High School Entrepreneurship: 10 Tips for Young Innovators

This is a fantastic time to embark on a life of entrepreneurship. Not only are you full of ideas, but the technology and means exist to make any of them a reality. Many of the greats began their entrepreneurial journeys from a young age, beginning small and following their earlier ideas. They learned important lessons that helped them to grow and be successful. While you’re young, you can take advantage of your energy, ideas, and family support to experiment with your creativity.

Business isn’t easy. It will take more than hard work to succeed; you’ll have to make good decisions, have a good plan, and be motivated not to stop when challenges arise.

10 Tips for Young Innovators

Here are 10 tips to help you on the path to success and fulfillment in business.

1 Do Work You Care About

It’s tempting when you’re thinking about going into business to go wherever you see the money. But going into business for the sole purpose of getting rich might not end well. The motivation just isn’t strong enough. When difficulties come (and they will), you may be more willing to quit and follow a different goal. But success comes from staying the course.

Former CEO and co-founder of Apple, Inc., the late Steve Jobs, encouraged young people to find work they loved. He reasoned that because so much of your life is spent in work or business, you should get joy and fulfillment from it.

Try to discover what is important to you. What solution can you bring to the world? What group of people need your help? Having a strong ‘why’ will give you the inspiration and motivation you need to succeed and help you develop a passion for what you’re doing.

2 Find a Mentor

As ambitious as you may be, you have never built a business before. It would be great to get the advice of a more experienced entrepreneur who has years of building and maintaining a successful business. There are some mistakes you won’t have to make.

Richard Branson says that every successful person has had a mentor at some point along the road. While you don’t have to do exactly as they say, your mentor can be helpful in the following ways:

Experience. They understand the challenges and have already made many of the mistakes that will tempt you. They can guide you around the difficulties and share wisdom and insights.
Encouragement. Entrepreneurs are known for their determination, but even they need a little cheering on from time to time. Your mentor can be there when things get tough to remind you why you’re doing it and to keep going.
Networking. They say that it’s not what you know but who you know that counts. If that’s true, having someone who already knows people in your industry can be invaluable. They can introduce you to the right people.

Beta Bowl’s first-class virtual online entrepreneurial enrichment program teaches teens to build businesses. Motivated teens are then mentored by successful entrepreneurs and top business school performers. Check out their programs for more information.

3 Consider an Entrepreneurial Program

While there are several business schools when you reach the university level, there are only a handful of entrepreneurial programs for high school students. The best programs will:

Teach you the skills and knowledge to build your business.
Give you the space and confidence to try out your ideas.
Provide mentors to help guide you.

One of the best programs is the Beta Bowl Virtual Online Entrepreneurial Enrichment Program. In this program, you’ll receive a unique, online, interactive, business-building experience. The 4-week immersive program includes live group calls, online video resources, 24-hour support, and plenty of practical applications.

You’ll come away with:

A complete business plan
A full financial model
An investor pitch deck
A marketing strategy (business specific)
A ready to launch business
A completion certificate (which may be used with college applications or proof of extracurricular involvement)

4 Plan, Plan, Plan

When you have a good idea of what kind of business you want to build, you can create a plan. This is the step that many people want to skip because it can seem tedious and unnecessary. But a solid business plan will serve you by including:

Clear direction for your early steps
Analysis of your target demographic
Analysis of your competition
Your marketing strategy
Potential challenges and possible solutions
Contingency plans as your business grows
Plus, much more.

Take the time to plan. You won’t regret it.

5 Market Yourself & Your Business

Only in The Field of Dreams is it possible to ‘build it, and they’ll come.’ Everywhere else, and certainly, in business, you’ve got to market your business! People won’t know you’re there if you don’t tell them.

Set a budget and utilize social media or any other means to get the word out. Knowing your target demographic means also knowing where you can find them. Create a business page on Facebook and set up accounts on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tiktok, or any other that are compatible with your business. Don’t overdo it here. Unless your business is social media, you don’t want to be doing it all day. Choose a few sites and focus only on them. Submit your website URL to Google and Bing to boost your visibility.

6 Build a Great Team

You can’t do it on your own – you need a support team around you. By this, we don’t mean that you should begin hiring a large staff. Instead, you need people who understand what you’re trying to do and want to help you do it. Other people can have varying viewpoints and insights. These can be valuable for you, and your business may benefit.

7 Know Your Customer

If you set out to know and understand your customer even better than your competition does, your business will succeed. Figure out who your target audience is and what problem you solve for them. With that information, you can tailor your product or service, your marketing, and even the means of delivery.

8 Spend Your Money Wisely

In business, as in life, it’s easy to spend too much money on the wrong things. Think carefully before you invest your business funds. You can never afford to waste money. You may want to invest in something, but if you take the time to weigh your decision, you may find it isn’t the high priority you first thought. Your mentor can be helpful in this area.

9 Take Action

Even the most brilliant ideas are doomed to fail if you don’t take action. Action can be scary, but successful entrepreneurs are accustomed to taking action even when they don’t feel ready. Of course, we don’t mean that you should become reckless, but even if your action results in undesirable outcomes, you will still learn a lot from that.

What about when you feel paralyzed with indecision, confusion, or overwhelm? A little-known fact is that taking action will bring clarity. There may be many times in your business journey when you just aren’t sure what to do next. But at those times, take whatever steps are available to you, and you will soon see the next possible steps. Your business

10 Take Care of Yourself

This may not seem like a good business strategy but taking care of yourself is essential to your success. All of your youthful energy may make you feel invincible, but you aren’t. You’ll need to get plenty of rest, relaxation, exercise, and good food. Take time out to spend with friends and even enjoy a hobby.

Running a business can be exhausting and mentally taxing. If you don’t take care of yourself, your business will suffer as you struggle to think clearly, make good decisions, and maintain the necessary energy.

Bonus Tip: Keep Learning New Things

Successful entrepreneurs must be open to learning new things – it is critical. Your industry will undergo many changes, as will your business. You don’t have the luxury of deciding that you just can’t do some things. If it’s necessary for your business, you will need to learn how to do it or learn about it. Of course, you can utilize other people’s expertise, but that can come at a cost. Even after your business is earning more money, you will still need to be comfortable with learning about many new things.

Final Thoughts

Being a successful entrepreneur is exciting and challenging. Following the above ten tips will help you to take your idea and turn it into something extraordinary.

Even with your inherent passion for business, you still need to be taught how to build one successfully. At Beta Bowl, we provide a number one virtual high school entrepreneurship program for motivated future entrepreneurs. You’ll receive a unique online, interactive business-building experience that is outcome-focused and hands-on. Contact us today for more information.

High School Entrepreneurship: 10 Tips for Young Innovators