The Making of a Young Entrepreneur: Entrepreneurial Strategies for Young Start-Ups

I’d like to begin this series by sharing that you’re never too young to start thinking and acting like an entrepreneur. In this ever-changing, fast-paced society we are witnessing how fast our children are learning. With the tools and technology that continue to transform our world, Gen Z are consuming information in new and innovative ways that makes the ease of learning more accessible than ever before. We are also seeing a generation of baby boomers around the world that are launching businesses for the first time in amazing numbers. Quite an interesting phenomenon how a teenager and a 60-year-old are both jumping into something new even though they are worlds apart in age and experience. I guess we can call that the new normal.

In this blog series we will dive into the main messages of motivation, ideation, insight and success strategies for a diverse audience seeking to grow their own enterprise or start a business venture from scratch. To begin, I would like to offer a summary of suggestions that I know will help you succeed more in business or simply put—prepare you before you start your entrepreneurial journey.

Explore: As a young and aspiring young entrepreneur, don’t think too much about what you want to do, just do it!  While it’s important to plan, too many times we over analyze every detail and never start-up. Work towards being a problem solver or creating something that is missing in your community. As a parent, the last thing you want to do is to limit your child by not encouraging them to take risks and to continuously try new things. When children are exploring, don’t be dream killer. In fact, we want to give them the freedom to dream and explore. The best thing adults can do is to join youth by fostering invention, creative thinking, social entrepreneurship and innovation. The later plays a major role for business start-up, especially for young people. In fact, entrepreneurs tend to be natural innovators.

Be a Doer; Not a Dreamer: To be an entrepreneur requires more than a good idea! As it has been said, “the critical ingredient is getting off your buttocks and doing something.”. It’s as simple as that! We all have ideas – – some decent, some good, some great, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Tomorrow may be too late. Like an effective leader, a true entrepreneur is a doer, not just a dreamer. Take a good look what’s missing? Identify your passion and come up with an idea that you want to pursue and put it into action!  Like a high-performance car, you must have the power and stamina to get going and staying on top of your idea.

The time is Now! There’s no Right Time to Jump In: Have you ever heard someone say, I had that idea, but now someone else jumped on it. “I run across people who say, Casimiro, I’m really envious of you. I wish I could start my own business.”. I am not sure if they are waiting for someone or something to encourage them to take action. You have to realize there’s no right time to jump in, and you might be making a mistake to wait too long for something to happen.

This article is very timely since the summer is here, and jobs are scarce for teenagers. Don’t leave your start-up to chance. If you can’t find a job—find a void and start your own business!

1 of 4 in a Series – Next Series 2!

ABOUT BIZNOVATOR:
BIZNOVATOR is a youth empowerment platform that offers a year-round experience for young people interested in entrepreneurship, social innovation and global leadership. Through our seminars, workshops, summer camps and in school Academies, BIZNOVATOR helps young people to DISCOVER their purpose, TRANSFORM their mindset and CONNECT to their future.  We have recently launched our Online Learning Platform, www.mybiznovator.com which enables young people from all over the world to experience our unique BIZNOVATOR programs. We invite you to join us!

Juan Pablo Casimiro is Founder and CEO of BIZNOVATOR. With more than 30 years of empowering youth and adults globally, Casimiro never misses a moment to teach, coach and challenge his clients to live their dreams. Casimiro was born in Dominican Republic and grew up in New York City.