Help your teenage entrepreneur

WHEN it comes to making money, a lot of young people have the will to start their own thing but are stumped by where to find the funding.

Starting a venture with little or no funding, while juggling school, can be difficult. Here are some guidelines you can use to help your teenager take the first step towards entrepreneurship.

Think carefully about your immediate community’s needs or zoom in on a passion. This could be the neighbourhood you live in or your school or university. What are some of the things community members need? What do your peers constantly complain about? Finding a gap in the market will help you define the product or service you can supply.

It’s important to help your teen realise that the need might not necessarily be one that’s tangible, like a product. Perhaps they can start a YouTube channel that’s dedicated to spreading good news about their community, or they can share their hobbies with the world. The most important thing is to help them find their unique angle.

The first step in starting a business it to assess whether it is worth their while. If, for instance, your teen decides to sell hot chocolate, they need to consider the cost of buying the hot chocolate, cups, stirrers and sugar and determine what profit they could expect to earn.

Resources such as teenpodcast.com, teenageentrepreneur.com and teenbusiness.com will help them navigate the administrative side of business ownership.

Another aspect to consider is any restrictions on business activity. Some schools don’t allow pupils to run businesses on the premises.

If you can’t offer to mentor them as a parent, perhaps you can help your teen connect with businesspeople in your circle or community.