Most students at the university and college level have worked their first job; many of them have worked multiple. Getting that first job is a traditional milestone. Its often directly associated with turning 16. There’s a well-defined expectation from the get-go. Turn 16, get a first job. Its formulaic and somewhat easy to understand.
Entrepreneurship, on the other hand, doesn’t come packaged with the same conventional guidance. Starting your own business isn’t a necessary step in young adulthood. It’s a decision. A very intentional and (for many) scary decision.
There is an undeniable desire among the youth to start a business. Junior Achievement USA, an organization dedicated to educating and equipping the youth for economic success; explores this very matter. They surveyed 1000 American teenagers aged 13-17 and found that 60 per cent would rather start their business than work a “traditional” job.
Where does this desire come from? We had the chance to sit down with three young business owners, Christina Sakelaris, Trevor Opsal and Jerel T; asking them why they started their businesses.
Christina Sakelaris,22, is the founder and sole operator of “TO Finds.” We spoke to Christina about the origins of her clothing business.
“I source vintage clothing and curate it. I pick out clothing from second-hand stores or thrift stores to fit a certain style and resell it on my Instagram page. People pay for me to go out and look for vintage pieces. This is definitely a passion project. I’ve always had a passion for vintage clothing. An eye for it. Originally I would just collect for personal use. But it got to a point where I purchased too many and desperately needed to let go of a few pieces. Let’s just sell a few shirts quickly turned into a somewhat steady income. I’ve kept it going for about a year and a half now.” said Christina.
Jerel T., 20, independently sells his homemade paintings.
“I’ve been painting since grade school. My paintings have always reflected my interests and hobbies at different points in my life. My third-grade paintings were all Star Wars and Jurrasic Park; they’ve obviously matured a bit since then. Now I take requests from people; because I’ve built a sort of consistent community online. I’ve been selling my paintings since I was in Grade 12, so I want to say three years now. I enjoy it.” said Jerel.
Trevor Opsal, 22, sells sports cards and memorabilia.
“Spxrts Cards (name of company) is my personal side business and its something I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid. I seek out and buy as many sports cards, mostly hockey and basketball; and sell them based on value, hype and even live-games in the sports world,” said Trevor.
All three interviewees shared a connection between a personal interest and their business. Perhaps a first answer to our question of Why? More specifically, why take the risks? There is ample research that suggests a startup business won’t survive. Luisa Zhou is a business mentor and teacher for young and thriving entrepreneurs. She graduated from Princeton University and currently resides in New York City. Her research found that 9 out of 10 startups fail within the first year. Surely there’s something to take away from a young person’s willingness to disregard adversity/unlikelihood.
We asked our interviewees what advice they would give to readers interested in starting their own businesses.
“Network! Don’t think you have to or should go into this alone. In my case, the prices of vintage clothes going up made it harder to source my business. Connecting with more experienced sellers allowed me to learn from them. Also, use every social media possible! When I started I put all my eggs in one basket with Instagram. Expanding to TikTok and Facebook has really helped me grow.”, shared Christina.
“Be prepared to see little to no results at first. That’s okay. I definitely got upset about it at the start, but one person loving your product is enough to make you forget about ten people who said no to it.”, said Jerel.
“I would say use social media as much as possible, make it your friend. It can be your enemy if you let it. Use it to reach out to people who can, like help you and ignore those who do the opposite.”, said Trevor.
Interviewing these three future Dragon’s Den contestants was telling. The passion and willingness they had to speak about their businesses was unlike the usual look-at-ground monotone “I’ve got work tomorrow” that we’re ever so used to. Regardless of age, starting a business requires innovation and adaptability. As intimidating as the entrepreneurial world may be; there can be some comfort knowing that it is never too early, nor too late to start.
