Kid Entrepreneurs Who Have Already Built Successful Businesses (And How You Can Too)

Do kids have an advantage or disadvantage when it comes to starting and building a company? It depends on how you look it. Juggling school, friends, family and other aspects of childhood and adolescence comes with its own requirements, but perhaps this is the best age to start. “Being an entrepreneur means having to learn, focus, and connect to people and these are all traits that are valuable throughout life. Learning this when you are young is especially crucial, and will set you up for success and to be more open to other opportunities,” says billionaire investor, Shark Tank personality and author Mark Cuban. Here are some of the most successful kidpreneurs who have cashed in on their hobbies, interests and needs to start and grow million dollar businesses borne from passion and innovation: Isabel and Caroline Bercaw Alina Morse Abby Kircher Haile Thomas Rachel Zietz Maya Penn Ryan Kelly Isabella Rose Taylor Rabia Ghoor Tony McPherson Shubham Banerjee Isabella Dymalovski Logan Guleff Kiara Nirghin Erin Fredericks and Morgan Pelser 1. Isabel and Caroline Bercaw are selling over 500 000 bath bombs a month Vital Stats: Kid Entrepreneur: Isabel and Caroline Bercaw Age: 16 and 17 Business: daBomb Bath Fizzers Teen sisters Isabel and Caroline aren’t your average high schoolers – they operate a multimillion dollar bath bomb company, daBomb Bath Fizzers launched when they were just 10 and 11 years old. Their booming business sells handmade bath bombs that transform your bath into a luxurious spa experience by fizzing and releasing essential oils and fragrances. The Bercaw sisters’ products are available in over 7 000 stores across 38 states in the US. There are no limits to how successful you can be “You are never too young (or too old) to accomplish something,” they say of their entrepreneurial journey. “We've put in a lot of hard work to get where we are, but it can be broken down into several thousand smaller bits of work. And those bits add up. So just go for it.” Related: Watch List: 50 Top SA Business Women To Watch 2. Alina Morse’s successful (and sugar-free) sweet factory Vital Stats: Kid Entrepreneur: Alina Morse Age: 13 Business: Zollipops Stevia, xylitol and beetroot juice aren’t your typical building blocks for a lollipop, but Alina’s built a sweetly successful candy empire using these ingredients. Her fruit-flavoured lollipops – that her little sister, Lola, named Zollipops – are sweetened with a blend of sugar alternatives inspired by her awareness of sugar’s negative effect on teeth. So instead of giving up sweets in favour of dental health, in 2014 Alina started up her company using $7 500 of savings from her grandparents. Shortly after launching Zollipops, she appeared on Shark Tank , Good Morning America and NBC News . Alina’s sweet creation was soon available in-store at Whole Foods and SuperValu and online on Amazon – and she has since introduced Zolli Drops sugar-free peppermints. Over 10% of her profits go to organisations dedicated to reducing the impact of childhood tooth decay. Perseverance produces progress “Always keep asking questions. You can do anything if you work hard, try and believe in yourself and never give up!” says Alina. Related: Watch List: 50 Black African Women Entrepreneurs To Watch 3. Abby Kircher’s nut butter skyrocketed to the shelves of 35 stores in less than a year Vital Stats: Kid Entrepreneur: Abby Kircher Age: 18 Business: Abby’s Better Nut Butter At 14 years old, Abby was struggling with her weight decided to bolster her efforts with not only a regular exercise routine on a workout DVD but better eating habits. She embarked on a natural nutritional plan that excluded one of her favorite foods: Peanut butter. Instead of giving up nut butter altogether, Abby south to satisfy her cravings in a healthier way – almond butter. While she enjoyed plain almond butter, the lack in variety and flavour in grocery stores gave her the idea of launching he own brand of nut butters in a variety of tasty flavours. You can have fun while working towards success “It is incredibly rewarding to know that I am doing something useful with my time while working for my future and the future of others,” says Abby. “I always hope that my butters will be an inspiration to people (especially younger people) to have a healthier, longer life, without losing the