Fact or fiction? One day, when I grow up, I will pay it forward. Well, the answer is in your hands already. As a budding entrepreneur, you can decide if you want to gift others who are merely getting by, now or later or both.
Forget the socially established notion that paying it forward is only reserved for grown-ups. It’s not! You too, young as you are, can make a huge difference. Here’s how students can get involved in their personal and collective stance.
Charity begins at home
If “charity begins at home”, then let’s do so, literally. Set up a family meeting to come up with a New Year project that you can collectively add value to as a family. This does not need the bells and whistles to validate its worth. It can be cooking an extra plate for an elderly neighbour once a week (or even once a month), donating your clothes to a struggling member of the community or volunteering at a charity organisation that you are passionate about.
Each one, teach one
It’s no secret that peer pressure is a reality. Fortunately, this is also true for positive peer pressure. One way of showing independence and reclaiming your space is by gathering up your pals to positively influence each other to give back. Just by merely sharing with your friends how much joy one can get from reading books to the elderly at an old age home to teaching orphans a new bicycle trick; your word of mouth can put a flame in your fellow peers to also pay it forward.
As seen in Mzansi and abroad
Whether locally or internationally, there are many examples of young peeps who used their entrepreneurial ideas to give back. Take for instance Noa Mintz, who started her first business at the age of eight, when she offered art classes during the summer for a small fee, and several years later as a teen, she founded Nannies by Noa which helps families in New York. From starting out with an extramural activity to unleashing a budding young entrepreneur.
Closer to home, there’s Clement Pilusa, an entrepreneur who is now creating jobs and adding solutions to the global challenge on food security. He does this by farming vegetables and chickens – ensuring affordable and accessible poultry to local communities. He also gives up his time to undertake school visits, where he talks to scholars about the importance of agriculture and entrepreneurship.
You don’t need a special event to pay it forward. Simply begin where you are passionate and give it your all. It starts with the heart set in the right place. Do what you can with what you have. And, who knows, perhaps from your passion and voluntary service, an entrepreneurial niche can emerge. As you work and serve, a Teen Boss could emerge out of you to take your impact to a higher level.
