Ed Fry isn’t necessarily your typical teenager. Sure he’s full of passion (those hormones!) with a seriously cool haircut. Where the mould shatters is the fact that he started his first business at 14 followed by a start-up web business. Make no mistake, Ed is not a nerd using the web to bust-out; he’s a thoughtful teen (huh?) who is keen for teens to make a success of whatever business they intend starting by sharing his ideas.
“I’m not suggesting you need a salary-replacing income aged 12. But instead, by running a business for profit – out of your own choice – it actually makes you quite savvy in terms of knowing about the “real world’. It puts you on unfair terms with people who haven’t done that,” says Ed.
He continued, “Actually that’s not fair. It’s their fault for not getting off their backside and doing something. Instead, they leave university up to their neck in debt, coz it’s expensive being a teen, with little idea of what to do next”.
So how did this get-going-guru, get going? He took business studies for a year and one of the tasks was to set up and run a business at school. Not happy with the “grossly overpriced and crappy quality” from their school canteen, he and a bunch of mates decide to set up a snack business. They set up their stall each break time in an area where lots of students hung out which proved brilliant for business. The business was such a success that the school, fed up with the boys storing stock and cash at school, closed the business down (how “supportive” of them).
Not to be deterred, Ed decided to invest the profits in an internet business. He recalled, “I was fascinated by online marketing, especially search engine optimization. I could work on my website whenever I wanted and still get regular, growing cheques and bank deposits each and every month.”
Is that where it stopped for Ed? Are you kidding? Check out his profile and be inspired by this enigmatic entrepreneur who flies the flag for JUST DOING IT.
