Path To Success Series: Becoming a Young Entrepreneur

Are you a high school student with a big idea that you’re itching to present to the world? After all, it is said that entrepreneurs can see a need long before it hits people’s radar. 

Entrepreneurship is also the story of success and failure. By fostering innovation, independence and valuable life skills that can be used well beyond your high school years, entrepreneurship offers you a unique pathway to potential success and personal fulfillment. 

But how do you become an entrepreneur while in high school? Here are 10 tips. 

10 Tips for Becoming an Entrepreneur While in High School

1. Pinpoint Your Exact Product/Service: By narrowing down what, exactly, you’re hoping to provide, you can better ensure success in the marketplace.
2. Know Your Audience: A common mistake made by startups is not pinpointing your specific target audience. Market research will help you identify their wants, needs, behaviors, and attitudes; and how your product or service will serve them best.
3. Plan How to Raise Capital: Capital, in short, is the money you’ll need to support your business. There are several ways that young entrepreneurs can raise money for their business, including starting a fundraiser, applying for a business loan, or earning a business grant.
4. Build a Budget: Since most young entrepreneurs start businesses using fewer funds, it's important that you build a budget that you can maintain easily. Take time to consider all of your expenses when creating a budget and account for any loan interest rates.
5. Draft a Business Plan and Timeline: Writing out a plan allows you to visualize your goals, and create steps to help you develop your business. This helps you determine what you can do to help expand your business in the future, and keep you focused on gaining success. 
6. Network: Networking with other young entrepreneurs may strengthen your connections in the business world, providing access to more business opportunities. To meet other young entrepreneurs, you can join existing organizations, use social media, or even start your own club.
7. Trust the Process: As a young entrepreneur, you may be eager for your business to grow instantly. But, remember that starting a business is a multi-step process, and it often takes several months to find funding, gain clients, and promote your business. Just be patient.
8. Prepare to Make Sacrifices: As Steve Jobs said, “If you look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.” Becoming a successful entrepreneur requires an intense level of dedication, and this means sacrificing time and money to make it happen. 
9. Find a Mentor: Knowledgeable business owners can offer you meaningful advice for starting your business. They can share stories about their experience in starting a business, share mistakes they've made, and help you determine steps you should take to make your business successful.
10. Take Relevant Courses: While completing high school, take courses like accounting, economics, or business as they provide insight into the fundamentals of starting your own company. You can also sign up for high school entrepreneurship programs.

Beyond that, many renowned universities have pre-college programs that offer a variety of relevant courses that will help you further fine-tune your entrepreneurial skills. 

College-Level Online Courses Relevant to Young Entrepreneurs

One of these options is included with Georgetown University’s pre-college programs. Specifically, Georgetown University’s pre-college online entrepreneurship course provides an opportunity for you to learn what goes into launching a business. You will identify your target customers, create a story for your product, write a business pitch, and practice leadership behaviors that can inspire a team, prove out ideas, and test your brand concept. If you want to know how to take an idea all the way through to an on-the-shelf product or service, this course is for you.

Perhaps your entrepreneurial slant is more tech related? The Rice University Precollege Program offers an entrepreneurship course that provides insight into how digital disruptions in financial markets are creating opportunities for growth and financial gain. Plus, how financial technologies are among the innovations that are changing the financial world.

If you have an entrepreneurial mindset and want to make a difference, Case Western Reserve University’s pre-college course in social entrepreneurship is a must. Discover how social entrepreneurs get started, build a value proposition, find customers, identify problems, come up with solutions, and create a team.

In an ever-changing world that values innovation, creativity and self-reliance, embracing entrepreneurship as a viable career path can be both exciting and rewarding. By starting your own business, you can develop a growth mindset, acquire essential life skills, foster independence, and gain real-world experience.