10 tips for starting a business from junior entrepreneurs

There’s pretty much no substitute for sheer determination. Teenage entrepreneur Max from Warrington gets up at 5.30am to start his day and fit his gym trips around his car-washing business. He started with a bucket and sponge, aged just eight, but now is fully kitted out for a professional operation and has a client list running into the hundreds, cleaning 20 to 30 cars each weekend. He does all of this without his own form of transport.

“Don’t give up, keep trying” is Max’s advice to anyone wanting to follow his example, adding “a lot of people will say no, but you’ve just got to keep going.”

7. Be responsive

As well as doing a good job and being polite, one of the reasons Max has experienced such an upsurge in demand for his car washing business is his responsive communication. “As soon as you message us, we try and get back to you as quick as we can,” he says.

“Social skills are so important,” observes Zoe, “and teaching and articulating real values [like social skills] is really important too.”

8. Just a small investment of time can make a big difference

Social entrepreneur Louis Johnson started fundraising when he was just five years old. He’s now 16 and has raised more than £63,000 for 18 different charities, with activities including charity walks and abseiling. Louis’ time-management skills allow him to balance his fundraising with some regular downtime.

“I’ve still got plenty of time to do what everybody else does, like Xbox or going out with my friends,” he says. “It just takes that extra, maybe, two hours you have a day, and to put it to something useful and get the satisfaction of knowing that you’re helping people.”

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