Starting up at an age when we are bogged down by pimpley horrors and love-shuv snags is something which may be daunting for the teens themselves, so also their parents.
But in the Start-Up space AGE is JUST a NUMBER!
Lets do a quick round up of 15 non-techie ideas which you as a teen can implement… and just “Start Up”!
Teenage – an age of confusion?
15 non-techie ideas which you as a teen can start working on immediately:
Food Start-ups : if you have a passion for food and can cook like a dream. This is one thing you should consider – ranging right from the local mumbai dabba wala system where you can cater home made food, to owning an outlet of food at prime locations.
Social Media Mgmt : this is to be split into 2 segments – FIRST is marketing and market analysis of the online space; if you are online most of the time – and if you have a knack of ‘understanding’ trends and love things which are unique and different online. This shall be an ideal space for you. SECOND is if you are creative and can write, you can be a “deadly” content specialist. Both these skills can actually be low cost “self taught and home” training programmes. But both would require a lot of discipline. Also a word of advice – try to ensure that you become more effective – have both skills combined – either in yourself – else in you plus 1 co-founder / partner
Event planning, creation and management – this would be ideal for you as ALL your costs in terms of products and services shall be outsourced. Your major cost would be branding your business and selling your ideas. This is ideal for a person who is well read and very creative and has a knack of organizing things. You however need to do extensive study – so that you can give creative and new themes to each of your events.
Growing exotic herbs/fruits/plants in pots – ideal for people with a green thumb. Grow and sell. The input would be the raw material needed to grow – and as the output effectiveness – do good branding and marketing. The returns on each plant sold maybe as much as 200% (eg exotic bonsai art) – or growing exotic mushrooms and strawberries
ART – if you are an artist – explore not just paintings etc – but also mural making on walls commercially. This can be a very lucrative business as a lot of people today in larger cities are looking at “getting a different look and feel” for their homes
Home delivery service for medicines – this can be made into a lucrative business by adding not just home delivery, but reminder services for ‘when the medicine finishes – you get an auto-fill’; have a doctor on call; blood bank service; oxygen provisions etc.
Home delivery for ALL prayers services – across all religions – if organized well and professionally, this can be done very profitably. Services to include booking for prayers, marriage, death, birth, celebrations etc – across all religions. Here there should be an option of budget services and premium services. If you can convert this into an online booking system – it shall have a wider reach.
Corporate trainings and events organizer – this is specially good, if you live in a metro or larger city where there are many companies. You can provide for training and development planning – with scheduling for trainers and dates across all skills. Also allow for online booking and services.
Sauce/Squash/Jam – made at home – this if good in taste – and branded and sold well, can make a big splash
Exotic candle making – making exotic candles for usage across occasions like Diwali and Xmas – also invest in studying things like scents and exotic herbs. The secret here would lie in your ability to brand and market it well – and ensuring that your quality is better than the market. For success you shall have to study other available brands and create a strong USP
Market Survey and Study – this is ideal for people who can reach out to people and elicit honest responses, he/she should have the ability to capture this data with the least bit of ‘noise’ and ensure that the data is pure. The next step would be data analysis and giving correct inference based solutions. This is also called Analytics. For this courses are available. And this kind of start-up , if effectively done up is guaranteed to make a big splash!
Soft toy making and designing – this is a very quick hack for people who have an eye for color, and can do market research on trends, and finally stitch (stitching can actually be outsourced to a tailor). Today Soft toys are gifts NOT just for kids – but also for adults. This start up needs a good marketing strategy, packaging.
Home remedies and home made face packs and others – well researched things like ubtan for different skin types, made with natural ingredients – if packed well and made with purity and sold properly can be an instant hit. Things like home made face packs or cough centric kada mix (only to be boiled) etc
Paneer and Khowa making commercially for hotels and mithai shops – this is another amazing business to be in. However I suggest you be careful of the market here as a lot of impurities are put in. The returns – if you have fixed customers can be as 100%. This is a SKILL – so can be learnt – even if you aren’t a good cook
Repairing services – offered for clothes, shoes, small nick-nacks – Indians hate throwing damaged things away and always look at repairing and re-wearing. But more and more in cities this facility isnt available. Eg the hem of your skirt tears – no tailor shall repair it; if your shirt looses 2 buttons and you need all replaced to be matching, its almost an impossible task. Same goes for shoes. Now home repairs are also something which can be offered. Again ALL of these are easy to do skills and should be managed in bulk orders – so you need to market your business well.
I have discussed 15 non-techie business ideas which any teenager can start!
