It's Not What Most People Think
Ask most people what a small town needs to grow and they'll say things like more investment, government grants, or a big employer moving in. I disagree.
The long-term economic engine of any small town isn't:
- The availability of capital
- People's willingness to work hard
- Their IQ or education level
It's people's ability to come up with an offer that others want — out of nothing.
That's what an entrepreneur does. They leverage skill, time, ideas, and capital to create something that didn't exist before. And given time, these people reshape entire communities.
No one has more potential to grow our local economy faster than an entrepreneur. Not a government program. Not a corporation relocating. A person with an idea and the drive to execute it.
Key Insight
Entrepreneurship is the single greatest economic engine for growing small towns. Everything else is secondary.
Why Young Entrepreneurs Have an Unfair Advantage
Research shows that the average age a person starts their first entrepreneurial venture is 35 years old. But here's what's interesting — studies also show that an entrepreneur who starts their first business at 25 has an average of a 75% larger economic impact due to the compounding effect of their skills, even if their first business doesn't succeed.
Think about that. It's not about the first business working out. It's about starting the learning process earlier.
Young people have three things that make them uniquely positioned to start businesses:
Abundance of Time and Energy
They have more hours in the day and more energy to burn than they will at any other point in their lives. This is the time to pour that into building something.
Low Responsibility
If a business fails when you're 20, you learn a lesson. If it fails when you're 40 with a mortgage and kids, your family is at risk. The stakes are lower when you're young — which means you can take bigger swings. Plus, people don't judge you if you fail when you start young. They're way more supportive of you trying things and will even help you succeed. This was my experience — I was helped many times by college instructors, other mentors, and even other business owners while I was going to school.
Surrounded by Other Learners
While still in school, students are surrounded by others who are in the process of learning and growing. This is the ideal environment to try something new. Once they leave, most people stop developing themselves.
Skills Compound Exponentially. Money Compounds Linearly.
In the early years of an entrepreneur, the most important thing is to develop skills — not to make a lot of money.
Skills compound exponentially. The communication skills you build while selling your first service make you better at hiring, which makes you better at leading, which makes you better at scaling. Each skill unlocks the next one faster.
Money, on the other hand, compounds much more linearly. You can always make more money later with better skills. But you can't buy back the years you could have spent learning.
The fastest way to learn skills is to step out of your comfort zone and try new things. Starting a business — even a small one, even one that fails — forces you to develop skills you'll never learn in a classroom: sales, problem-solving, managing people, handling rejection, and thinking creatively under pressure.
What I'm Doing About It
This is why I speak to young people about entrepreneurship. In the last six months alone, I've spoken to students at Portage College and the local high school multiple times — with the hope of inspiring even a few to start something.
I'm playing the long game when it comes to economic development and community success. I don't expect every student to start a business tomorrow. But if even one or two students in each group I speak to decide to try something entrepreneurial while they're still young, the compounding effect on our community over the next 10 to 20 years will be massive.
From a Recent Talk
A few months ago, I was speaking at Portage College and a student asked about starting a business with the inflationary challenges we're facing right now. I told him very simply:
"When I started my business in 2016, our community was shrinking because of the economy. A few years later, I was thinking of expanding and my cousin told me not to because of COVID. Then fuel prices went through the roof while we were travelling between communities. People said, 'Don't try to expand.'
But in all three circumstances, these external factors only played a small part in our increasing costs. People are always looking for reasons not to step out and start their own business. The truth is, large economic factors play a very small part in whether or not a business succeeds."
My answer to him: If you have a good idea or something that creates value, a bad economy won't stop that from succeeding.
Why I Hire Entrepreneurial People
This mentorship philosophy doesn't just apply to speaking at schools. It's built into how I run my company.
I specifically look for people who are entrepreneurial-focused when I hire. I want to leverage their ambition for learning rather than hiring someone who just wants a job. People who think like entrepreneurs bring more energy, more problem-solving, and more ownership to their work.
And here's the thing that surprises most business owners: offering mentorship is one of the biggest reasons people want to join my company. I tell people upfront that if they want to start their own business one day, I'll help them get there. That attracts a completely different caliber of person than just offering a paycheck.
Some business owners are afraid of training people who might leave or compete with them. I'd rather train someone great who leaves in two years than keep someone mediocre who stays for ten. And honestly, I'm not scared of people I train competing with me because I have built a brand over the last ten years that is extremely strong. I am just learning and improving so fast they won't be able to catch up with me alone.
In fact, if someone wants to start a home service business, I have an offer to partner with them so that their chances of success will skyrocket because I know they will provide excellent service to our homeowners as well. People with an entrepreneurial mind are invaluable to me, and I want to leverage their drive to make our business even better. I don't want just their hands; I want their hearts. That's where the magic happens.
The Problem After School
Here's what I've observed: once students leave college and university, most people stop learning. Their peers focus on making money or having fun, as the learning part of their lives is over. They focus on what's simple and obvious rather than being creative and innovating. The social pressure shifts from "What skills are you building?" to "What's your salary?"
It's a lot harder to invest in something that will gain you skills when others are trying to maximize the skills they already have. Starting a business when everyone around you is focused on stability and paychecks is significantly harder. That's why I focus on reaching people while they're still in school.
Some of the most successful entrepreneurs started when they were in school:
- Mark Zuckerberg — started Facebook from his Harvard dorm room at 19
- Michael Dell — launched Dell Technologies from his University of Texas dorm at 19
- Bill Gates — co-founded Microsoft while at Harvard at 19
- Evan Spiegel — created Snapchat as a Stanford class project at 21
- Matt Mullenweg — built WordPress while in high school at 19
You need time management, but there's no better time to try new things than when you're surrounded by others who are all learning. If you're reading this and you're still in school, you're in the best possible position to try something. You don't need a perfect idea. You don't need a lot of money. You just need to start.
Key Insight
The window where you're surrounded by other learners is short. Once people leave school, most stop developing themselves. Start while you're still in that environment.
If You Want to See Your Community Grow, We Need More Entrepreneurs
If you're reading this right now, you're probably one of two people:
You're an Aspiring Entrepreneur
You're interested in entrepreneurship and looking for someone to help guide you. You want to learn from people who've actually done it.
Join the CommunityYou're an Educator
You're tasked with helping young people learn and you want to expose them to real-world entrepreneurship — not just textbook theory.
Invite Me to SpeakEither way, if you want to see your community grow, we all need more entrepreneurs. I'm committed to doing my part — one classroom at a time.
The Bottom Line
If you have a good idea or something that creates value, a bad economy won't stop that from succeeding — and neither will your age.