WINDSOR, ONT. -- Starting your own business takes courage, regardless of age, but more and more young people are starting to take that chance.
A local teen is finding success as an entrepreneur just one year into opening her business.
Efe Edhujovbo is the owner of Simply Haircare, and a Grade 12 student at Assumption College Catholic High School.
“I love things that have to do with beauty and cosmetics, so I just started mixing things together and seeing what worked,” says Edhujovbo.
She launched her business last summer, at the age of 16.
“So I have a beauty butter that’s lavender scented, another one that’s vanilla scented and it has a different type of texture and I have a hair growth serum,” Edhujovbo says.
The 17-year-old developed the idea and received a $3,000 grant from the Windsor-Essex Small Business Centre.
“Entrepreneurship is one of the ways people are finding out that they can really succeed in life, do what they love, while making money,” Edhujovbo says.
She has developed a client base not just in Windsor, but also Toronto, Montreal and Calgary.
Later this year, her haircare products will be available in Nigeria.
“It’s definitely a different experience,” Edhujovbo says. “When I got my first order from out of Windsor, I was totally shocked.”
Her products were sold at the Downtown Farmers Market.
“She’s just a role model for young students who want to be entrepreneurs,” says Jessica Priestly, a client who is helping spread the word about the teen’s accomplishments.
“She’s going to be a part of this entrepreneurship platform for students. I’m creating this platform for students in Tanzania who are Efe’s age.”
Edhujovbo is part of a growing trend among Generation Z.
According to a Gallup student poll in 2020, 40 per cent of students from grades five to 12 stated they wanted to run their own business.
Twenty-four per cent say they’ve already started.
Jeremy Bracken has taught business at Assumption for the past 14 years.
He tells CTV Windsor there is a growing trend of students starting their own company, rather than working for one.
“They’re really leveraging social media tools and they’re really competing with the established companies that are in town,” Bracken says.
While the COVID-19 pandemic would shy some away from opening a business, it was the opposite for Edhujovbo.
“I think a lot of people have been more appreciative towards small businesses which is a good thing,” she says.
