Young Entrepreneur Academy is an organization helping high-school students learn about and practice the principles of entrepreneurship. Over a day and a half I had the honor of participating in YEA’s annual event for students in their program.
The students I mentored and learned with had several things in common.
- Desire to Learn
- Hunger for making connections
- Great Parents
Desire to Learn
Every student I encountered had a desire to learn. They asked a lot of smart questions. One of the traits of someone who enjoys learning is the questions they ask and even how they ask the questions.
Connectivity
Many of the students had business cards and presented them to me. They also asked me for mine. During our breaks they wanted to continue speaking, learning and meeting up. The desire to connect with others is a sign of emotional intelligence.
Parenting
Young entrepreneurs can come from dysfunctional and broken households. However, young entrepreneurs who are backed by supportive parents have a more solid foundation. Seeing so many parents, accompanying their children to the YEA conference was a great sign.
Entrepreneurs, regardless of age, require a certain set of traits to have any chance of a successful business.
- The ability for some measure of risk
- Fortitude, grit, endurance
- Desire to learn and innovate
These traits are in addition to being able to build a team, market their business, make sales and manage their finances and cash flow.
Watching Shark Tank has opened many parents’ eyes that their children don’t have to go to college to be a success.
One of the best ways to be an entrepreneur is to start young, while you have plenty of “runway” to evolve your dream and take safer risks.
The Role of Technology
The fast evolution of technology makes it easier for today’s young entrepreneurs to fail fast, learn fast and scale faster.
They can have an idea and take it to inception and testing in a shorter amount of time than ever thought possible. Many of the teen entrepreneurs I met today had technology backgrounds. Others, were not in tech but new they could easily hire a tech team to help them.
Shout out to a few of the young entrepreneurs I met today – EcoFrenzy Games – BadAngel – NextGen Navigation – BellaCervantes – Connected – NativeScape Grass Company and many others I met.
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