Young entrepreneurs: how to start a business as a kid (we did it at five)

It started with a question

Yana was five and recovering from a serious illness. Hospital air left her lips cracked and bleeding, and every balm they tried made it worse: too harsh, too full of things she reacted to, or simply useless.

She asked her mum, Aarti, a simple question: can we make our own lip balms? They researched gentle, natural ingredients together and made the first one at home. It worked, her lips healed, and Plain Jane became the first Yani Beauty product.

Why a lived problem beats a clever idea

Yana did not run a market analysis. She had a problem, she could describe exactly how the existing options failed, and she knew immediately whether her version was better. That feedback loop is worth more than any business plan at the start.

For any young entrepreneur, the first question is not 'what could I sell?' but 'what annoys me that I could fix?'

The grown-up part

In the UK a child cannot register a company, so a parent or guardian takes on the legal side while the child leads the creative and customer work.

• A parent or guardian registers the business and handles tax
• Cosmetics need a safety assessment and product registration before sale
• Public liability and product insurance are worth the cost
• Keep a simple record of every cost and every sale from day one
• Agree early what happens to the money the child earns

What we would tell another family

Five things that made the difference between a nice idea and a working business.

• Make ten of something and give them to people who will be honest
• Sell at a school fair or market before building a website
• Let the child speak to customers; it builds confidence faster than anything else
• Expect the first version to be plain, and be proud of that
• Keep it to hours that leave room for school and rest

Awards and recognition so far

Awards are not the point, but for a young entrepreneur they are proof that the work is real, and they open doors to stockists, mentors and press.

• Prestige Award 2025 - Natural Skincare in the Midlands region
• SHE Awards 2026 - Highly Commended, Beauty and Wellness
• We Can Be - Yana is an ambassador for the UK youth entrepreneurship community

What is We Can Be?

We Can Be is a UK entrepreneurship programme for children and teenagers aged 6-18. Built with girls in mind and open to every aspiring entrepreneur, it turns starting a business into short, practical missions: find a problem worth solving, name and brand it, work out what to charge, test it on real people, and pitch it. Members get self-paced interactive courses for ages 9-11, 12-14 and 15-18; games, quizzes, calculators and simulators to practise business and money skills; a library of 250+ real female founder role models; a storybook for ages 6-9 and a practical workbook for ages 10-14; an AI business coach that adapts to their age; and 140+ handpicked resources from other organisations gathered in one place.

Yana worked through the We Can Be workbook and later joined as an ambassador, sharing her story with other children who have an idea and no idea what to do next.

wecanbe.co.uk

Programmes and awards for young entrepreneurs in the UK

If your child has an idea, you do not have to work it out alone. These are the routes we know of, and the ones people ask us about most.

• We Can Be - missions, workbook and role models for ages 6-18
• Young Enterprise - school-based company programmes, widely run across the UK
• Young Enterprise Scotland - the Scottish arm of the same idea
• Local business awards - most counties run categories that recognise new and young businesses
• School fairs, craft markets and PTA events - the cheapest, fastest customer research there is

Where it has gone

Yana is now eleven. Aarti developed the wider skincare range around her own sensitive, reactive skin, and everything is still made by hand in the East Midlands.

None of that was the plan. The plan was one balm that did not hurt.

Questions people ask