During the pandemic, there was a 19% increase in the number of teenagers starting companies, according to One Family.
Some of the students I’ve taught over the years have expressed an interest in starting their own clothing lines, blogging and e-commerce websites.
So if you’re a parent reading this, and you’re looking to help your teenager with an entrepreneurial hobby (that might even become a serious business venture) here’s a list of some ideas with relatively low startup costs and simple enough for teenagers to do in their spare time.
1 – Blogging
WordPress.com allows users under the age of 18 to create their own website (with parental permission).
Alternatives like Wix, Squarespace, Ghost and Blogger typically restrict users to those who are aged 13 and up, although but it’s best to check the service terms.
Builtwith is a good software to identify the software other websites use.
This website, for instance, is built on WordPress. In fact, over 40% of websites are built on WordPress because it’s great for managing lots of content, like blog articles and media files, in bulk.
When it comes to monetising, affiliate marketing is a popular option. This is when blogger use links in their articles with their own specific affiliate URL, so if someone clicks on their link, and ends up purchasing the product they recommended on a different website, the blogger receives a commission.
Websites require lots of work to build from scratch. It’s like growing a tree; a slow, long-term progress.
To give you an example, I launched the 101 Educate website some time around September 2021 and the stats above show very little activity in the first 3-4 months, and it only generated a few clicks by mid December 2021. The stats in the above screenshot will show what typically happens if you create a simple website with a few pages and just leave it there.
2 – Streaming
For someone to make it as a streamer, I think it takes one of two things: either being really good at a game (like, ridiculously good) OR having an entertaining persona.
Twitch, one of the most popular streaming channels, allows anyone to start a streaming channel as long as they’re aged 13 & up.
When viewers want to support a streamer, they can subscribe for £4.99 a month, half of which goes to Twitch, and the other half goes to the streamer.
As a bare minimum, that means someone with 1,000 paying subscribers can make around £2,500, because there are also other ways to make money as a streamer, such as sponsored shoutouts, and accepting donations while playing.
There are always new games hitting the market and opportunities to entertain new emerging audiences, offering new streamers to build momentum – but if your child is a keen gamer, they’ll probably know what’s about to hit the market.
3 – Start a Clothing Store
This is a great option for teenagers who love fashion and have an interest in design.
There are plenty of ways to get started. There’s Shopify, but that costs over £20 a month to get started, so it can get expensive if there’s little sales activity.
There’s also Etsy, which only charges something around 20p per listing (much more affordable for beginners).
Alternatively, print-on-demand providers like Inkthreadable, print designs on t-shirts, hoodies and other items of clothing, and then send them out to customers on your behalf. All you need to do is design the products and set up a store.
This lowers the start up risk. You don’t need to order hundreds of items in advance and hope that people will like them and buy them.
4 – Make Slime
Slime is relatively simple to make. All you need is some PVA glue, borax and food colouring.
The slime trend grew in popularity in 2015 because (apparently) videos of slime were popular to watch, and so ASMR YouTubers cashed in on the trend. Many fashion, beauty and lifestyle bloggers began incorporating slime into their content as well.
However, there are all sorts of ways to get creative with slime, and a quick search of slime on Etsy shows just how many ways slime can be made and packaged.
Could this just be a trend that’s destined to die soon? Well…slime has actually been around for quite a while. Toy makers like Mattel have used slime in the past, and the alien egg toy craze of the 2000s resulted in millions of the slimy aliens being sold. So perhaps, slime is here to stay for a while longer.
Other Ideas
These are ideas of things which can be made and sold (with relative ease) which I haven’t had the time to write about just yet…
- Custom Greeting Cards
- Candle
- Jewellery
- Custom coasters
- Fridge magnets
- Gift boxes
- Clocks
- Notes (digital copies can be sold on Etsy)
- Upcycling unwanted furniture from sites like Freecycle.
- Art prints (although an entry level printer can cost around £200 to £500)
- Make digital icons to sell on Gumroad (a marketplace for creators to sell digital goods)
- Build a computer game (Elon Musk made one at age 12)
- Take photos to upload on stock photography sites
- Make videos to upload on stock videography sites
- Publish a book (can be done through sites like WattPad and Amazon)
- Illustrate & sell an out-of-copyright book (these can be found on sites like Gutenberg.org)
