Never Too Young To Be An Entrepreneur: Five Kidpreneuers To Take Inspiration From Here are five inspiring kidpreneurs who launched businesses (and even turned profits) before they were old enough to drive.
By May Rostom
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In today's fast-moving, agile world, the spirit of entrepreneurship is all around us. Kids these days are venturing far beyond the old lemonade stand. Whether it's making bracelets, candles, or even home-made slime, these kidpreneurs are starting up young and already thinking of ways to make money. Here are five inspiring kidpreneurs who launched businesses (and even turned profits) before they were old enough to drive.
1. Erik Finman, founder, Botangle
Growing up, Erik Finman bounced from one school to the other. Often bullied by school mates and even a teacher once, Erik dropped out of school, but continued his education all the same. When Eric realized his hatred for the public education system, he launched Botangle. Botangle, which is a portmanteau of robotics and angle, is an online subscription-based video tutoring service. At the age of 15, Erik bootstrapped the startup on his own, using a very lucky early Bitcoin investment of $100,000. Today, Erik oversees a team of programmers for Botangle and several other promising projects.
2. Lily Born, founder, Imagiroo
For Lily, seeing her grandfather's Parkinson's Disease get worse broke her heart. Presented with a problem of always spilling his drinks, Lily put her thinking hat on and made her grandad a non-spill sippy cup out of moldable plastic that was ergonomic and food safe. A year later, she made a ceramic prototype for her own father to avoid spilling his coffee all over his computer. Lily now has a company called Imagiroo which sells tens of thousands of Kangaroo cups all over the world. Lily and other kidpreneurs are just reminders that the problem-solving spirit is at the heart of entrepreneurship.
Related: Five Ways To Foster A Hunger For Innovation In Children
3. Alina Morse, founder, Zollipops
Alina's love for candy drove her (and her dad) to launch her own line of healthy candy. With $7,500 of savings from her grandparents, the then 7-year-old Alina created Zollipops- a fruit-flavored lollipop sweetened without sugar. After the success of her sugar-free lollipops, Alina then launched Zolli Drops, sugar-free peppermints.
4. Madison Robinson, founder, FishFlops
Madison, who is an avid beach-goer, came up with the idea of the sea-creature-themed flip-flops when she was only eight years old. After three years of "begging" her dad to make her FishFlops, Madison's father Dan, made them into reality. The first time the Houston-based inventor exhibited her FishFlops at a retail trade show, sales shot up like crazy- 37 different stores placed orders for the funky footwear.
5. Neha Gupta, founder, Empower Orphans
Neha founded Empower Orphans, a global non-profit organization, at the age of 9. In 2014, she was the first American to receive the International Children's Peace Prize from King of Netherlands and Nobel Laureates Desmond Tutu and Kailash Satyarthi at The Hague, Netherlands. Neha always celebrated her birthdays by traveling to India to bring food and gifts to orphans. In 2005, 9-year-old Neha decided that she could do more for these children in need. She started selling handmade wine charms door-to-door within her community. Neha and Empower Orphans has since raised over $2.4 million for orphans, receiving a range of amazing awards along the way.
Related: BizWorld UAE: Preparing MENA's Future Generations For Their Entrepreneurship Journey
