The 3 Letters Missing from Teen Entrepreneurship

At Biz Kid$, we read a lot of headlines about young entrepreneurs (and we enjoy them all). But one headline stuck out to us this week: “14-year-old Memphis entrepreneur shares motivation for starting her own business.” What made the headline noticeable was its focus. Not on product, profit, or proprietor, but purpose.

Purpose is a deeply influential factor in any career path. Why you do what you do is often an even more significant factor in its success as what you do.

Simon Sinek gave TED talk viewers some major food for thought with his YouTube sensation in which he implored corporations, startups, and entrepreneurs alike to consider their why. 

His words of wisdom were heeded loud and clear, but the question is rarely applied to the business world’s youngest tycoons. 

This week’s headline out of Memphis wasn’t notable because it presented a new thought, but because it finally applied a widely respected line of thinking to the world of teen entrepreneurship. Too often, the assumption is that teen entrepreneurship is merely a self-employed path to financial independence. No other why required.

Whether you’re a teen entrepreneur, or a parent or educator of one, let Lakethia Glenn’s motivation act as motivation for us all to find our own.