a variety of products in their plant-based business model, Nuttin Ordinary produces fettucine, bow-ties pastas, ravioli, and so much more for a pleasant plant-based diet. Their products are sold at local household names such as Wegman’s, Whole Food’s and Roche Bros. Offered primarily in the upper northeast (New England) – their business serves regional markets in this area will great success.

In an article written on Nuttin Ordinary’s relationship with a local bank that help fund its needs in its early years of operation, the Keene Sentinel wrote of the employee focus of the company – even during challenging pandemic-induced times. Specifically, Nuttin Ordinary’s management made the financially difficult decision to pay its employees – no matter the circumstances of the world and the company’s financial position and market circumstances. In order to be prepared once the retail world pivoted to a sustainable outlook on the COVID-19 situation – Nuttin Ordinary wanted to ensure its staff would be ready and able to jump right back in.

The initiatives of this company and its products are unique – both of which have combined through their business model to create a human capital and environmentally-concerned outlook.

A persistent problem for all-time, loneliness and disconnectedness has been elevated as a concern to a great extent in today’s world. As the pandemic has continued to maintain the status quo of advised isolation for safety reasons, the issue of feeling isolated has been taken to new heights. This is the problem that the 29 year old Karen Dolva has sought out to solve.

Dolva’s initiative “No Isolation” has aimed, since its inception in 2015, to tackle this issue head on. No Isolation specifically targets those who, as her company calls it, have had “involuntary loneliness” inflicted upon them, whether by COVID19 or some other circumstance. Dolva’s company offers a small but developing line of products and services to combat loneliness in unique and creative ways.

Two products in particular, No Isolation’s “KOMP” and “AV1,” target specific types of this involuntary social isolation. The “KOMP”, shown at right, is tech that aims to simplify the common tablet, so to speak, by providing an easy-to-use interface to allow perhaps older generations to communicate with their younger counterparts. With simple messaging, photo-sharing, and easy-to-access video calling technology, folks that might not be as up to speed on the functioning of the complex new tablets and gadgets of our day can easily reach family, friends, or neighbors without taking the time or exerting the effort on new, often unnecessarily complicated-to-use technology. 

No Isolation’s “AV1 (at left held by Dolva),” on the other hand, targets the opposite generation: school-age children with conditions that prevent them from attending classes in person. This isolation, of course, can lead to feeling not entirely part of class community – a serious issue for an age group that needs social interaction a great deal. This robot-resembling device, according to No Isolation’s website, provides an “…avatar that makes it possible for children and young adults with long-term illness to take part at school via an app on their phone or tablet.” With this stroke of genius, Dolva is empowering children who otherwise would have missed vital social interactions with their peers to be involved in the social and academic happenings of the classroom.

Whether this “involuntary loneliness” be due to the current global pandemic or for other reasons, Karen Dolva’s brilliant entrepreneurial initiative is undoubtedly bringing family, friends, and the like closer together.