4 Successful Young Entrepreneurs Who Prove Age Is Just A Number

In the last 20 years, self-employment has become a common trend among the new generations. Perhaps because the Internet has expanded the possibilities of business opportunities, or perhaps because of the specific characteristics of young people living in this time, but today's young people have felt safer to take risks and start their own businesses.

Although some people believe that it would be better to wait until a certain age to start a business, in order to gain experience and maybe become more mature. The entrepreneurs that I will talk about below demonstrate that age, sometimes it can be just a number.

1.Founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg

At just 19 years old, Mark Zuckerberg launched the well-known social media platform: Facebook. It was originally built for the purpose of connecting Harvard students with one another. But it only took a few years to become a global social network.

Today, almost 20 years later, Facebook is in the top 3 of the most used social networks in the world with 2.89 billion monthly active users. In fact, the company also currently owns 3 other of the largest social media platforms; WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram.

As of 2021, Zuckerberg was worth $116.1 billion and it looks like he will continue to grow as an entrepreneur.

2. Creator of Mozilla Firefox, Blake Ross

Blake Ross was 19 years old when in 2004 he launched the cross-platform web browser, Mozilla Firefox. Considered a genius by many, Ross finds a way to earn user trust by creating a more user-friendly and secure browser compared to the competition.

Although the last 5 years have not been the brightest for Mozilla, in 2021 they still had 198 million users, and Blake Ross' net worth was $150 million.

3. Founder of WordPress, Matthew Mullenweg

In 2003, Matthew Mullenweg was 19 years old when he became the founding developer of WordPress, an open-source software currently used by more than 40% of the web. This is a platform that is used mainly to create blogs, however, its flexibility also allows you to create and design any type of website.

Today, WordPress has more than 1,100 employees in 62 countries and does not have physical headquarters. They call themselves a "company that works on and for the Web".

As of December 2021, the net value of Matt Мullеnwеg is around $450 million, which positioned him as one of the most recognized entrepreneurs in the development of the social media sector.

4. Founder of Tumblr, David Karp

Karp dropped out from high school when he was 15 to be home-schooled, and in 2007, at age 20 he and his partner founded the blogging platform Tumblr. It only took a couple of weeks for the platform to have 75,000 users, and 14 years later, in February 2021, Tumblr reported to have over 518.7 million blogs on its website.

During an interview with .net magazine, five years later, he said he was looking to set up a blog, but he wanted to create something out of the long-form traditional format like WordPress. Although he ''was determined not to compete with WordPress'', his true intention was to create a place focused on a specific market that wasn’t served by the already existing tools. In 2013 Tumblr was acquired by Yahoo for $1.1 billion, but David Karp remained CEO of the company.

Conclusion

To conclude, 19 years old seems to be a promising age to start a project. Three of the four entrepreneurs we talked about on this blog were that age when they started their projects, which today are recognized businesses. So, thoughts like "I'm too young for this" or "I don't have enough experience" or "I'll take a chance when I'm older" are not always correct.

The Internet is an amazing tool that allows people to have all kinds of ideas all the time, some of which are successful in the marketplace, while others are not. But the question is whether you want to be part of those who tried or those who killed their wings before even thinking about flying.

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5 Success Tips for Young Entrepreneurs

Starting a new business puts you under enormous pressure, from searching for the perfect idea, creating a plan, or understanding your target market, every decision will request the best of you.

Being lucky enough to have a mentor would make the path a little easier. But do not panic if it is not your case, you have everything you need to be successful, and you have us to help you achieve it.

So, let's take a look at 5 successful tips to get you started.

1.Do more of what you're good at

Starting a new business will take a long time, the beginning could be even more difficult and it will definitely demand a lot of attention. But, you know what people say; ‘‘work on what you love and you won't have to work a day in your life’’.

If you put some thought into this, you will understand that being passionate about the business you decide to start will make less frustrating the bad days to come.

In the same way, it is highly important this business matches your skills and personality, because it would make it easier to succeed. In short, do more of what you're good at.

2. Solve a problem

When we talk about solving a problem, we are not talking, for example, about curing the covid disease. Actually, we talk about building your business as an imminent solution to a problem. In other words, Covid-19 brought many changes to people's lives, but let's focus on one, social distance.

This completely affected children's routine. They stopped going to schools and having direct human interaction with classmates and teachers, so many of them began to face some learning problems. Therefore, it would be a great idea for a new business to help elementary students who are struggling with online classes by providing them with a more personalized learning experience.

3. Focus on one thing first

If you think of famous brands like Amazon or even H&M at first, they focus on specific products and eventually they all end up expanding. Amazon started selling books and H&M in the 1940s became known as Hennes, selling women's only clothing and after almost 15 years in the market, they expanded into the sale of men's and children's clothing.

If they hadn't done it this way, they probably wouldn't be among the most internationally known brands today. The best decision is to start with a specific focus and eventually, if your business is growing, then consider expanding. This approach will allow you to create a well-defined audience that knows what to expect from your brand.

4. Employee morale

Even when many bosses believe that the relationship with their employees does not have to be that good. The reality is that your employees play a fundamental role in the success of your business, therefore, you must ensure a positive work environment and make sure your employees feel appreciated and encouraged. This will have a positive impact on their performance.

5. Pay attention to your customer's needs

Empathy with your customers is the first step in creating a positive long-term relationship. It is normal that you cannot always meet the needs of your customers. Actually, there may be more times than you expect when your client feels frustrated, but your job in these situations is to listen to your clients, not only listen to what they say but also focus on understanding the reason for their current feelings. You can then act on the problem and come up with a solution that really suits your needs.

In conclusion, your goal is to build a business that suits your personality and at the same time becomes an imminent solution to a problem. Even if you have dozens of great ideas for your business, focus on one at first - you'll eventually have time and resources for the rest of them. Remember, entrepreneurship is about taking big risks and giving it your all.

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