E-commerce

Teen entrepreneurs fear a social media ban could “end” their businesses

Today, the legislation banning children and teenagers from social media will be introduced to parliament. Much has been said already about young people and social media – but how will the ban impact young small-business owners?

ISB spoke to two teen entrepreneurs about how the proposed changes will impact their business activities. Both said that the ban would have catastrophic effects on their ventures.

“If this ban comes into effect, roll out the coffin… it’s the end of Glossy Boys. Plain and simple,” says Lucas Lane.

Lucas is the founder of Glossy Boys, a business that sells gel nail polish pens. At the age of 15, Lucas already has a thriving business. He’s sold over 20,000 products, expanded overseas to the US, New Zealand, and Canada, and negotiated a $75,000 deal on Shark Tank Australia.

But the entrepreneur says he could never have done it without social media.

“Social media is my entire business model – it’s how I connect with my audience, market my products, and share my message of inclusivity,” Lucas explains. “If there’s ever an issue with my [social media] account, I see it immediately in my sales. That’s how crucial these platforms are.”

“Traditional media doesn’t work for Glossy Boys. Sure, national exposure on Shark Tank was amazing, but I know my market isn’t generally watching Channel 10 at 2pm when I might be on – and even if they were, the cost of running ads there is ridiculous compared to the return.”

Traditional media “doesn’t work” for young business owners

Lucas says that he feels traditional media is exclusive and expensive, while social media is much more cost-effective and targeted.

“Without it, I can’t market, I can’t sell, and I can’t survive,” he says.

Lucas isn’t the only teen business owner in a tailspin over the proposed legislation right now. Josh Faulker has just started his designer glucose sensor patch business, No Sugar Wear. Now, he’s worried about the impact the ban will have on his fledging venture.

“As I’ve only just launched No Sugar Wear, social media was going to be the key way to get my story out there,” says the entrepreneur, who is currently 14. “I was hoping to use this as I launched my new business and now I’ll only have a limited time to use it until the ban comes in.”

Like Lucas, Josh feels that social media is a much better fit for his product than traditional media. His fashionable designer patches need a visual medium, like Instagram or TikTok, for people to understand their USPs.

“You can use these platforms to show them in use and what they look like, so it was going to be huge for my company,” Josh explains. “I’ll have to look at other ways now once the ban comes in…The ban will certainly make No Sugar Wear’s point of entry difficult as it will require more up front funding to make and execute content.”

Both entrepreneurs mentioned that they rely on social media to grow their databases and nurture their communities. Without social media to generate new leads, the growth of both No Sugar Wear and Glossy Boys could be stunted.

Cutting off young entrepreneurs

Aside from making operations harder, a social media ban might prevent teen entrepreneurs from starting businesses in the first place. Both Josh and Lucas say they probably would not have started their businesses if the ban was in place.

“The upfront costs to start a business now will be much higher than they were before the ban was announced, and I’m going to have to spend more to get my story out there,” says Josh. “Had I known about these costs prior, I might have been turned off starting in the first place.”

Lucas had even more dire words: “A ban on social media for teens wouldn’t just make starting a business harder – it would make it impossible. I wouldn’t have been able to create Glossy Boys, build a global community, or share my mission of inclusivity. Social media isn’t just a tool for me – it’s the reason my business exists. Take that away, and you’re not protecting us; you’re silencing us.”

This story was originally published on Inside Small Business.