“I think it has a lot to do with where you live. I hate saying that, because in the world of the internet, location shouldn’t be a problem, but if you’re surrounded by entrepreneurs, I believe you are more likely to be an entrepreneur yourself,” he says.
Brusilovsky thinks there are many benefits to learning about starting a business at school, such as picking up accounting and basic legal skills. He says age shouldn’t be a barrier to being a successful entrepreneur.
“Age should never be a road block — it’s only a road block if people make it a road block. It’s all about being proactive and turning problems into solutions.”
Young innovation
Brusilovsky says there’s a big difference between being a teen and an adult entrepreneur.
“I’ve noticed that a lot of younger entrepreneurs are more likely to take bigger risks,” he says.
“When you’re an adult entrepreneur, you usually have a mortgage, family and have people to care for. When you’re a young entrepreneur, you live with your parents, and have pretty much everything taken care of for you.”
Questioned as to what the next generation of business builders will look like, Brusilovsky says “we’re seeing the next generation right now – people like Mark Bao starting sites like ThreeWords.me and selling it for a big chunk of cash.
“People are building things just for the sake of building things, and that’s what makes it so exciting.”
The downside
But there is a darker side to the increase in young entrepreneurs. Harvard Law school professor Vivek Wadha, an expert on child entrepreneurs, says “in Silicon Valley, entrepreneurs are getting younger. In fact, they are being encouraged by unscrupulous venture capitalists to drop out of school.”
“The common belief is that just because a few people like Mark Zuckerberg achieved success, any young, arrogant, brash kid can.”
“The problem is that 99% of the start-ups founded by these kids fail. That’s because they have great ideas on what social media technologies are cool, but no understanding of the basics of business; they don’t understand customers, finances or management.”
“How can a kid who hasn’t even completed school understand things that take years to learn?” argues Wadha.
“My research has shown that the average age of a successful entrepreneur is 40. These people start companies after gaining experience, building savings and developing ideas about what problems to solve,” he says.
A bright future
Natasha Munasinghe, who is part of Australia’s The Frank Team, which specialises in entrepreneurship and mentoring for young people, agrees the number of young entrepreneurs is on the rise.
She says: “It seems to us at The Frank Team there is an increasing number of younger people choosing to be entrepreneurs, or who are at least curious about it.”
“We are getting many more university and high school students around Australia who tell us that apart from their studies, they also run businesses.”
“The good news is that more young people see running their own businesses as a viable career path for their future.”
According to Munasinghe, “we believe there is great benefit in supporting and encouraging entrepreneurship at school – or even at a much younger age – because entrepreneurialism is essentially a mindset and attitude; it’s a way of life.”
“So even for those young people who ultimately choose to work for someone else, the entrepreneurial skill sets they have learnt can enhance and add to that experience.”
“There is lots of research out there that shows that we are much more creative and innovative at a very young age.”
“Start-ups and indeed companies do have a lot to learn from tapping into the unpolluted minds and ideas of children to inform their own business strategies.
“Children are natural entrepreneurs – they are curious, up for trying new stuff, love to explore and can adapt very quickly.”
“It is up to us to provide the support they need to utilise these entrepreneurial skills and thinking.”
