Start Small
Inside this issue: three founders who began with a kitchen, a basement, and a stack of empty cans, five disciplines for winning a first customer, a letter on why small is the right size to start, and first word of our monthly giveaway.
Small Is the Right Size
Our first two issues made a case: that no one is too young to build something real, and that the door to begin was never locked. This issue is about what happens just after you walk through it. Almost always, the first step is small.
We tend to tell founder stories from the finish line, where the company is already large and the beginning looks inevitable. It never was. Every founder in these pages started with what was within reach: a family recipe, a corner of the house, a few dollars of supplies, and a handful of people willing to buy. None of them waited until the plan was big enough to be impressive.
Small has advantages that big will never have. It is cheap to try, quick to change, and forgiving of mistakes. A first batch that fails costs an afternoon. A first customer who complains teaches more than any plan. The founders in this issue used that freedom well, and their businesses grew because the early versions were allowed to be imperfect.
So start with the batch you can make this week and the customer you can reach today. The rest is built one sale at a time.
They Started With What They Had
A cookie table, a basement, and a box of empty soup cans. Each of these founders began with almost nothing, and each turned a small first step into a real company.
Cory Nieves
A young boy with a simple goal turned a family recipe into a cookie company.
Cory Nieves was still in grade school when he set himself a goal: help his mother buy a car, so the family would not have to rely on the bus. He began by selling hot chocolate, then cookies, made with his mother from their own recipe.
The business, Mr. Cory’s Cookies, grew from neighborhood sales into a real company, with his mother working beside him. His story drew national attention, and Cory kept running the business into his teenage years, learning baking, customer service, and the paperwork that comes with selling food.
His example shows a young founder that a clear, personal reason is a powerful engine. When you know exactly why you are selling, it is easier to keep going on the slow days.
- Founder
- Cory Nieves
- Started
- In grade school
- Company
- Mr. Cory’s Cookies
- Known for
- Cookies baked from a family recipe
Source: ABC7 New York
Leanna Archer
A great-grandmother’s recipe, mixed in a family basement, became a hair care company and a cause.
At nine years old, Leanna Archer began making hair pomade from a recipe passed down from her great-grandmother in Haiti. She mixed it at home, packed it in small jars, and gave samples to friends at school. Their families came back asking to buy more.
The line became Leanna’s Hair, a business her parents eventually joined full time to help with mixing, packing, and shipping. As a teenager, Archer started a foundation that supports children’s education and meals in Haiti, the country her recipe came from.
Her story asks a young founder to look closely at home. A recipe, a skill, or a tradition that your family takes for granted may be exactly what someone else is looking for.
- Founder
- Leanna Archer
- Age at founding
- Nine
- Company
- Leanna’s Hair
- Known for
- Natural hair care from a family recipe; education in Haiti
Source: NPR
Hart Main
A joke between siblings became a candle company that fed people in need.
At thirteen, Hart Main was teasing his sister about the flowery candles she was selling for a school fundraiser when he had an idea: candles with scents that guys would actually buy. He called them ManCans.
He poured his candles into empty soup cans, and he got those cans by buying soup and donating it to soup kitchens. Every candle sold put more food on a shelf for people who needed it. The candles were sold online and in stores, and the giving was built into the business from the first batch.
His story shows a young founder that giving back does not have to wait for success. It can be part of how the business works on day one, and customers notice.
- Founder
- Hart Main
- Age at founding
- Thirteen
- Company
- ManCans
- Known for
- Candles in soup cans that supported soup kitchens
Source: NBC News
Five Disciplines for a First Customer
A business becomes real the day someone pays for it. Five disciplines drawn from how the founders in this issue found their first buyers.
- Sell to the people closest to you first. Friends, family, classmates, and neighbors are not a lesser market. They are where nearly every founder in these pages made a first sale, and where honest feedback is easiest to hear.
- Give a sample, then ask. People buy what they have already tried. A small free taste, a test jar, or a single candle can turn curiosity into a real order.
- Make one thing well. A short menu is easier to make, easier to explain, and easier to remember. Add the second product after the first one sells.
- Write everything down. Track what you spent, what you sold, and what people said. The numbers will tell you what to make more of long before your feelings do.
- Say why you do it. A reason, whether it is a car for your mom or food for a neighbor, gives people something to support beyond the product. Tell it plainly.
The Gear That Carries the Mission
Every Youngpreneur piece is made to be worn by the next generation of builders. Ten percent of every purchase supports young founders through Youngpreneur Academy.
Coming in November
Win Youngpreneur Gear, Every Month
Starting this fall, the Youngpreneur Monthly Giveaway will give away Youngpreneur gear, free, every month, to the adults raising and cheering on a young founder.
The giveaway opens to legal United States residents 18 and older. You will enter free through the Youngpreneur App, then share your personal link. Every friend who enters through it earns you a bonus entry, up to five in total. No purchase will ever be necessary.
November 1, 2026. The first prize is announced in our October issue.
Open to legal U.S. residents 18+. No purchase necessary. See the Official Rules. This giveaway is not sponsored by or associated with Apple or Google.
The Wider World
More Ways to Take Part
The Journal is one part of a larger effort to recognize and equip young founders. A few more ways to be seen, be challenged, and take part:
Youngpreneur 40
Our annual list honoring forty standout founders age forty and under. Recognition for those already building something that lasts.
Youngpreneurs to Watch
An ongoing series profiling the young founders rising fast, the names worth knowing before everyone knows them.
Youngpreneur Spotlight
A design competition for creators age twenty-four and under, with a stage for their work and their point of view.
The Youngpreneur Challenge
Twenty dollars, two weeks, one real business. A hands-on sprint that turns an idea into an actual venture.
Tell Us How You Started
The next issues will be built from our own community. If you began small and kept going, or you know a young founder who did, we want to hear the story, especially the first sale.