Senior Emily Mayes, a young student entrepreneur, turns her passion into a profit. Mayes has a successful business she loves, combining her passion for creativity and thinking to create her very own banner business.
The young entrepreneur took Jill McGrew’s entrepreneurship class earlier in high school, which helped her learn more about starting a business.
“We took lots of tests, and it told me that I would not be a good entrepreneur, but that just determined me to prove them wrong and that I could do it,” Mayes said.
That’s just what Mayes did; she proved herself, and the creative entrepreneur started her business in her junior year.
“It was junior year, and I was looking for a job, and I didn’t know what I really wanted to do. I’ve always had a business of my own of some sort, and I’ve always leaned more on the creative side,” Mayes said. “My friend then gave me the idea of banners.”
Once Mayes came up with her idea, she immediately started preparing.
“I looked up different tips from people who had already started a business, and I started my prices really low so that I could get an additional target market going,” Mayes said. “Once I got a loyal customer base, I started raising my prices.”
Even though Mayes was quick to start her business, it’s not always going to be easy. Starting and maintaining a successful business requires a lot of work and time. It’s especially hard for Mayes because she has to balance her business with school.
“You need to do something that you thoroughly enjoy. A lot of times, you can start a business based on a hobby or interest, but it does take a lot of work,” Holloway said.
After Mayes had prepared and worked hard, she finally created her now successful business.
“It’s a banner business called @bannersby.emily on Instagram and Facebook,” Mayes said.
Mayes shared her advice for other young entrepreneurs with a passion.
“It’s definitely going to be difficult at first because it’s not going to be a success right away. You have to put a lot of time into it and advertise yourself anytime you get. I advertised myself at any given moment. I probably made 10 free banners before I even got a single dime,” Mayes said.
Advertisements are one of the most important things to help grow your business, especially when it’s just the beginning of your business.
“Advertise yourself to the best of your ability. Put yourself out there. It’s not embarrassing to advertise something that you’re promoting. Stay with it no matter how hard it gets because the end product is really awesome,” Mayes said.
Entrepreneurship provides skills needed for life’s unexpected future, helps build agency, and businesses contribute to communities.
“We use community members and entrepreneurs in our community who come in and mentor them throughout the year and help them with their business development,” Holloway said.
Holloway also shared her advice for students looking to start a business, too.
“It’s not something you do halfway. You’ve got to dive all the way into it and know that it takes a lot of work. Also, most people who are successful have failed many times, so you have to learn from those failures and just keep going,” Holloway said.
Mayes has inspired others as a young entrepreneur with her banner business.
“My favorite part about my business is to see the work after it, and getting to see all the pictures that people get to send me afterwards,” Mayes said.
References:
Uncharted learning
ASU entrepreneurship
World Economic Forum
@bannersby.emily on Instagram and Facebook
