Mitchell Bobbera (22) isn’t the most well-known or richest young entrepreneur…but he is still one nonetheless. Unlike many of the entrepreneurs that I have reported on, Bobbera shows his entrepreneurship by finding a way to make money in an untapped area that interests him. Mitchell Bobbera enjoyed welding but also art. He was extremely talented at welding and when he graduated high school he pursued that trade. But he found that he was bored in this traditional line of work and he wanted something that would tap his artistic abilities. He ended up using his welding abilities to create sculptures out of horseshoes. This proved to be successful, a lot of businesses wanted these homey small-town structures in front of their businesses so that people would see them as a town staple. His success grew and he started sculpting other things out of scrap metal and became very successful. What I have learned from Bobbera is that if you figure out what you are good at and what you enjoy you can often find ways to make money doing it. You don’t have to stick to the traditional job structure. Doing what you are good at and what you enjoy is often more satisfying than making a lot of money. If you have an idea it isn’t too difficult to do what you love.

Brennan Arganoff (21) is a very successful young entrepreneur. Since a very young age, he has developed an ability to find problems and create profitable solutions to them. According to LinkedIn, he has created or helped create 7 different businesses. His most successful business is HoopSwag. In 2013 Brennan saw an opportunity. Most athletes are always searching for ways to stand out on the sports field and when watching a basketball game, he noticed that every basketball player wore the same boring socks. He saw this as an opportunity to make some money while also addressing a need. He created different custom socks with all different kinds of objects and patterns on them. These patterns ranged from toilet paper and basketballs to flashy stripes. That wasn’t the end of his entrepreneurship. The success of this idea led him to find new markets. He found that when he marketed it to more than just basketball players there are a lot of people who are interested in flashy socks. This idea ended up making him 7 figures a year in sales. What I learn from Brennan is to pursue your ideas. Don’t think that it’s already been done or that it’s too stupid to work. Experiment with your ideas and when it works don’t give up. There are always new ways to apply your idea and they might even be better than the original idea. Brennan is a great example of a young person who experimented with an idea and found great success.

Information found at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brennan-agranoff-702008b1

https://hoopswagg.com/

Ian McCue is a successful young entrepreneur. His predisposition to entrepreneurship appeared at an early age. In high school, he was frustrated by how what he was learning wasn’t practical. He believed that there needed to be more focus on practical things like STEM and coding. Eventually, he switched to a STEM-focused high school, but that doesn’t mean his idea went away. As a result of his predisposition to STEM, he attended many Coding camps. He found that these camps were charging absorbent prices and they did not provide enough value. This is where McCue’s entrepreneurial ability comes on display. He was good at coding and understood how important coding was. He then found a problem. There was a lack of good coding camps on the market. This is where his entrepreneurial mind is displayed. Many people identify a problem, but he acted on it. At the age of 15, Ian McCue decided to create Spark Skill. Spark Skill is a camp that teaches students how to code. This camp gives students real programming knowledge at a fair price. Instead of cramming a bunch of students into one room with poor computers. Spark Skill maintains an 8:1 student-to-teacher ratio to maximize the amount of individual assistance each student receives. He found problems with the way that STEM camps and addressed them in his unique way. Ian is an inspiration because he demonstrates how it doesn’t matter how young you are, if you find a problem you can start your own business to solve that problem at any age.

Information found at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/robynshulman/2017/08/01/how-this-15-year-old-teenager-built-a-profitable-edtech-business-in-1-year/?sh=b8ee7dc26c6d

Athena Kan is a successful young Entrepreneur. She is only 24 years old and is an owner of a successful company named Dreambound. Dreambound is an organization that helps people achieve certification in different fields. She and her team created Dreambound because they realized it was difficult for people to achieve upward mobility in life. She learned this from watching her father, an immigrant, struggling to make ends meet throughout her childhood. She ended up going to Harvard and decided to address this issue. It was hard for people to learn the skills needed to achieve the certifications for their desired careers. What Dreambound does is it allows people to take certification classes on their own time online at a more reasonable price. Athena Kan clearly demonstrates entrepreneurial thinking. She saw a need. People were unable to achieve certifications easily. She saw this affecting those she loved and she wanted to change it. Instead of being daunted by the magnitude of the task, she embraced it. She created a company to address this problem and is now a millionaire at 24. Kan cleverly uses technology to make this industry easier. Instead of making people go to classes, why not let them take it on their own time? Kan is an inspiration to entrepreneurial thinkers. She saw a need that wasn’t being met and created a solution. Not only has she gained success for herself, but she has helped change the lives of many for the better. More people need to stop fearing failure and solve problems they see in out society as Kan did.

Robert Nay created Bubble Ball and Nay Gaming when he was only 14 years old. And he wasn’t a genius either. He found web design interesting and wanted to learn more. With no prior Coding or Web design experience before he creates Bubble Ball. Nay taught himself all the coding he needed at his local library and created his game in only one month. He had seen some games like it before but thought that he could do it better. Instead of letting someone else create a better app as most 14-year-olds would, he decided to take action into his own hands and do it himself. Bubble Ball ended up being a huge success it started out as a free-to-play game on the AppStore and slowly grew over time. He kept adding more and more levels and then ended up launching a pro version of the game that required purchase. His game was a huge success and even beat Angry Birds at one point for the #1 mobile game. A self-taught 14-year-old was able to create a #1 mobile game on the app store. Nay showed true Entrepreneurial talent when he decided to act on his idea instead of ignoring it. He chose to take action into his own hands and teach himself code. Nay is an inspiration to me and should be to everyone. It’s easy to think that creating a business requires too much money or expertise. But Nay proves us all wrong with bubble ball. He was able to teach himself to code and create Bubble Ball in a month. Think about what you could accomplish if you acted on your ideas instead of ignoring them. Be like Nay. 

Sources:

https://www.fundera.com/blog/kid-entrepreneurs

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/robert-nay-bubble-ball-14-year-old-built-iphone-app_n_910170

Hart Main is now a 25-year-old, but when he was a 13-year-old kid he saw an opportunity and became a very successful Entrepreneur. It all started when he was 13 he wanted a better bike for his Triathlons. He unconsciously saw a need when he was making fun of his sister. He commented on how candles are too girly and that there aren’t any for guys. This led him to create Man Can a candle line for men. He made the candles himself and put them into a soup can. This idea took off and he ended up making a lot more money than the $1,200 he needed for his Bike. Main didn’t keep all of the money to himself either. The candles in the soup can led to an opportunity for him to give back to his community. He donates $.75 to soup kitchens for every single candle that is purchased. While it might seem like a fun lighthearted idea, Hart Main showed the traits of an Entrepreneur at the young age of 13. He saw a need and an opportunity. The candle market was flooded with different brands, but he found a way to create a market of his own. He noticed that there weren’t any candles for men and he rectified that problem. Hart Man really is an inspiration to young people all over the world. It’s easy to get trapped in the mindset that you are too young and you don’t have enough money to become a successful entrepreneur. But Hart Main shows us firsthand that if you see a need and you take action, you can have a successful business running for as low as a $100 investment. 

Sources:

https://www.timesreporter.com/story/news/local/2015/07/21/young-entrepreneur-hart-main-17/985981007/

https://www.investopedia.com/10-successful-young-entrepreneurs-4773310