17 People Who Were Born With an Entrepreneurial Spirit

Developing a new business is difficult and costly. But people who are passionate about it tend to find their own niche and often become successful. The following stories will be about women, men and children who decided to create something new and succeeded.

• When my kids were younger, I would occasionally babysit for neighbors. I’ve lived in the same neighborhood for nearly 20 years, so I know many people.
  Once a month, on a Friday night, I host a Parents’ night out and babysit overnight. I still have a swing set, a tree swing and such, so kids come to my home. I charge around $50 a child and I serve dinner and have a dessert, we play outside until dusk, come in and get cleaned up/put pjs on and then watch a movie. Afterward, it’s brushing teeth and getting settled down in sleeping bags.
  We set up camp in the family room and kids fall asleep quickly. I’m up by 8 making breakfast to feed the little people and parents pickup around 9:15. I usually watch 8–10 kids, and it’s an easy $500. Kids love the night, and I have more demand than space available. © FurryFreeloader / Reddit
• A friend of mine is in the go-karting business. His son, Dan, was 15 years old and wanted to make some money during the summer. The friend offered him to work at the kart track and made a deal: Dan would get 20% of the sum over the usual summer revenue as a salary. Dan didn’t like go-karting, but he agreed.
  The business wasn’t very successful and was run by hired workers. So, Dan arrived at the place and found out that there was not even a waiting area. The workers claimed that those who arrived, rode at once. But as soon as they placed 2 sofas, there were people sitting on them and waiting for their turn. After that, tables were added.
  Soon, a client called and asked if he could rent the whole track for a couple of hours for a corporate event. Dan started 2 channels on social media, installed 2 vending machines with snacks and coffee. Then they held the first small tournament, so the local media even wrote about this kart track. By the end of the summer, the revenue grew by 40%, and Dan got his well-deserved earnings. © ViBo / Pikabu

• A guy made a fortune selling tumbleweed online. He realized there was an untapped market for the stuff, for things like movie/theater sets, decoration, etc. so he started a business of picking up tumbleweed (of which there is no shortage), boxing it up, and shipping it out with a hefty margin. © Bigtsez / Reddit
• One day, my wife and I went outside for some air. And suddenly I said to her, “Sylvia, what if we make a shop to sell second-hand things? Look, our daughter is growing, soon the pram won’t be needed, where to store it? And we’re not the only people like this... We could make money on it.”
  Sylvia also caught on to the idea. We discussed it. My wife found a great place to rent. A lot of traffic, city center, renovated, even had racks.
  Meanwhile, I was writing a business plan to get funds from the employment center. We got the money, moved in. We risked everything we had: we sold our own music center, children’s swings, and a home cinema. I decided that our shop should sell everything — from children’s things to antiques — then the buyer would come in regularly, even just out of curiosity.
  We evaluated goods through the Internet: found the goods through the ads, their average price, and when buying things offered a third of the price of a new one — but immediately. © Unknown author / Pikabu

• My husband had to move to another city for work, so I moved with him. Just sitting and doing nothing is boring. And I only know how to plant vegetables and flowers. So, I posted an ad in a local chat room about gardening and help with indoor plants.
  I went to bed, and in the morning I was shocked because I saw an unreal number of messages. I thought that I’d go to transplant flowers once a week. But I’ve been landscaping and helping with plants almost 7 days a week for almost a year now. The income is not bad. Now I’m not afraid to stay alone in a strange city. © Overheard / Ideer
• Since childhood, I had an entrepreneurial spirit: when I was still at school, I knitted and sewed things for my classmates for money. I liked working with my hands. But my parents said it was just a hobby and forced me to become an accountant. As I was an obedient girl, I studied in college till the end and got a diploma.
  Now I pay for my life with my “hobby,” because I have a shop of knitted clothes and have regular orders. My parents still think that I’m on the wrong path. But my clothes are popular, and my diploma collects dust on the shelf. © Caramel / VK

“I crochet and sell dolls.”

