Being a teenager in many respects is tough, not so much financially, for most teens, but mentally and emotionally. It’s a wild period, you’re surfing through each day trying to decipher who you are, what you should involve yourself in, who you should hang out with, and the list goes on. Add on a desire to run your own business and an already complex equation becomes downright messy. 

However, there is good news, very good news actually. I don’t mean to be cute here but before I give you the five secrets we need to have a little reality check. Not to insert myself, but I will anyway, as well as tell my age but I was once a teenager…not too long ago. It was the 90’s and I was dying to be a businessman. Becoming a successful businessman occupied my mind to the point of obsession. I worked very hard to make something, anything, happen. My best friend was the yellow pages and a volume library that my father bought for me of which at the time served as my internet. I still have that volume library as a means of keeping me grounded and focused. That’s not even all of it! If ever I needed to conduct extensive research I had to make time to catch a ride to the public library and dig through mountains upon mountains of books. So why am I telling you this? Well, today you have all the information you need and more at your fingertips. I want you to ditch any notions that you are somehow disadvantaged as a teenager. If anything, you hold the ultimate advantage. No responsibilities, yet, and you’re growing up in the most information rich period in human history. 

If you apply the following secrets I can assure you, by my own experience and that of others, that you will achieve some level of success. It’s not a matter of if, but when. 

Independence:  The biggest hurdle you will face as a teenage entrepreneur is peer pressure. Friends wanting you to go here, try this, not to mention everyone else around you loaded with expectations and demands. If you can set yourself apart and take a stand in what you are shooting for you will not only overcome such peer pressure, but inspire others to follow in your footsteps. This was something I personally experienced and we know it to be true across time and geography. Leaders who set the pace are always looked up to for guidance. 

Make up your mind that you will commit to the task at hand and follow your own path. Accept the fact that you will upset some people. Let’s face it, building something special, like a business, requires a high degree of selfishness. This is not to be rude or mean, but in order for you to make the most out of something it’s going to require a significate time commitment. 

Delayed Gratification:  As a teenager you are faced with this problem times two! Generally, teens lack this skill and unfortunately, and often, carry it over to adulthood. I should mention that most adults lack this skill as well, and of course that has everything to do with how they were raised and developed during their formative years. I urge you to take this step seriously and do everything you can to control the urge to have what you want “now”. You can practice delayed gratification in many ways, for example; try avoid eating your favorite sweet for a week or two – If you want to shoot for the stars then you might want to go with cutting out video games for a couple of weeks. The goal is to become friendly with the urges that at every waking moment tries to get you to act against your decision. If you are thinking; “I can’t meet those requests” then you will undoubtedly fall victim to the “urge” monster lurking behind every thought that we have. 

By practicing delayed gratification you will learn patience and self-control. No longer will you be victim to the sway of society, bending and shifting in whatever direction the social-mill blows.