Tween and Teen Business Trends for 2021

You don’t have to be a grown adult to start your business. With Generation Z rapidly growing into a thriving demographic, we see young entrepreneurs starting their ventures from as early ages as 9 years old. Tween and Teen Business Trends for 2021 are decidedly different than what many have seen before.

If you believe you’ve got a killer business idea that will rock the socks off your audience once it came to fruition, by all means, jump right into it. Give it all you’ve got and see where it takes you. Do keep in mind, though, that economy, markets, and industries rely on certain trends and shifts that are born of changes in consumer behaviors.

Tech And Innovation

Gen Z has always been familiar with technology. They are the only consumer groups at the moment who have always known the internet, social media, and the Big Tech. Unlike millennials who are currently at the top of the technological food chain, Gen Z doesn’t get enamored by emerging technologies. They take it in stride and apply it in their lives more organically and familiarly.

As a youth entrepreneur whether or not your startup is directly related to tech, ensure it makes ample use of it to create and streamline business operations, product lines, and customer service protocols. Since we are on a fashion website, let’s take the example of a fashion brand. There are multiple ways it can use innovative technologies to create a stellar brand.

Artificial Intelligence: AI-based graphic design services to create a unique fashion logo.

Virtual Reality: virtual tours of the fashion store, to let people try the products and similar offerings.

Fintech: mobile payments

SaaS: manage store operations, accounts, customer services, and such on a single online platform.

UGC Marketing

Go to your TikTok feed now and you’ll see how invested Gen Z is in user-generated content (aka UGC). They don’t care about ads – targeted or not. They just do not want to be marketed to. They want the brands to treat them as valued human beings instead and be completely transparent and authentic.

If you become successful in doing so, these consumer groups will take your products and services as their own and without even any prompt will talk about it, endorse it, recommend it, and share it.

According to YFS magazine, which cautions marketers against using traditional marketing to target tweens and teens, a brand can only become relevant to this audience if it bends over backward to provide a 5-rate service, a stellar product, and an authentic voice.

Digital Finance

Generation Z, much like the millennials, has an anxiety-filled relationship with finance and money. This is the generation that grew up during the 2008 recession. The older members of this generation will remember how it impacted their family life. According to a survey, 80% of Gen-Z members admitted to looking at money as a major stress factor in their lives.

They also do not trust traditional banks and prefer digital finance services. So, if you are launching a digital finance service that targets tweens/teens or simply using such a service as part of your startup operations, keep few things in mind.

• Gen Z is not spenders but savers, so keep your pricing model appropriate to their needs.
• Offer them ethical and honest financial services because this consumer group mostly cares about how you treat them and their personal information.
• Be technologically innovative. Gen Z knows technology and its potential. Do not offer them subpar services.
• Tailor your digital finance solutions to be mobile-first, easy-to-use, and with great customer services.

Delving Deep Into A Niche

Whether you are a youth entrepreneur or creating a product for the young, finding your niche is a recipe for success and durability. A niche identifies a specific gap in the market. Those who provide goods and services that fill that gap receive little to no competition in the initial stages. This lets the infant brand develop and grow without any pressure or stress.

A niche product or service elevates the brand and increases the value of a business. Consider the example of sustainable clothing. It was a niche at one point and had a very specific consumer group that was interested in it. Now, it is a trending movement and increased awareness among customers has forced big named brands to reevaluate their operations and start offering sustainable alternatives.

Mental health also used to be a niche topic but slowly, more and more people are talking about it. As a tween-oriented brand, if you offer something as niche-specific as a doodle coloring book with affirmative messages, you are providing something original and unique.

It represents your attention to detail and creative thinking. It’s something that young consumer groups appreciate immensely and feel great to promote and recommend to others.

Passion-Driven Businesses

If you look closely at brands and businesses that resonate the most with their consumers, you’ll see a common thread. These are the businesses that started as passion projects. All that they offered and how they innovated, right from Virgin to Apple, was based on a passionate desire to give the most creative and modern solutions to problems customers are facing.

As a startup brand, sit and think if what you are creating is something that you are passionate about. Passion won’t make the stressful days any less stressful, to be honest. However, it is something that’ll keep you genuinely interested in the hard work and your desire to see it succeed won’t diminish with time.

Bottom Line

Do what you are interested in. Do it right and do it well. Give customers your genuine, real self and invest in it fully. Treat customers not as buyers, but real human beings and offer them great services and products.

When you do that, they’ll become your most loyal customers, the fiercest advocates, and the loudest cheering squad. Then you can fire your marketing department and continue making great products to keep your customers hooked and sated.