Most of the successful people in business today started when they were young, many as teenage entrepreneurs. This is because this is the stage when ideas are fresh and the drive to succeed is at its highest level. For teenagers, now is the best time to start your own business venture. Experts say starting a business when you are young will increase your chances of succeeding, considering the luxury of time you have. There are fewer distractions such as family, job and adult obligations.
Teenage entrepreneurs are people who start working early. In their teenage years, they are already owners of their own businesses or preparing to launch something. Teenage entrepreneurs are available in different industries and sectors. Their success rate is also enviable. Many studies and research among the teenagers of different schools and places have revealed that most of them want to be an entrepreneur or do something of their own at sometime of their life. This desire to do something makes the teenage entrepreneurs to take the first steps towards entrepreneurship. Without this desire, no one can succeed.
Successful business owners need to give back by fostering the development of a new crop of young entrepreneurs. Mentoring is a vital tool to teach youngsters how to navigate the tricky waters of business, and established entrepreneurs can provide this support in association with past students’ associations, service clubs and church ministries.
A youthful mind is generally an imaginative mind, not yet constrained by the restrictions imposed by age. This can lead to ingenuity and ground-breaking ideas, yet many young entrepreneurs fall at the first hurdle due to the perception that their product or service will never be funded or supported. Hence, if you have an idea, seek an opportunity and seize it! Young entrepreneurs tend to take a unique view of business and create a positive reality through their innate optimism and enthusiasm. For example, many start-up businesses would see the current financial climate as being a far from ideal time to form a company. Yet through finding a unique business niche, and founding business concepts on diverse lateral thinking, a young entrepreneur can turn the present market to his or her advantage.
Along with mentoring, I encourage progressive business owners to consider providing venture capital support to young persons with solid business ideas. This financial assistance and managerial support will help to ensure a higher success rate among youth entrepreneurs.
The government should also look at establishing business incubators for young entrepreneurs where they can receive individual guidance, continuous business training, support facilities and tax incentives.
As we all know, it is the dream of every young person to become a tycoon before he becomes old. Though this may look like a mountain to some youth, it is possible when one becomes part of the young entrepreneurs. An entrepreneur is person who begins an enterprise and thus links capital to labour. Young entrepreneurs start ventures and are ready to meet financial risks before they succeed. Since young entrepreneurs are highly regarded in nearly all communities their access to tax exceptions, inexpensive capital and management advice is often made easier. Entrepreneurs are often driven by desire to come up with new things, making them tangible.
Since entrepreneurship can be quite risky if not well planned, it may lead to a failure in new ventures. Entrepreneurs will be required to seek market opportunities before exploiting them. They must however be ready to organize their resources in an effective manner. They should realise that entrepreneurs are required to have good working relations with various people like the customers, vendors, professionals and vendors.
Christian Ohanaka,
Department of Mass Communication,
University of Maiduguri
