Starting a business can seem like a daunting task, especially while being young and in school. According to Quora, a platform that allows people to ask and answer questions, the most common age people start their own business is 40 because by that time, adults have gained enough life experience. Nowadays, teenagers are trying to come up with new and interesting ideas on how to earn money, and are becoming more independent as they start their own small businesses.

On campus, there are multiple students that take on the big responsibility and fun side hustle to keep themselves busy and earn some extra money. Sophomore Damaris Biviano started her own acrylic nail business this year. She learned how to do nails in July, and started taking clients in September. 

Oftentimes, when people decide to start new things or try something new, there’s a person or reason why they decided to do it. For Biviano, her older sisters were the ones who motivated her and pushed her to open up her business. 

“All my sisters are in the beauty industry. So I was like, ‘let me tag along’. They motivated me a lot,” said Biviano.

Biviano has benefitted from her new business, and has used it to become a better person and learn new things. 

“I think it benefits me in growth, like I feel more mature about stuff, money wise and everything,” said Biviano. 

Acrylic nails aren’t the only kind of business students on campus have, Junior Andromeda Franco has her own crocheting business, making beanies, tops, leg warmers, blankets, and more.

Each piece takes Franco as little as two hours to complete, and can take up to a couple of months depending on what the item is. Crocheting first sparked Franco’s interest during quarantine when she saw it on Pinterest, and decided to learn from that point on. She initially started her business to save money for a choir tour, but it then became a form of relaxation and self care. 

“My main goal is to really just have fun, I mean of course I want to make money but at the end of the day I also just really love making stuff for people and being able to share one of my passions or hobbies with others… that’s honestly very relaxing for me and is kind of a way of self care,” said Franco.

Likewise to Franco and Biviano, freshman Brandon Castillo recently started his own barber business. He learned the basics in 2022 with the help of his grandma, a hairstylist, and continued learning by watching Youtube videos to enhance his skills.

To Castillo’s benefit, being known by many people has helped grow his clientele, and has given him the confidence to grow his business. 

“I started cutting hair in eighth grade and students were constantly contacting me for a haircut. I knew getting into high school was only going to increase my clients,” said Castillo. 

Castillo’s goal as an entrepreneur is to have a profitable business and to be successful. To do this, Castillo will be improving his business by working at an actual barber shop in the future. 

“I am happy with my business overall but there is always room for improvement. I am furthering my barber skills and will soon be working in a barber shop. I do think that I will continue to cut hair but as a side hustle in the future, so I can focus on building other businesses,” Castillo said.

These entrepreneurs have big plans for their future, many of them, like Castillo, want to improve their business by working at a more professional level.

Freshman Ethan Hu runs a freeze dried candy business and currently sells the candies by having the customer directly message him on his Instagram account dedicated only to his business. Hu is motivated to boost his small business into becoming better and more advanced.

“I want to scale into other ventures, I plan on running a business in the future but somewhere in the online space,” said Hu.

As these young entrepreneurs continue to learn and build up their business skills, they are becoming more independent and are gaining new skills that will contribute to their future successes.