How to Start a Business When You Are 13

As more minors try their hand at business ownership, young entrepreneurs are  beginning to shape the future of American enterprise. Young entrepreneurs such as Ashley Qualls, who started the online media company WhateverLife as a teen, and Cameron Johnson, the creator of My EZ Mail and SurfingPrizes.com, netted their first million dollars before their 18th birthday. In many respects, starting a business as a teen is not too different from starting a business as an adult. However, unlike an adult, starting and running a business legally as a 13-year-old may require your parents to co-sign so you can obtain licenses and permits or open a business bank account.

• 1

  List your hobbies and skills and select the most marketable idea as the basis for your business. Creating a business based on things you enjoy and do well increases your likelihood of continuing down the path of entrepreneurship. Use the Internet, your school and public library or the opinions of your family and friends to determine your idea's practicalness, demand and competition. Choose the most practical idea with the highest demand and lowest competition which targets customers within your age demographic. If you cater to customers within your age range, you will have a greater chance of relating to them and creating a product or service that caters to their needs.

• 2

  Draft a business plan to define your business goals and your plans to achieve them. Write an introduction that provides a detailed description of your business and its goals, the ownership and legal structure, as well as your business's advantage over the competition. Include a marketing section that details your business product or service and the type of customers your business will target. Discuss the business's day-to-day operations in the operations section and list the company's staffing, equipment and production procedures if necessary. Include a financial management section that discusses the amount of capital required to launch your business and the amount of time required to break even or recoup the business's initial investment.

• 3

  Secure funding for your business using money from your personal account or via a loan from family and friends or your local bank. Many young entrepreneurs start businesses using money saved from an allowance or from baby-sitting or lawn care jobs. Ask your parents or friends for a personal loan to secure the capital required to start your business if your personal funds will not cover the initial investment.

  If your business requires capital that surpasses the amount of money friends and family are able to contribute, consider making use of your business plan to ask your local bank for a loan. However, because you are underage and more than likely have no credit, your parents must co-sign loan papers in order for you to receive a line of credit from a bank.

• 4

  Use online social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook, or fliers and word-of-mouth referrals, as marketing tools. If your business supplies a product, consider using YouTube to create a product demo video to show potential customers firsthand how your product works. Creating your business is simply not enough; you must market your business to your potential customers in a way that demonstrates how your product or service can help them solve a problem or offer a form of enrichment.