Show notes from podcast episode 62.
Maybe you’re in high school or younger. Maybe your child is in high school or younger.
What steps can I take right now to prepare myself for entrepreneurship and what businesses could I possibly explore starting as a youngster?
I’ve told the story of how I became an entrepreneur in 7th grade. I was 13 years old.
My father’s company owned a few shopping centers in town and the old guy who mowed the grass for them had a minor heart attack and his doctor told him he couldn’t mow anymore. So my dad volunteered his 13 year old son to pick up about 8 hours a week of mowing. 4 commercial properties and 2 apartment complexes.
I was WAY too young to be in charge of something like that so it became my parent’s headache in a way. My mom drove me to the jobs and charged me $10 per hour for her time. It was 95 and sunny the first day and I chopped up a bunch of trash because I didn’t know to pick it up before I started. I cried and complained and told my dad I hated the job and wanted to quit. He didn’t let me quit.
I got the hang of it a few weeks later. I hired a high school student to drive me to the jobs the next summer. The rest is history. Is this what I recommend you do? Probably not. A 7th grader shouldn’t be put through that kind of treatment.
But hey. I learned invoicing. I learned a profit and loss statement. I learned how to deal with problems and complaints and I learned to talk to and sell to other customers as I picked up jobs and grew the business. I learned how to work with my hands and fix my mowers and have the confidence to do those things. I went to college with $40k in my bank account. I started a business in college. I’m not super rich and I’m not anything special but my life is way better now than it would have been if my dad wouldn’t have volunteered me for that job as a 13 year old.
I’m 100% certain that an entrepreneurial spirit begins in the household and at a young age. Just like the families that talk about money and have a conversation around money raise kids that are financially responsible the same is true in business. Learning to be curious about businesses and their profits and how they work as you walk around life doesn’t happen automatically. It takes influence.
While I think starting a small business would be great experience there are two things that I think you should really try to master whether that is through entrepreneurship or not:
Learn to sell. Learn how to communicate with people. Learn how to get out of your comfort zone. Learn how to break through barriers and create a connection with people no matter the circumstance. So many of your peers are afraid to talk on the phone let alone try to sell something. Work on your communication and your persuasion skills.
Become “handy”. Work on stuff mechanically. Learn to change oil. Learn to tune up a lawn mower. Learn to cut and build with wood. Learn to look at a malfunctioning machine of any kind and diagnose it and repair it. Power wash the deck. Fix the leaky faucet. Clean the gutters. Shampoo the carpet. Clean the filters in the HVAC unit.
If you can do these things you’ll have a huge leg up when you get your drivers license and can start a local small business.
Taking it one step further in high school consider getting a summer job or internship with a tradesmen. Electrician, carpenter, HVAC technician, plumber, welder. Learning skills like this will be an insurance policy for the rest of your life as you could go get a job for $30/hr anytime you wanted.
Starting a business with just a little bit of skill involved is a great way to earn really good money if you wanted just a one man shop and really limit competition if you do decide to grow and build a business. Niche carpentry like trim carpentry, closet building, bar building, cabinetry installation, deck building etc.
Here is a list of businesses that I think are appropriate for high school aged kids:
- Lawn care
- Power washing
- Window cleaning
- Deck staining
- Driveway sealing
- Gutter cleaning
- Home cleaning
- Carpet shampooing
- Painting
- Car detailing
- Firewood sales / delivery
- Pool services
- Pet grooming or care
- Event DJing
- Dog poop removal (people get on monthly plans for this)
- Dog training
- Videography
- Furniture assembly
- Food carts
- Closet building
If you yourself are in high school or younger learn how to sell and learn how to work with your hands. Experiment with business if your parents are okay with that and talk to them about it.
Starting a business while you’re a student affords you a number of advantages. The main advantage is that you’re still on your parents payroll. The pressure to earn hasn’t hit you yet. The skills you’ll learn are valuable in the workforce. You aren’t wasting your time when it comes to making yourself more valuable. I learned more about life, relationships and money in 5 years running that lawn care business than I did getting an Ivy League degree. As a youngster you’ve got nothing to lose. You don’t have a family to feed. You don’t have a mortgage to pay. You don’t have a nest egg to protect.
Business is a snowball. It takes years to get momentum but once you get it it can take off at an exponential rate. Just like saving for retirement the earlier you can start the better off you’ll be.
If you are a parent who wants to encourage entrepreneurship it starts in the household. Talk to your kids about business. Have that conversation. Teach your kids to sell and get comfortable where most kids are uncomfortable. Don’t raise antisocial kids buried behind computer screens. Raise kids that can look you in the eye and get excited during a conversation. Raise kids that aren’t afraid and can figure out how to fix a flat tire on the side of the road instead of calling triple A.
I don’t recommend being as forceful as my dad was but get their minds working and see if a curiosity develops and then nurture that and engage it if you believe its important.
All the best!