pleasure and fun along the way.” Related: Watch List: 11 Teen Entrepreneurs Who Have Launched Successful Businesses 4. Haile Thomas healthy habits are rubbing off on more than 15 000 kids Vital Stats: Kid Entrepreneur: Haile Thomas Age: 17 Business: HAPPY ( Healthy Active Positive Purposeful Youth ) When she was 12 years old Haile was inspired to launch HAPPY after her family successfully reversed her father’s type-2 diabetes solely through healthy eating and lifestyle choices. Her business was founded to address the need for affordable plant-based nutrition especially for children who are also increasingly being diagnosed with conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. As the youngest Certified Integrative Health Coach in the United States, Haile’s nationally recognised programmes, projects, and initiatives, engage, educate, and empower the youth to make healthy lifestyle choices. She believes that it's never too early to start living well. Trailblazers are the best success stories “Best advice I’ve ever received is to be a leader, not a follower.” Related: Watch List: 20 SA Tech Entrepreneurs Making It Big In The Industry 5. Rachel Zietz made a million dollars in her first year of selling sporting equipment Vital Stats: Kid Entrepreneur: Rachel Zietz Age: 17 Business: Gladiator Lacrosse At just 13 years old, Rachel launched her premium line of durable lacrosse equipment after struggling to acquire lacrosse gear that was sturdy enough to withstand regular rigorous practice. Gladiator Lacrosse is now worth over $1 million. The athletic teen’s parents and younger brother are also entrepreneurs, helping her with the smarts to rack up $200 000 in revenue within her first year in business. It wasn’t long before Rachel she was on track to bank $1 million in earnings. Passion leads to productive success “My advice to any aspiring young entrepreneurs is to make sure whatever you do, you are passionate about it,” says Rachel. “Passion is the key to success and it is what drives you to work through obstacles and challenges in your way.” Related: Watch List: 15 SA eCommerce Entrepreneurs Who Have Built Successful Online Businesses 6. Maya Penn went from 10-year-old prodigy, to teenage CEO Vital Stats: Kid Entrepreneur: Maya Penn Age: 18 Business: Maya’s Ideas Award-winning founder and CEO, eco-designer, three-time TED Speaker, global activist, social entrepreneur, filmmaker, philanthropist, and author – at just 18 years old. When Maya was just 10, she started her sustainable fashion brand, Maya’s Ideas, after discovering how the chemical dyes in clothing harm people and the planet. “I thought, how can helping the environment tie into my business? I immediately knew it had to be eco-friendly,” says the teenager, who has been featured in Forbes, Ebony, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur US, on Fox 5 News and Oprah. With perseverance and self-belief, you can realise even the biggest of goals “Start an idea journal where you can write down all of your ideas for your business. Whether it’s a small thought that crosses your mind or the next big idea, it’s important to have it written down,” says Maya. “Also, you have to believe in yourself and what you’re doing. Don’t get discouraged if things are going slower than you expected. And don’t give up too quickly.” Related: Watch List: 50 Top SA Small Businesses To Watch 7. Ryan Kelly’s dog treats business went from $800 in sales to six figures Vital Stats: Kid Entrepreneur: Ryan Kelly Age: 16 Business: Ry’s Ruffery Ry’s Ruffery, formerly Ryan’s Barkery, currently has six figure sales, but there was a time when the teenager’s fresh all natural canine dog treats business was an idea presented by a 10-year-old to investors on Shark Tank . He walked away with $25 000. After adopting his first pet, a dog he named Barkely, from the shelter, Ryan realised that the dog treats he’d just bought for his new friend weren’t up to par. He consulted vets, experimented with various dog-friendly flavours, and got to work in his mother's kitchen to produce quality products Barkely loved. Soon he was waking up at 5am, baking every morning and delivering his all-natural product to pet shops. Capability has nothing to do with age “I would tell any kid that wants to start their own business to never let anyone tell them what they can’t do. Just because we’re young doesn’t mean we aren’t capable and smart,” says Ryan. “We