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Teenage entrepreneurs are leveraging social media in different ways to build the next generation of businesses.<\/p>\n
One example is Michael Satterlee, a teenager who sells can coolers. His product, which brings in up to $300,000 in sales per month, went viral on Instagram after Satterlee posted a low-budget video<\/a> of him using it to encase a Dr. Pepper soda. The video has garnered more than 50 million views and almost 2.5 million likes on Instagram.\u00a0<\/p>\n Satterlee recently told Business Insider<\/a> that demand for the product arose because viewers \u201cjust hadn\u2019t seen anything like it before.\u201d<\/p>\n His ecommerce company, Cruise Cup<\/a>, directly benefited from the attention. However, Satterlee cautioned companies against posting product pitches too often on their social media accounts. He said that companies should \u201cdisguise\u201d their business accounts and post like influencers.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, what followers are is an audience,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople aren\u2019t just going to follow a product. You want to build a community.\u201d<\/p>\n He advised that businesses keep track of trends, deliver fresh content to engage viewers and interact with their audience. The goal is to give followers plenty of reasons to keep up with the brand outside of buying a product, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kirk and Jacob McKinney, two brothers who cofounded Junk Teens<\/a> when they were teenagers, offer junk removal services in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Instead of relying on social media to get the word out about their services to attract potential customers, the duo uses these platforms to draw in fresh talent. Junk Teens has more than 213,000 followers on TikTok, 269,000 followers on Instagram and 69,000 subscribers on YouTube.<\/p>\n \u201cA company is just a group of people at the end of the day, and when you see yourself in these videos and the social media\u2019s capturing it, you\u2019re a part of that, and it really elevates the culture,\u201d Kirk recently told Entrepreneur<\/em>. <\/p>\n Junk Teens hit $3 million in revenue last year and is on track to bring in more than $5 million<\/a> this year. Most of the company\u2019s employees are high school or college students, and they are paid about $25 to $30 an hour, including tips. <\/p>\n \u201cA lot of the employees feel like they\u2019re building the company with us because they\u2019re also building their opportunity as the company grows,\u201d Kirk said. \u201cBecause of that, we have a lot of forward-thinking people, and I think that us all being young is a part of why that happens.\u201d<\/p>\n Junk removal may not sound like the most glamorous job, but the company uses social media to showcase its upsides.\u00a0Social media \u201cactually attracts more people who want to work with us,\u201d Kirk said.<\/p>\n This article is part of our ongoing\u00a0Young Entrepreneur\u00ae\u00a0series highlighting the stories, challenges and triumphs of being a\u00a0young business owner.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Teenage entrepreneurs are leveraging social media in different ways to build the next generation of businesses.<\/p>\n One example is Michael Satterlee, a teenager who sells can coolers. His product, which brings in up to $300,000 in sales per month, went viral on Instagram after Satterlee posted a low-budget video<\/a> of him using it to encase a Dr. Pepper soda. The video has garnered more than 50 million views and almost 2.5 million likes on Instagram.\u00a0<\/p>\n Satterlee recently told Business Insider<\/a> that demand for the product arose because viewers \u201cjust hadn\u2019t seen anything like it before.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nKey Takeaways<\/h2>\n
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