What are the top 3 qualities of a successful kid entrepreneur?
After watching lots of Shark Tank and deciding that many of your ideas seem a lot better than those on the show, it’s easy to get excited about becoming an entrepreneur!
You may be wondering: do I have what it takes to become a successful kid entrepreneur? We’re here to help answer that question, and provide some tips on how to improve those key entrepreneurial skills.
When people think about the profile of a successful entrepreneur, the image that comes to mind is one of an extroverted and dynamic sales person, with thousands of ideas in their head. Although *some* of the world’s top entrepreneurs may fit that description, just as many do not.
Whether you are quiet or loud, love english or math, or prefer sports or art, you might have all the qualities of an amazing entrepreneur. That’s what’s great about entrepreneurship: people with all kinds of different personalities and passions can thrive. However, we have seen that the most successful of our kid entrepreneurs share three important traits.
Here are the top 3 qualities shared by our most successful kid entrepreneurs:
Tenacious: Our most successful kid entrepreneurs are ones who bounce back after hearing "no" or having things not work out the way they hoped.
Every entrepreneur *must* expect many setbacks on their way to success. It’s the way that they handle them that counts - will you choose to learn and push on? Or will you give up on the whole enterprise? Kathryn was the entrepreneur behind Curious Kathryn’s candles. For her very first sales attempt she rented a booth at the Atlanta Ice Cream Festival, which takes place in July in Atlanta. A couple of hours in, Kathryn was dismayed to see that all of her candles were melting! Although this was certainly a disappointing experience, Kathryn bounced back and tried different things. Eventually her candles were carried in multiple retail stores, and she was invited to present at a large conference for (adult) entrepreneurs to share her story of selling over 1000 candles.
Action-oriented: A long list of ideas won’t take you very far as an entrepreneur. To be successful, you need to act!
Don’t wait until everything is perfect - get out there and try to sell something! You’ll learn so much from the experience, and be ready to go bigger and better next time.
Sancho was a kid entrepreneur with an idea he was passionate about: shoe insoles that you could heat or cool down, to keep you the right temperature on the soccer field or basketball court. There was only one problem - Sancho had no idea how to actually make them. Instead of sitting around and wishing that he could figure it out, Sancho acted quickly. He headed to Target and purchased a variety of materials that might work for his insoles. He made about ten different prototypes and asked his family and friends to test them. Most of them exploded! That made for some messy shoes, but gave Sancho a new idea. He pivoted his idea and used his supplies to instead make headbands that you could heat and cool. He was off to the races (literally… he has been selling them to local youth sports teams)
Coachable: We all have lots to learn, especially when we are just getting started.
You wouldn’t expect to start playing basketball by immediately joining the NBA. Between your first shot and a spot on the Atlanta Hawks are hours of practice and many coaches with your best interest in mind. The best entrepreneurs are hungry to learn from a variety of sources: great business books and blogs, helpful coaches/experts, and peers who are working through the same problems. Even the most experienced adult entrepreneurs regularly seek coaching and advice, often paying a lot of money for the help! They know it’s the best - and often the only - way to get better.
Amara is the kid entrepreneur behind the business Aller-busters, selling allergy alert bracelets to large childcare centers. Amara WON the Break Into Business Final Pitch, receiving over $700 in investments funds! But she didn’t let that go to her head - her first step was to hire a part-time Business Coach who worked with her every week. She also jumped into our LAUNCH Virtual Camp to help expand her product line once she was ready. Amara is constantly asking questions and seeking advice - one quality that makes her a great entrepreneur!
As you read through this list, you may find that some of the qualities describe you perfectly, and others might not describe you at all. Never fear, we are here to help! Our Break Into Business LAUNCH programs help kid entrepreneurs develop and improve on all the qualities needed to be a successful kid entrepreneur.
Meet the Author:
Monica Lage is the Executive Director & Co-founder of Break Into Business. Monica holds a Commerce degree from Queen's University in Ontario, Canada as well as an MBA from Harvard Business School. Monica spent several years helping Fortune 500 companies solve their most pressing problems as a Management Consultant with The Boston Consulting Group. Throughout her journey she has sought out opportunities to share her love of business with young people, eventually pursuing Break Into Business full-time in 2014. Since then she has seen hundreds of young people flourish as entrepreneurs, all while raising her own three mini-entrepreneurs in Atlanta, Georgia.