• One day at school they organized a fair where you could bring your handicrafts and sell them. My older sister knitted 2 pairs of doll slippers with beads for me to sell. A boy came up and bought both pairs of slippers quickly. I happily ran to spend the money, and was stunned to see him selling these slippers at 2 times the price. © Overheard / Ideer
• When my son was only 12, he started earning money. He was good at drawing, so he made user pics for social media, photoshopped pictures, created covers for video bloggers, and edited videos himself. He often asked me for a bank card to receive his earning, and he sometimes earned more than my husband and I together.
  The most interesting thing is that he learned everything himself and found work on his own. For about a year he was actively doing it, bought himself everything he wanted, a new computer and bicycle, and then he cooled down and said that he was no longer interested in working. © Mamdarinka / VK
• I went to school with a kid whose dad invented the squeezable ketchup bottle. They were very well off but not ostentatious about it, which I respected. Definitely one of the more unusual paths to wealth of anyone I’ve known. © accountofyawawaworht / Reddit

• There is an English girl who helps wealthy Chinese parents give their kids suitable English names. (It is common in East Asia that kids have secondary English names that they use in English class and often also later in life when, for example, traveling for business). People send her photos of her kids, and she suggests a name for, as far as I remember, £50 each. © christw_ / Reddit
• In the 90s, my friend and I put together our stockpile of girly stuff (cards, beads, sequins, pretty buttons) and put it in a pretty bag. Beforehand we wrote down each item on little papers, rolled them up nicely, and put them in a box.
  We took all this good to school and organized a win-win lottery. You give money, pull a piece of paper and you get a prize. The success of this enterprise was enormous, as well as the reprimand from the head teacher and parents. © Goreotumaeva / Pikabu
• In 1988, I was in second grade and a commercial shop opened in the city, which, in addition to chewing gum, sold pictures of Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris and so on. My grandfather was a photographer, and I was also into photography at that period of my life.
  The plan was instantaneous. I bought 3 photos, re-photographed them, and my grandfather retouched and printed them. After that, I sold them at school.
  The business went on until the parents of 2 classmates came to complain because their kids were taking money from their parents without asking. After that I was shamed by the head teacher for 30 minutes in front of the school as a “profiteer.” © Uralmso / Pikabu

• In 2005, my mother had to sell a couple of stalls in a hurry: one sold fruit and vegetables, and the other one sold all sorts of trinkets, hairpins, rubber bands and toys. Well, we partly ate vegetables and fruit ourselves, the rest was sold to friends with a big discount.
  But all sorts of women’s bling remained, and I, who was then studying in the 5th grade, decided to sell them to classmates. The demand was great. Later, children from other classes started coming to me.
  Later, my teachers found out about my trade and started to kick me out of classes, but it was only to my advantage: there were more buyers in the halls. And then my mum was summoned to the principal’s office. The principal said: “Do something about your son. It’s unacceptable. Even if it doesn’t interfere with his studies.”
  And the mother replied: “Really, something should be done. I’ll go buy him a computer as a reward. He’s almost earned enough money for it.” That’s how I got my first computer. © wakerss1 / Pikabu
• A guy I know was really bad at studies. He graduated this year. But his entrepreneurial spirit was at such a level that I marveled. He can sell everything!
  While still studying at school, he developed his business of buying second-hand things, which he repaired, washed, and made them look nice. He bought branded things, but in not very good condition. That is why he got them for pennies. He tidied them up and sold them for 2–3 times their cost. © Margarita Igorevna / Work Stories / VK

• About 4 years ago, I noticed we started running out of Ziplock bags quickly every week. Turned out my 10-year-old at the time was mixing gummy bears/worms with Hispanic spices and chamoy sauce then, selling them at school for $5 a bag. She was bringing in about $100-$150 a week.
  She is now about to turn 15, and I helped her build her candy business, and she has her candies in stores in our city and is still expanding. © TheWizardry90 / Reddit
• Since I was young, I’ve dreamed of opening my own pastry shop. My family loved to eat my desserts, but never supported me. My mum said that I wouldn’t be a good entrepreneur, so where would I go? So my parents drove me to the teachers’ college.
  I cried and shouted, and resented, but they didn’t listen. And then as soon as I turned 18, the first thing I did was dropping out of college. My mum made such a fuss about it... I don’t even want to remember. We still don’t talk! It’s been 4 years.
  I left for another city, friends helped me find a good job and a place to live. I work, but I haven’t forgotten about my dream. I save money every month for my future business. And I am sure that everything will work out! And even if it doesn’t, I won’t be upset, it’s better to try and fail than not to try and regret it all my life! © Work Stories / VK

And here’s a story of a guy who was rejected by all employers, so he started his own business and succeeded.