Back in May I wrote a post entitled Business Plans for 13 Year Olds, which urged writers of such plans to explain their business concept so a 13 year old could understand it. Since that time the post has brought hundreds of readers to this blog through Google searches. My conclusion is not that writing plans for 13 year olds is so important but rather that many people are actually looking for business concepts that their 13 year old children can develop. My thoughts on new business ideas for children follow:
- The new business should start as a web business. The technology today is so simple (and cheap) that any interested teen can create a blog, an e-commerce site, a social network or a combination of all three with little programming knowledge or parental assistance. Over time the business can evolve to store fronts, conference speaking appearances, books or other tradional business development activities.
- What almost every child has is product knowledge about gadgets, books, video games, toys etc. and a peer network that is naturally interested in their views on such. I think that sites that review products from a 13 year old perspective can be compelling to other youngsters. While some children may read TechCrunch, the great majority rely on their friends. For example, a cell phone review site targeted at children's needs and phone usage could become popular. Where I live every 12 year old has a cell phone and some say in the phone purchased for them.
- Another idea would be a travel site for children where they could go to get their peers' views of the proposed family vacation location or city. Of course the children would be encouraged to upload their pictures and videos. The concept of introducing "experts" on certain locations, such as Hawaii, and the ability to email them with specific questions might also be popular. Rating resorts and local attractions might add to the popularity. Sponsorship by MacDonalds might be achieved by putting a store locator on the site for each location.
If you have ideas for child developed businesses, add them in the comments.
The revenue model initially would be advertising on the two ideas above, but I believe that sales of the featured products could be an add-on fairly early in the company's life cycle.
Obviously an adult could develop these ideas and target the younger market, but the youngsters have a more profound understanding of the target customer. Any adult trying to implement these ideas should beware of 4 foot competitors.
