Member Article

Generation Z: Simply l-a-z-y or simply saavy?

Entering the teenage years is an exciting time and opens a whole new world of responsibilities and opportunities for young people as they become more aware of their surroundings and how the world functions. As a result, many teens start to find the prospect of making their own money and not being as reliant on their parents highly appealing.

The conventional way for teens to make money has been through a good old-fashioned ‘Saturday job’. Countless Hollywood films have depicted young teens riding bicycles through their neighbourhood - throwing a newspaper into a neighbour’s garden. Other examples include working in a café or sweeping-up in a hairdressing salon.

Despite recent studies suggesting that Generation Z teens are work shy due to a decline in the number of teens born after 1996 taking up Saturday jobs – arguably as a generation, they are more money driven and entrepreneurially savvy than ever before.

One of the UK’s youngest entrepreneurs, 13-year-old Jenk Oz (Co-Founder & CEO of iCoolKid), believes that, far from being lazy, his fellow Gen Z’ers are a completely ‘new breed’ of teen who have simply evolved the concept of a traditional Saturday job to suit the tools they have at their disposal in 2018.

Here, Jenk has outlined four fundamental reasons why he believes there has been a shift from teens obtaining a conventional part-time jobs, to teens taking up new entrepreneurially driven ventures using the online world as their gateway. Are these skills more valuable for teens looking to build their CVs and skill base in 2018? Jenk believes the answer to this is a resounding ‘yes’…

THE (ONLINE) WORLD IS THEIR OYSTER! Jenk Oz says: “A poll recently commissioned by my company, iCoolKid, suggests that Generation Z are more entrepreneurial and business-minded than any previous generation. In my opinion, a clear reason for this is due to the highly accessible online world we live in today and, perhaps most importantly, the arrival of social media. Today’s teenagers (like me), are the first group to have been ‘born social’ – we spend our lives online!

This has led to a seismic shift in the way Generation Z think and act – everything is on a global scale today and this has opened the door to a whole new world of possibilities in terms of work opportunities.

As well as helping spark potential, growing up in a digital world has also played a huge role in enabling young entrepreneurs, like me, to quickly expand business ideas. An example of this is Henry Patterson, who at just 10 years old created his own business, ‘Not Before Tea’ – a range of products (including bags and soft toys) designed around his favourite characters from a self-penned children’s story. Now at fourteen, Henry is set to go global with his brand and has recently published his very own book, Young and Mighty, with the aim of motivating like-minded children to pursue their dreams. This has led Henry in a whole new direction and he’s now expanded his business further – selling online workshops and courses for aspiring young entrepreneurs through the Young & Mighty website. The reason for Henry’s success is that he had a fantastic idea and cleverly used the online world to turn his vision into a viable business at a very young age. While Henry didn’t start off his work life with a ‘traditional’ Saturday job, you certainly can’t describe him as work shy!

Rose Dyson of Pura Cosmetics is another brilliant example of a Gen Z’er who has used the online world we live in today to her advantage. Rose started her vegan and cruelty-free make up brand at just 15- all while studying for her GSCE’s. Having noticed a gap in the market for affordable beauty products, Rose initially developed her company idea with only £25 and lovingly hand-made every product herself. Through sheer determination and hard work, the brand is now stocked in department stores, gift shops and a range of salons. Rose cleverly used social media in the early stages of developing Pura Cosmetics, interacting with followers and providing unique content to up her follower count – not bad for a supposedly work-shy generation!

The internet and technology is also wielding all sorts of new opportunities for my fellow Gen Z’ers when it comes to learning new CV worthy skills too, such as coding! There are lots of great coding classes online aimed at a younger audience which is a brilliant way to unlock a passion and drive enthusiasm for STEM careers – hopefully creating the next Bill gates or Steve Jobs.“

HOBBIES CAN BE TURNED INTO BUSINESS IDEAS Jenk Oz says: “We Gen Z’ers are so lucky when it comes to setting up new businesses – we have so many new tools at our disposal thanks to the speed at which technology is advancing.

It’s so easy to set up a company online -apps like Instagram and Etsy are ready-made for setting up ‘virtual shops’ - all you have to do is create the product and make sure to keep your followers engaged. You don’t need to rent out office space or a warehouse, everything is all in one virtual world.

In fact, social media is the biggest game-changer ever as it removes almost all set up costs. If someone had a brilliant idea 20 years ago, they would have to secure an investor and find a way to show the world their idea. Now, with social media and ‘server-less cloud’ computing, budding entrepreneurs can be set up super cheaply and super quickly – enabling people to compete with big companies in a matter of hours.“

ADAPTING TO ACADEMIC PRESSURE Jenk Oz says: “From my own first-hand experience, I know that there is a lot of pressure on young people today to achieve academic success. Although in many ways this view is now outdated, for many teens its drummed in from an early age that the only way to career success is by getting a place at one of the top Universities and excelling in the academic world. With this in mind, it’s not surprising that young people today are moving away from time-consuming part-time jobs and in turn are getting creative with the ways in which they are looking to earn their own money.

There are so many ways in which you can earn pocket money from the comfort of your own bedroom – just with a laptop/smartphone to hand. Gen Z’ers are able to make money selling or promoting their own products at low cost through websites like Amazon, Depop, Instagram and not even step a foot outside the house!“

Being a 13-year-old CEO obviously means that balancing iCoolKid duties and school work sometimes proves difficult. Yet while academia is often prioritised, Gen Z’ers are still able to build CV’s and make money- fitting in with a schedule that suits studying too.“

CREATIVE ENCOURAGEMENT Jenk Oz says: “What’s great about the world Gen Z’ers like me are growing up in is that creative flair is totally encouraged. iCoolKid was sparked from an initial idea of wanting to share information about all the fun things I was doing in my spare time, with my peers. Thanks to the incredible support and guidance I received from friends and family, the business has now grown into a digital lifestyle hub for all young people – a cool safe place to hang out and learn about new things.

I think more and more people are now accepting that Gen Z have their own way of doing things and we aren’t going to follow tradition – even when it comes to our first forays into work life.

As a result of this, there are now loads of resources available – both on and off line) to help support young entrepreneurial talent. Young Entrepreneur and Business Fares are a brilliant way to go and meet other like-minded individuals and share ideas. There are also loads of business hubs and forums on the internet which are geared towards teens. Joining clubs which you are interested in is also a great way to get inspired – the best ideas arise out of doing things you love, so I would recommend taking part in any activities available to see what sparks your inspiration!“

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sandra Griffiths .