Archive for Youngest Entrepreneurs – Page 14

Are you Kidding?

Young entrepreneurs, such as seven year old Sebastian Martinez, keep proving that age is just a number. Martinez started his company at the age of five and two years later claims the title of CEO and philanthropist. His company, Are you Kidding, started with his innocent but extreme passion for collecting bright and wacky designed socks. His mom then suggested that he design his own. According to NBC, in 2014 Martinez made $15,000 in revenue from selling his specialty socks.

In 2015, the companies revenue has significantly increased and Are You Kidding is partnering with the American Cancer Foundation and donating money towards cancer research. In addition, the company donated 25% of their revenue last year to Discovery Arts, a charitable organization that brings art programs to children with serious illnesses.

Companies like Are You Kidding remind all entrepreneurs to be humble and always give back. Not only is Sebastian Martinez making a difference in his life, but is making an even bigger difference in the lives of those in need the most. A little donation goes a long way, and Martinez understands this, making him even more successful.

Sebastian Martinez, CEO, Are You Kidding?

Ordinary is Not an Expletive

 

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What is so remarkable about young entrepreneurship? Business planting does not necessarily take experience or other-worldly talent. John Magennis became a self made millionaire by the time he was 16. He did not earn his MBA at Yale or anything ridiculously difficult. All he did was pursue a passion: web design.

When Magennis was 14, he started making web sites for friends charging a forgiving price of $15. Eventually, as he gained recognition, he began charging more. Today, he charges anywhere in the range of $30,000 per web site. This young teenager taught himself how to design website and since it was a passion and hobby, it was not an overbearing task. Passion goes hand in hand with quality and Magennis delivers on both.

Students today can learn from his story because his is one of ordinary-ness. Everyone feels ordinary, but it is comforting to know that ordinary is not a bad thing. Web design is a playing field. Magennis goes head to head with some of the best. He is not heavily differentiated from competitors, but his work stands out for its quality and design. He exemplifies the new worker in the Conceptual Age. Understanding that skill can be taught  but passion is innate. Cultivate the passion and love of something–like John Magennis did–and you can be successful also.

Top 5 Coolest Young Entrepreneurs

1. Matthew Mullenweg – estimated wort: $250 million

After dropping out of college, Mullenweg invented Automattic, the brains behind web software such as WordPress, Akismet, Gravatar, VaultPress, IntensePoll Debate, etc. There is no doubt the system is effective for entrepreneurs, mommy blogs, and Grove City Students- WordPress alone powers 22% of the world’s top 10 million websites, netting $160 million.

www.wordpress.com

2. David Schottensteinestimated worth:  $52 million

Starting at age 12, David began innovating with his own cigar business. After being shut down (dads ruin everything) he continued looking for his passions in life while attending a private school in Venice. David noticed his fascination for men’s business ware. He opened Astor & Black, a company selling custom made bespoke clothing- only 21 at the time. Today, his suits are typically $895 and are sold all over the world to corporate executives, famous athletes, and celebrities.

www.Astor & Black.com

3. Sean Belnick – estimated worth: $50 million

Bizchair, an office furniture manufacturing company, began in the 14 year old Sean Belnick’s bedroom. Once graduating college, Sean could take the reins as CEO to expand Bizchair into the fastest growing, privately owned company. Environmentally friendly, it is predicted Bizchair will decrease carbon monoxide emissions by 757.4 tons/year and 3.0 tons/year of sulfur dioxide emissions.

www.bizchair.com

4. Catherine Cook – estimated worth: $20 million

Catherine and her brother, David, played together in their small New Jersey home by setting up pretend libraries and renting out the books to their parents for a small fee. By the time she was 15, Catherine and David had created myyearbook.com, an online, interactive yearbook for high schoolers to meet new people. By 2011 the company grew from 400 active members to 32.7 million. In 2011 Catherine and David sold the site in a merger for $150 million.

www.myyearbook.com

5. Susan Gregg-Koger – estimated worth: $15 million

As a freshman in college, Susan partnered with her now husband Eric to create Modcloth, an online retailer specializing in vintage-inspired and indie clothing, accessories, and decor. Seven years later, Modcloth was the fastest growing retailer in the country and employed 350 people. By 2012 the site had over $100 million in retail sales. In 2014 it was the first clothing retailer to sign an anti-Photoshop, promising to avoid using Photoshop in company advertisements.

www.modcloth.com

Adam Horwitz: 18-Years-Old, $1.5 Million, 3 Days

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I love reading about any young entrepreneurs, but I’m especially captivated by extravagant success stories. 18-year-old Adam Horwitz has one of those. In just 3 days, his online course “Mobile Monopoly” made him $1.5 million.

