Entrepreneurship For Teenagers (Guest Post With Callie.)

 

Below is The Guest Post!

*this post was used with an audio mic so wording would be more typical of listening to a podcast then reading an article.

The Origin Story

Silas:
Okay, Callie, welcome. Today we're gonna be talking about teen entrepreneurship and how teenagers can start their own business. And for my guest, I have here Callie. Callie, go ahead and tell us a little bit about why you chose an Etsy shop over other businesses. And real quick, tell us what led up to that and why. Talk about your blogging adventure and then how it led up to an Etsy shop.

Callie:
Well, it all started with one pair of earrings about eight to nine months ago when someone commented on a pair of duck earrings I had made myself at camp. And so they said, “Hey, you should really consider starting an Etsy shop.” And so that just got me thinking.

So I ended up asking my mom and dad. They said, sure. I didn't quite understand all that went into going and starting an Etsy shop. I thought it would be something easy, but the thing is I just kept on going, and here we are. And we've sold a lot, and I'm very happy with where my Etsy shop, To Smell the Roses, is at.

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What’s in a Name?

Silas:
Okay, my first question here, why the name To Smell the Roses? Where did that name come from? And how important is it that with an Etsy shop business or a farming business or any kind of business that teenagers want to start, why is it important to have a good name and why did you choose that name?

Callie:
Honestly, the reason why I thought about accessories is because anyone who really knows me knows that I love earrings. You will never find me without a pair of earrings on.  

Silas:
You don't have earrings on right now.

Callie:
I'm talking about in public. And I always wear dangly earrings, so that's my specialty. And so then it just ended up going from just regular dangly earrings into a ton of other accessories — accessories for your home, accessories for purses, necklaces, different things like that. I'm very happy with where it's at.

As for the name, I got it when I was walking across our yard, and it just hit me. I really don't know where the name came from, but just the whole thing, stop and smell the roses. So I tried different phrasings of it, and the Etsy name that hadn't been used yet was just Smell the Roses, so I just sort of went with it.

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The “Secret” to Success

Silas:
Okay. My next question is, what is the secret — well, or I guess not the secret — but what's the reason behind your success over your Etsy shop? You've had a good amount of sales. What would you say are some of the secrets to your success within that Etsy shop and how teenagers that want to start some sort of business, want to have a way to make money or something like that, how can they have success?

Callie:
 What really helped me was having someone who knew what they were doing and had done the thing before. They really helped me through it and got me exactly where I was.

Some tips I have, some things I think that made me become more successful. Now, it's not like I'm 100 years at this thing and know exactly what I'm doing and I'm all like so wonderful in the shop and stuff. It's still keeping on chugging along. But probably great photos, making sure that the photos are crisp and clean, making sure that my grammar and spelling is consistent and clean. It makes me sound more than just a 15-year-old. I'm very upfront and honest. I don't use ChatGPT or anything like that to write my things, but I do make sure that it is me. 

The Power of Online Marketing

Silas:
Okay, explain the importance of online marketing appeal.

Callie:
Like photos and stuff? Facebook?

Silas:
Yes, so like your online marketing, which is how Etsy is done. Explain how can someone who wants to start a business, whether it be Etsy shop or not — we're talking about all kinds of entrepreneurship skills — how can they, why is it so important to have a good online market and to make that appealing?

Callie:
Because people, when they see something, and they see it in a good light, and they see other people with it and being happy, they feel like they're missing something that only that thing can provide. It's human nature. It's what's inside all of us, whether we like to admit it or not.

 They want something subtle, something that's a conscious trigger. A good, well-lit photo that's crisp and clear, not cheesy, definitely not cheesy. Wording that's not young and cheesy, but wording that's nice and really just captures the heart and the mind of the person.

Having a Facebook or Instagram presence is very nice too. I have 116 followers at the present,

 and I'm still keeping on working on that. And not appearing as a business tycoon, but as a friend who wants the best for the people they're selling to.

Silas:

And with me, even with my blog and with our farm Facebook page, I have found that just like adapting to whatever the people — like whatever people that I talk to, people that I sell animals to, and people that talk to me about the blog. 

  And I try to just adapt, I guess, to the people that read my blog, to the people that buy the animals. You want to adapt to what their needs are. What are they looking to buy? Why are the people reading my blog? And just try to adapt to the people's needs.

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The First Step for Teen Entrepreneurs

Silas:
My next question would be, for a teenager wanting to get into a small business and start something of their own, what is the biggest step you would recommend when they first start out?

Callie:
Knowing what you're getting into. Knowing it's okay to stop and say, this is more than what I bargained for, and then stop and really take a step back, talk over it with your parents or someone else you trust, and think, is this something that I really want to get into?

Even if you've already told people that you're starting something or doing this business, stop, step back, and think, is this really the track that I want to take? And after you've started the business, keeping that in mind, but also pushing through and making sure you're not giving up just when things get hard. So it's finding that perfect balance.

Learning from Failure

Silas:
Okay, just have just three more questions. What is your biggest failure with your Etsy shop?

Callie:
At the beginning, I thought, ooh, having an Etsy shop was something about having a lot of content, having a lot of stuff that people can buy, but that's not true at all. It's having quality items that are unique.

So at first, I just began pushing out things that I thought weren't a great quality. And so then after a couple months, I ended up taking all the things off after I sold one to a person and they just ended up breaking. So probably my biggest failure of putting out content that I wasn't proud of exactly.

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Plans for Expansion

Silas:
Okay. Do you have any plans for expansion when it comes to your Etsy shop?

Callie:
At the same time, I plan to get some more content and stuff out there and onto my Etsy shop, really get it going with a ton more accessories. Eventually, I'd love to just, as time progresses, see where it leads. Maybe end up going an Instagram route, getting a website, funding for websites, maybe coming on some farmer's markets, flea markets, and selling stuff there.

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Getting Your Name Out There

Silas:
And the last question is, how do you get your name out there? How do you get more sales for somebody starting a blog? How do you get one to use for somebody having an Etsy shop? How do you get more sales for somebody having like a little, they have an animal and they started like a little animal business? How can they get their animal sold? How do you get their name out there? What would you recommend to them?

Callie:
A social media presence, definitely. It's probably my biggest thing. Definitely a social media presence.