It is amazing to me all the different ways that kids make money! Today I am featuring a young entrepreneur who has found his niche in marketing businesses using video. Travis is not only talented with video but he is smart in business too! Enjoy the interview I did with him
Sarah: Travis – please tell me how you got started and where CEO Kids and parents can
find out more information about you.
Travis: I’ve been making videos with my friends for a long time and finally bought some software to make them better. I enjoyed it a lot and it became a fun hobby which as now turned into a profitable business. My website is www.dinosoarstudios.com, I’m on Facebook and YouTube only right now.
Sarah: When did you start thinking about starting your own business why did you want to start?
Travis: Last summer when my mom told me that I needed to get a job, I asked her if I could start my own company instead of just going to the mall and making minimum wage.
Travis: Yes! She owns several small businesses and does really well with them. I know that I have her support and that makes it easier for me since I’ve never owned a business before.
Travis: I’m a friendly person and can understand clearly what people want and need. I think I’m good at putting together commercials, videos, and stories that make sense and flow well. I also have really good computer skills and I’m fast which keeps my prices down.
Sarah: Those are all awesome qualities Travis! What were the biggest obstacles or problems you had in getting started in business?
Travis: Definitely time. I have to keep my grades at a certain level or my mom won’t let me work at growing my business. Also, finding a company name was hard. I had a lot of help on everything else and my mom knows a lot of people so getting business was easy.
Sarah: Great job in balancing it all! I have the same standards for my own kids. So what is your market for your business – what do you do to help people or businesses?
Travis: People need an online presence and video has become necessary. Showing who you are and what you do via video is important now and if you aren’t doing it, you’re losing out and aren’t keeping up with your competition.
Sarah: Awesome job in starting a business to fill a need that others have! How did you go about researching your market?
Travis: When my mom told me I needed to get a job, I knew I wanted to start my own company. I knew I liked doing videos and was good at it. It was a brain flash! I looked around on the internet and there aren’t any other kids doing this type of business locally. The companies that do it are very expensive. I decided that if I stick to small projects, I could get experience and not charge too much. I asked many people – business owners how much they felt would be a good price for a 2-5 minute YouTube style video, what they think they might need to advertise their business and then built my company based on that feedback.
Travis: I think my age benefits me. People can’t believe that a kid my age owns his own company.
Sarah: What’s your take on college Travis? Are you planning on going?
Travis: Yes, I’m going to college and am considering going into movie production.
Travis: I got a video camera for Christmas and that is the biggest expensive. I paid for the software myself out of my savings account and the rest of it all was free. Since its a service, there really wasn’t a lot of expenses. My business cards were free through Vistaprint. All I had to do was pay for the shipping. My mom already had a website account and it didn’t cost anything extra to add another website. I was pretty lucky.
Sarah: Yes you were definitely blessed. What have been the best surprises that you have found from starting your business?
Travis: I love the fact that the people that have ordered my services originally didn’t think they could afford to have their own video. Once I showed them what I do, they were really excited.
Sarah: Have you done EVERYTHING by yourself or do you have people on your team that work with you? If so – how did you find people to help you along the way?
Travis: I do almost everything by myself except my mom and step-dad review my final products to make sure they are as professional as possible. I’m learning how to do invoicing and bookkeeping right now and my mom is helping me with that. I also received a lot of feedback from other professionals in the industry that were willing to give me their opinions.
Travis: I use Facebook, my YouTube Channel, my website and I’m starting a newsletter.
Sarah: Tell me what your daily and weekly efforts are in growing your business?
Travis: Each week I am consistent in giving people tips for marketing their businesses with video and tips on how to have a good video; what to wear; what to say and stuff like that. I think that people need to know more on the subject.
Sarah: Good for you in being consistent! Tell me how you balance it all Travis?
Travis: I have to do homework first, business second. I typically spend my time on the weekend working and leave the week for school. My clients aren’t under tight deadlines and understand that school is a big priority.
Travis: Well – I have a few:
- Have a plan. Don’t just make a business and leave it.
- Create an “edge”. The fact that we’re kids helps us and we should use that as much as we can.
- Be honest. Don’t say you’re better than you are. People should know that you’re starting out and still learning.
Sarah: Those are all great tips!
To find out more about Travis visit him at www.dinosoarstudios.com You can get a Premium video upgrade for just $10 more which includes music and automatic upload to YouTube.
Be sure to go and visit him there!
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