How young entrepreneurs change the world – starting with just one idea
You’re never too young to change the world
Have you ever wondered who comes up with the big ideas that shape the way we live — like smartphones, food delivery apps, or even renewable‑energy tech? Behind every one of those innovations is an entrepreneur: someone who spots a problem, imagines a different future, and builds something new.
Our animation shows you what that journey looks like — and why you might be more ready for it than you think.
What being enterprising really means
Entrepreneurship isn’t just about running a company. It’s about mindset.
The film highlights four core enterprising skills that anyone can develop:
Creativity – imagining new ways of doing things
Adaptability – adjusting when plans change
Resilience – keeping going when things get hard
Innovation – turning ideas into real‑world solutions
These are skills you already use every day at school, at home, and with friends. Entrepreneurship just helps you put them into action.
Have you ever wondered what ‘entrepreneurship’ and ‘being enterprising’ really mean? What about an ‘entrepreneur or a founder’? Have you ever wondered who came up with the idea for the smartphone or how you might solve food shortages in the world?
To start with, an entrepreneur or founder is someone who starts their own business or company but they differ from someone who owns a business, like a shop keeper. Entrepreneurs base their business around a unique idea and there are lots of brilliant ideas out there. It’s all about trying things out and learning what does and doesn’t work.
These ideas could be to invent a completely new product, inspired by friends or family. Or to produce a product or service, in response to what people in business call ‘a gap in the market’, or maybe a problem they want to solve in society. Many of the products and services we use today were created and sold by entrepreneurs who were passionate about their idea and making it a reality.
Ideas can range from simple solutions to everyday problems all the way up to revolutionary technological inventions that shape the way we live. You can even start your entrepreneurial journey from a young age like starting an eco-friendly clothing company from your home using social media to grow it. You might develop a new piece of technology that helps solve an issue around renewable energy, or you could create a new online food delivery business to help people buy more affordable meals.
As well as having a great idea as a starting point, being enterprising is all about being creative, adventurous, resilient, and adaptable in order to take an idea from start to finish, and to make change happen. This means that many entrepreneurs need an ‘enterprising mindset’ to get their businesses started.
This enterprising mindset helps them to come up with ideas, respond to challenges and create products and services that are successful for a long time. So how might an entrepreneur start on their journey? Let’s take a look at Amari. Amari founded a business to help people with their mental health, but where did it all begin? From a young age Amari saw the impact that not taking care of their mental health had on some of her friends and family. Amari wanted to do something about it to help them. So, Amari worked hard through school, picking up lots of key skills such as resilience, creativity and adaptability, eventually creating the idea for a video game that helps people improve their mental health and connect with other people online.
Through lots of hard work and challenges along the way, and with the support of friends and family, Amari and her friend built an inspiring and useful video game and were able to sell it to the public, helping people of all ages. Now Amari is able to run her business how she wants, with a team of people to support her, but she knows that continuing to work hard is required for future success.
As you’ve seen, entrepreneurship can be exciting, impactful and fulfilling, but achieving success as an entrepreneur can also be hard work. It requires innovation, adaptability, resilience, creativity and an ‘enterprising mindset’.
So, are you inspired to shape the world around you? What would your business be?
What could your big idea be?
After watching the film, you might start to notice problems you’d love to solve — big or small. Entrepreneurs start with curiosity, not confidence. Every idea counts — and every idea has the potential to grow.
Your journey doesn’t have to wait until you’re older. It can start today—with one idea, one question, one spark. Use our Enterprise planner to help develop your idea, or even the LifeSkills Business start up planner if you are further along with your concept.
Alternatively, our Enterprise journey tool helps you to develop your enterprise skills and explore the steps and skills it takes to make an enterprising idea a reality.
