Starting a Business From a Young Age: Where Could You Be Now If You Had Started Then?

Today, there is a common belief that young people under the age of 35 are more successful entrepreneurs than their older counterparts.

BNP Paribas has already come up with a name for a new generation of entrepreneurs – millennipreneurs. This generation, as it turned out, has better business acumen than entrepreneurs aged 50 and older. In total, BNP Paribas researchers surveyed 2,594 young entrepreneurs around the world.

According to the survey, young people start their first business on average at the age of 27.7 years. By the age of 35, they manage to create an average of 7.7 companies. Contrary to that, entrepreneurs in their 50s created their company for the first time at the age of about 35.

Every day more and more people around the globe are getting attracted by an entrepreneurial spirit, and many of them try their hand at starting their own business even before they are 30. Those who started a business at a more mature age often regret not starting earlier.

“To any entrepreneur: if you want to do it, do it now. If you don’t, you’re going to regret it.” – Catherine Cook, co-founder of MyYearbook.

So, why become an entrepreneur at a young age? Let’s look through the benefits of following this path.

Unlimited money-making opportunities

As a rule, in regular office work, there is always a certain “ceiling” for earnings. While such a fixed income can provide a certain level of stability, chances are your skills and efforts are not rewarded as much as you would like.

If you had started your own business from a young age, you would not have to limit your income to the salary for a particular position within the company. By starting your own business, you could feel the direct relationship between the effort you make and your income growth. So, your earnings could be only limited by your ambitions and self-motivation level.

More time for a business venture to mature

Making a business established takes a certain time. It may take years before you can be rest assured that your product or service is recognized widely.

So, the earlier your entrepreneurial journey starts, the more time you have to build the business you’ve dreamed of.

In case of failure, more time for trying again

In professional life, success sometimes gives way to failure. However, business failure is not always a bad thing as it can serve as a springboard to success.

Here is why:

• People who make mistakes often learn faster – when you fail, you learn what works and what doesn’t;
• Failure indicates what you need to change to be successful;
• Business failure fosters entrepreneurial personality traits – such as tenacity, persistence, and flexibility.

The earlier you get this valuable opportunity to fail and try again, the more time you have to discover the unique path that will lead you to success.

Up-to-date with the current trends

Typically speaking, younger generations have a strong understanding of the latest technologies and trends and are comfortable using social media. This combined knowledge, aptitude, and skill can greatly assist with business development. So, the earlier you start, the more literacy you will gain of the various facilities offered by modern technology.

Our advice is: don’t hesitate to use this advantage to start your own business now.

Acquiring soft skills earlier

Here is one more advantage that young entrepreneurs get: they acquire soft skills required for business success way earlier than their older peers may have.

As a leader, you need to master effective and harmonious communication with others to deliver better results. When starting your entrepreneurial path, you obtain communication skills, learn how to attract resources, improve your planning skills, and become prepared for stressful situations. Running a business helps teach you how to present your work.

Finally, you also gain a new understanding of how the world works, how to look for partners, employees, clients, and become prepared for future challenges.

Growing adaptability to changes

Today’s businesses operate in conditions of increasing complexity, uncertainty, and dynamic changes taking place in the external environment. The global pandemic of 2020/2021 is a bright illustration of how our world can change in an instant. Therefore, embracing change is critical to business success. To stay relevant and competitive, you need to keep adapting to the constantly changing environment.

Adaptability is a key skill of the modern entrepreneur, and it improves with years of experience. So, the earlier you start your own business, the more adaptable you become with years.

Young business founders who inspire with their success

Here are some inspiring examples of the success of today’s well-known business owners who started their companies while in their teens.

Matt Mullenweg

Matt Mullenweg, the creator of the WordPress platform, started his business at the age of 18 when he was working for CNET. At the age of 24, he decided to quit and started working closely with WordPress. Needless to say – that was the right decision.

Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of the most popular social network around the globe, founded Facebook at the age of 19. The company is still growing, it employs thousands of people, and Mark’s fortune is estimated at $114 billion.

Caroline and Isabel Bercaw

Caroline and IsabelBercaw, the creators of Da Bomb Bath, found inspiration in adding a toy in the middle of their homemade bath bombs when they were 11 and 12 respectively. Less than a decade later and with a huge order from Target leading the way, the sister hired their mom as CEO to help keep up with the $20 million family business.

Key takeaways

As we can see, the sooner your entrepreneurial journey begins, the better. Having started your own business from an early age, you get the following advantages:

• You don’t have to limit your revenue by a salary grid in this or that company;
• You have plenty of time to scale the successful results and to try again in case something goes wrong;
• You are increasingly technology-literate;
• You acquire soft skills that cannot always be obtained at office jobs;
• You improve your adaptability to market and life changes.

Thousands of young people around the world are dreaming of starting their own business, and a new URLYstartnew start-up that will soon be available for teens and adults to commit to making the entrepreneurial journey of a lifetime.

BIO:

Chris Vermeulen is the founder of www.URLYstart.com the entrepreneurship tool for kids that gamifies the start-up process with rewards, to create income-generating businesses online. Chris is also the CEO of a trading research firm www.TheTechnicalTraders.com

Photo by Paul Efe from Pexels