At a couple of occasions I have been talking with fairly young entrepreneurs, and one of the things that struck me as really odd were that one of the first things they told me were their age.
If you are 17-19 years old and run a business, don’t tell people your age before you have built a significant amount of trust with them.
Why You Should Shut Up About Your Age
Generally speaking, people are more comfortable hiring/selling to/sharing business information with someone they perceive as being both experienced and professional, and that just isn’t qualities that the average person connect with someone who are 17-19 years old.
What to Do About It
Unless you are have a very solid plan for branding yourself as some kind of young innovator who stumbled across this really good idea, and then made a lot of money (that is actually pretty effective), just don’t tell people your age.
You can always reveal that you started your first business out of your parents basement and get recognition for doing that, but while you are in the progress of starting it, it usually isn’t a good idea to tell people.
Who would you be more inclined to trust?
- A 18 year old dude running a business out of his parents basement.
- A company with a professionally looking website that you found on Google.
Picture by mike-wise