In an interview with Income Diary, Adam explains that he first got interested in digital entrepreneurship when his father took him to a seminar about online marketing one day.  “That kind of opened the doors to me to see that there is potential out there for making money online,” he says.

Before “Mobile Monopoly”, Adam sold a few other online courses, such as his courses “Tycoon Cash Flow” and “Cell Phone Treasure.”  Each made him around $100,000.  “Mobile Monopoly” was his first million dollar program.

His success sounds unreal and unmatchable, but he lives by business principles that are actually pretty simple.  He says that his biggest tip to anyone in the online world is to take their business one step at a time.  “I think a lot of people’s struggle is they set up like eight different campaign [at once].”  Instead, he urges people to start with one and wait until it is successful before they spread their focus out to other projects. “If you just do a bunch of different products… you’re not going to make a sale for any of them.”

His other big tip is just as simple — make your content easy to consume.  People have short attention spans, especially when going through information-intensive courses like the ones Adam makes.  “The best way to do it is through video,” he says. “[People] don’t want to read a lot, they want to watch you talk.” I think this can be applied to anything.  I feel the same way about websites and social media posts — I’d rather see a video or an infographic than lines and lines of dull words.  If it looks like an essay, I’m probably going to click out.  People are busy and they want to hear what they need to hear quickly and easily.

The last point that stood out to me was how Adam views all of his success.  When asked if he likes being his own boss, he said that he doesn’t even think about it like that.  “I don’t think of this as work. This is fun, this is what I’m doing.”

Adam is in college like all of us in Entrepreneurial Mind. His friends have minimum wage jobs while he has made over a million dollars, simply because he had an idea and the drive to do something about it.  I think Adam showcases the possibility and opportunity of entrepreneurship, specifically digital entrepreneurship.  He’s a reminder to me that being successful is always possible, no matter what your age, other commitments, or circumstances.

Entrepreneurship has no Age

As I began to research entrepreneurs, it came to my attention that there are no requirements to having a creative mind. Anyone is capable of being an entrepreneur and long as you are capable of defining a problem and then establishing a valuable solution. This concept became very clear to me when I stumbled upon an article about a young boy named Hart Main.

Hart is only 14 years old but that is plenty old enough to understand that there was a problem. The problem he was determined to address was that there were no manly scented candles. Originally he was simply teasing his sister about selling girly scented candles for a fundraiser, but then he realized she was selling feminine scents because those were the only scents that existed.

All Hart did was put in an initial investment of $100 and his parents chipped in $200 and then the three of them worked together to make the idea a reality. Today, the company is called ManCans and these candles come in many different scents, of which include: campfire, sawdust, bacon, fresh cut grass, and grandpa’s pipe. These candles are being sold in over 60 stores across the country and have sold over 9,000 units so far.

Reading about Hart Main really made me think. There is no reason why someone cannot be an entrepreneur; all you have to do is set your mind to it and be willing to ask for help when needed. If Hart can do it at age 14, I can do it at age 20.

 

 

ManCan

Hart Main is a 14-year old that came up with the idea of manly scented candles when he was teasing his sister about the girly scented ones she was selling for a school fundraiser. Although she didn’t expect him to fully pursue the manly scented candles idea himself, he did, and the idea has turned into a nationwide success. Main put in an initial investment of $100, his parents put in $200, and they all worked together to develop the candles as a group. The available scents include: Campfire, Bacon, Sawdust, Fresh Cut Grass, Grandpa’s Pipe and more. Today, ManCans candles are in over 60 stores across the country and have sold about 9,000 units. Main will stick with selling ManCans’ inventory until he has to shift his focus back into school in the fall. I mean, he is only 14 after all. I think this is a cute and inspiring story of a young entrepreneur. It just goes to show that you can never be too young to begin a business on your own. Also this story is an example of the random moments that life changing ideas can pop into your head. Go ManCan!