just see things differently, and that’s not always bad.” Related: Watch List: 50 Top SA Black Entrepreneurs To Watch 8. Isabella Rose Taylor’s passion for fashion has made her sew successful Vital Stats: Kid Entrepreneur: Isabella Rose Taylor Age: 17 Business: Isabella Rose Taylor After attending a sewing camp as an 8-year-old primary-schooler, Isabella’s life changed forever. She discovered her passion, and five years later, she had her own clothing line at the popular American-based department store Nordstrom. Shortly afterwards, Isabella debuted her creations at New York Fashion Week as the youngest designer to show there. Running what she calls ‘the business of her dreams’ has enabled Taylor to branch out into Fashion Marketing, which she studies at Parsons School of Design. In 2017 she launched her new home decor line. Hustle hard to turn your ambitions into reality “I feel our generation is wanting to take control of our destiny and is doing that by starting businesses and hustling to make our dreams come true,” says Isabella. “I think my customers, and my generation, are extremely smart, savvy, creators, dreamers, and hustlers.” Related: Seed Capital Funding For South African Start-Up Businesses 9. Rabia Ghoor’s beauty business is booming as her ambitions bloom Vital Stats: Kid Entrepreneur: Rabia Ghoor Age: 18 Business: SwiitchBeauty Rabia launched SwiitchBeauty with a R6 000 loan from her father in her pocket and a passion for make-up in her heart. She was just 14 and in grade 9. Today, her make-up and skincare business is her full-time priority since she left school to focus on SwiitchBeauty’s striking success. Her first quarter turnover in 2018 was six figures and her Pretoria-based business is distributing over 3000 orders monthly. SwiitchBeauty celebrated its third birthday in 2018, the same year that Ghoor turned 18. Hype up your product before you even launch your business “Build up a following even if you don’t have a product yet,” says Rabia. “Get as many people in your industry interested and when you do launch the product they will trust you enough to become customers.” Related: How Teenpreneur Rabia Ghoor Founded A Successful Business At The Age Of 14 10. Tony McPherson’s teenage dream led to heading up major marketing campaigns Vital Stats: Kid Entrepreneur: Tony McPherson Age: 18 Business: McPherson Consultancy Teenagers spend around eight hours a day on social media, who better to run social media marketing campaigns? This was 15-year-old Tony’s inspiration when he saw a gap in the market for his skills and started focusing on managing businesses’ social media platforms. As the business grew, he expanded his services to offer website building and structuring marketing campaigns. In 2018, he earned second place at the Youth Entrepreneur of the Year award of the Small and Medium Enterprise Association of South Africa (SMESA). No risk, no success “Step out there and take the chance; you will be surprised by the outcome,” says Tony. “If you don’t try, you’ll never know. I was hesitant and thought people would laugh at me because I was only 15 years old, but I took the chance. Get involved out there and just try.” Related: 10 Cheap Businesses You Can Start In South Africa That Offer Uniquely Local Relevance 11. Shubham Banerjee’s innovation reduced the price of Braille printers from $2 000 to less than $500 Vital Stats: Kid Entrepreneur: Shubham Banerjee Age: 16 Business: Braigo Labs A Lego Robotics kit helped a 13-year-old Shubham solve a decades-long problem holding back so many visually-impaired people around the world – the high cost of Braille printers. When he realised just how much these printers cost, Braigo Labs was born. Shubham’s business offers low-cost Braille printers. The latest model of his product automatically prints text from websites to translate it into Braille, using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. In 2014, Intel invested in his company, but he has no immediate plans to expand into other product categories. Real ambition doesn’t focus on the bottom line “The best advice I’ve ever received is to be humble, and also to innovate for the right reasons – money is not one of them.” Related: The Definitive List Of South African Business Incubators For Start-Ups 12. Isabella Dymalovski’s homemade skincare brand became a national natural treasure Vital Stats: Kid Entrepreneur: Isabella Dymalovski Age: 16 