The new movie 'Social Network' -- due to hit theaters in coming weeks -- may inspire some college students to attempt to emulate the film's hero, Facebook Inc. founder Mark Zuckerberg. But the reality is that many young entrepreneurs find their tender age isn't an asset.
The success of start-ups like Facebook and Google Inc., which was co-launched by then twentysomethings Larry Page and Sergey Brin, has planted the idea of entrepreneurship in more students' brains. Some 40% of youths between the ages of eight and 21 say they'd like to start their own business in the future, according to a 2007 study -- the most recent on the topic -- by Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a Kansas City, Mo., nonprofit devoted to entrepreneurship.
But many students may want to consider one challenge to starting a business at a young age that's often overlooked: Being a boss.
'Young CEOs need to understand that more senior generations might not view the world in the same way,' says Jim Link, a managing director for Randstad, a staffing and recruitment firm in Atlanta. 'They've grown up with different sets of expectations and values. They may have to adapt their style a little bit.'
When Ray Land launched Fabulous Coach Co., a Brandford, Fla., transportation business in 2004, the then shaggy-haired teen struggled to recruit drivers -- and eventually gave in and trimmed his hair.
'They didn't say it was because of my age, but that's what I've always thought,' says Mr. Land, who is now 23 years old. 'I keep a very professional look and try to be cautious in how I talk to people. I don't use the word 'yo.''
Still, Mr. Land says it can be tough for some of his 76 employees to see him as an authority figure, particularly those with children around his age. Some have told him they think of him as a son; others have referred to him as 'the boy.'
'I try not to take things too personally,' says Mr. Land, who keeps a typewriter and an iPad side-by-side in his office in a nod to both generations.
Mr. Land says the success of the company -- which he says now posts $4 million in annual sales -- helped boost his image among staff. 'Once you can prove to them that there's a reason you're in your position, it's a lot easier for them to respect you,' says Mr. Land.
Although some employees are going overboard, asking for advice on everything from mortgages to relationships. 'It's crazy,' says Mr. Land. 'I still live at home with my parents.'
Rachel Weeks says she owns up to her age. You have to 'know that a customer is sometimes going to walk in and ask you where your boss is,' says the 26-year-old founder of School House LLC, a university apparel brand she launched after graduating from Duke University in 2007.
'It's automatically uncomfortable asking somebody how much experience they have running an apparel company or managing supply-chain logistics when you've been at it for only six months,' she adds.
Still, Ms. Weeks says she doesn't try to hide her age from her six employees, who include older and younger professionals based in New York, Durham, N.C., and Sri Lanka. 'I still have pictures of me partying in college on Facebook,' she says.
There are other ways to lose employees' respect. For example, if they use 'text-message speak' in emails to staffers, young bosses could quickly dilute their authority, warns Justin Fahey, president of Fahey Communications LLC, a consulting company in Cranford, N.J. 'You need to keep it professional.'
Of course, that's not always easy when you've got a baby face like entrepreneur Taylor Mingos. On a Friday afternoon in 2008, he says he saw his clout as a company leader quickly drop a notch when he ordered a beer at a restaurant in front of several employees.
'I got carded,' gripes the now 25-year-old chief executive of Shoeboxed.com Inc. in Durham, N.C. He says his staffers, who include workers twice his age, responded with giggles.
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