 

Miss O and Friends

A 10-year-old Juliette Brindak came up with an idea of ‘Miss O and Friends’ when she was just 10 years old. Unlike just about every person her age, she used her entrepreneurial instincts to actually create something out of her idea, which is how Miss O and Friends came into existence.

‘Miss O’ was one of the characters from a series of drawing-based characters called the ‘Cool Girls’ aimed to be positive role models for young girls and teens. Brindak created the characters herself, and spurred by their popularity, her family helped her with her venture – her mother, who was a graphic designer by profession, drew the characters, while her father, a business man, helped set up and look at the business side of things. Brindak launched Miss O and Friends in 2005 based on the popular characters. The website is a ‘for girls, by girls’ website where girls can seek advice from a supportive community, and play flash games.

Books based on the Miss O characters have sold over 100,000 copies. In 2008, Procter and Gamble invested in Miss O and Friends. The company was valued at $15 million! In 2011, the site was ranked the third largest girls-only website! Today, the website generates 10 million monthly visits – which is 20 times the traffic it generated when it was created.

A now-23 year old Brindak, who remains the CEO of the company, uses different methods to keep on top of what tweens are looking for today, and makes it possible for girls to see their favorite celebrities and musicians play live by offering all-expense paid trips for them!

I Picked this Four You

When Grove City College student Adrienne Scrima began discovering four-leaf clovers frequently, she didn’t think much of it. But this summer Adrienne thought she would turn these chance happenings into a small business. She sells the dried clovers on Etsy for seventy-five cents each, and she makes magnets for three dollars. The magnets consist of a four-leaf clover glued onto the inside of a metal bottle cap with a magnet on the back. Adrienne is able to advertise the magnets as being made with recycled bottle caps.

The benefit of operating her business, named I Picked this Four You, out of Etsy is that she can reach people from all over the world. Adrienne has shipped orders to many different states because people find her by searching on Etsy when they are looking for clovers for a specific project. Most purchases are for gifts, though recently Adrienne received an order that was intended to play a part in a real-estate marketing campaign.

One thing that might become an issue with Adrienne’s business model is that it has limited sustainability. She can only sell as many clovers as she and her friends can find. Because of this, she has not engaged in large-scale marketing. Since it is cold and snowy in Grove City for a large part of the year, this might be a seasonal business.

Adrienne was on my freshman hall last year, and I am impressed by the way that she thought to turn an occurrence such as finding four-leaf clovers into a business.

You can find Adrienne’s Etsy store here: I Picked this Four You.

Mo’s Bows

Meet Moziah Bridges.

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Moziah, Mo for short, is a young entrepreneur who started Mo’s Bows, a one-man bow tie business, at the age of ten in Memphis Tennessee.  Mo has always loved looking good and fashion, but became frustrated when he could not find the fashionable ties he hoped to.  Mo started making his own ties when his grandmother taught him when he was nine.  Since then, Moziah has earned over $30,000 selling Mo’s Bows on Etsy and from his website.  The bow ties are also found in boutiques in Tennessee, Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, South Carolina and Arkansas.  Moziah has high hopes to expand his business to include neck ties, pocket squares, and other accessories for men. 

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Moziah is an inspirational young entrepreneur.  His innovation and energy to develop this business at such a young age is really astonishing.  Mo found a problem in the bow tie industry and has definitely succeeded in his solution of the problem with Mo’s Bows.  His positive attitude and plans to enhance his company and expand also shows great promise for Mo’s future. 

You’re Never Too Young

Asia Newson

Asia Newson is a 10 year old known as “Detroit’s youngest and cutest entrepreneur”.  Her business is called Super Business Girl and she is quickly gaining support and advertising in her young endeavor.  Check out this link to find out about Asia’s business venture:

Asia’s Advertising

Business Plan

Asia sells candles with her dad, and has big plans for her future.  The young entrepreneur of Super Business Girl uses her business to help other kids like her to earn and learn the value of money.  She is described as being an outspoken young girl who is able to keep her employees focused and working hard.

Asia dreams of being the mayor of Detroit, and further the President of the United States.  She has gained great publicity with her candle business and certainly has the support as she continues to work toward her goals.

Inspiration

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Asia Newson inspires others with her entrepreneurial spirit.  She definitely proves that you can never be too young to start your own business.  At the age of 10, Asia has already gained a lot of support with customers as well as advertising in her local scope of Detroit.  Asia encourages others to chase their dreams and goals in the business world as well.