Business: Luv Ur Skin Australian teenager, Isabella, presented her idea on national television at just 13. Although her Shark Tank appearance came five years after she started Luv Ur Skin – a natural skincare line developed with botanical ingredients for girls – she impressed the investors enough to get mentorship for her business going forward. Isabella’s brand is now sold in more than 370 stores across Australia. As a dancer who performed concerts with heavy amounts of make-up on, Isabella consulted her mother’s chemist friends to create an early prototype of her product, after her mom warned her about the harshness of regular make-up remover. The Luv Ur Skin range today has expanded to include body lotion, lip gloss, nail polish and moisturisers. Keep trying and persevere “In our meetings, people would usually direct the questions to my mum, who’d say ‘I have no idea, ask her’” she says. “I had to prove that I knew all about the business, so it was hard trying to get over that barrier. The whole thing has been a challenge and an experience, and the key thing was to keep trying and persevere.” Related: A Comprehensive List Of Angel Investors That Fund South African Start-Ups 13. Logan Guleff made MasterChef history then opened his own supper club Vital Stats: Kid Entrepreneur: Logan Guleff Age: 16 Business: Logan’s Rub The youngest ever winner of MasterChef Junior, Logan has a line of spice blends called Logan’s Rub, which recently expanded to include steak and egg seasoning. The food entrepreneur also cooks for small parties in his underground supper club. The first recipe he ever created landed him in New York City where he appeared on the Today Show at just 8 years old. This paved the way for him to host about 25 local food demonstrations on live TV. In 2016 he was named one of the “Teen Entrepreneurs Who Are Changing The World” by Fortune Magazine. Put in the work, and the recognition will follow “I love when unexpected flavours come from two simple ingredients,” Logan says. “Like Dreaming Big and working hard. The magic is a creative explosion.” Related: The Ultimate 101 List Of Business Ideas To Start Your Own Business In South Africa 14. Kiara Nirghin has the answer to worldwide droughts, set to launch in 2020 Vital Stats: Kid Entrepreneur: Kiara Nirghin Age: 18 Business: No More Thirsty Crops A low-cost, biodegradable, super-absorbent polymer made out of orange and avocado peels is about to achieve what scientists spend their lives developing, but haven’t gotten right yet – an answer to drought in South Africa and 67% of the world. This forward-thinking game-changing idea, from South African teenager Kiara Nirghin, can soak up and retain large amounts of water like a sponge to combat drought. Kiara’s invention, No More Thirsty Crops, earned her the Google Science Fair Community Impact Award at the Google Science Fair at Google’s headquarters in California, giving her instant international credibility. Kiara recently signed a contract to begin research and mass development of her invention in partnership with an agricultural company. By 2020 her idea could be ready to start helping people. Don’t wait to advance in age – start now “It’s a misconception that just because you are young doesn’t mean you can’t stop or start something,” says Kiara. “You don’t have to wait till you are older.” Related: How To Build A Lot Of Wealth Starting From Zero 15. Erin Fredericks and Morgan Pelser are candy floss teen queens Vital Stats: Kid Entrepreneurs: Erin Fredericks and Morgan Pelser Age: 15 and 16 Business: Morgan’s Candy Floss When Morgan created a means to earn an extra income in primary school, an unconventional idea came to mind. It took six months for Morgan’s Candy Floss to start making her pocket money, but after paying off the machine and material stock she’d borrowed from a friend’s mother, she found sweet success. Morgan recruited her childhood friend Erin two years into opening up shop and found that partnership not only divided the work, but gave her more time to focus on other aspects of the business that needed to grow. Picking a partner for progression is a process “Everybody always seems interested until the real work starts and they have to work weekends or evenings,” she says. “Erin is very driven. She works hard and fast and is excellent under stress.” Related: 20 Quick Money-Making Business Ideas

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