Have you ever had an idea for a small business, but didn’t know where to start? According to National Achievement USA, 69% of teens say they have a business idea, but are unsure of how to start the process. I’ve spoken with three small business founders who all have one thing in common: they’re New Trier High School students! Each business is very different in terms of the products and services they offer, but they all utilize a variety of marketing strategies to best promote themselves. 

Lily Dale Art

The first small business I am spotlighting is called Lily Dale Art, founded by junior Lily Dale. She runs an art business, selling everything from vibrant paintings and drawings, to pottery of her own creation. Though her business has only been active for just under a year, she is already selling art at sidewalk sales and art fairs throughout the North Shore.

“My favorite part of it is, of course, making art, but also, at these art fairs, I love meeting all the other artists,” Dale says. “It’s so much fun and you get to just get to know everyone and see what kind of art they do.”

Dale uses a lot of really bright colors in her work, which is how she developed the aesthetic of her marketing as well. She showcases her art on multiple social media platforms, but her favorite is making behind-the-scenes videos for her TikTok page. 

“I feel like it’s really helpful to see the actual process that goes into it, not just the final product,” Dale shares. “I love seeing that with other people that I see online, seeing their process and how they got to their final product.” 

In addition to her social media content, Dale reveals that the most effective advertising method has been word of mouth and referrals, especially through commissions from events like sidewalk sales. 

When asked about challenges that she has faced as a small business owner, Dale says one of the hardest parts has been organization with budgeting, manufacturing and stock of materials, as well as setting up her website. Luckily, she has been able to persevere and learn through each step of the process, creating a thriving small business that she loves.

CleanRidez Co

You won’t want to miss out on the next small business: CleanRidez Co, founded by seniors Liam Higgins and Ben Toft. Its origin story goes back to this past summer, when Higgins and Toft were working at the beach and decided they wanted to make more money. After much deliberating, they decided they would start a car detailing business, mainly because they already had a lot of the necessary equipment on hand. 

One of the initial challenges they faced was related to budgeting and planning. 

“To be honest, at first, it was kind of difficult, just because we didn’t really have a clear plan on how we would get all of our stuff and how we would structure it,” Toft shares. “So, I mean, we were constantly buying stuff when we could’ve been saving money in different ways.” 

After selecting their name, they used platforms like Canva and Instagram to create logos and get CleanRidez Co up and running online. In addition to their Instagram page attracting younger clientele, they also have a Nextdoor page, which draws in a lot of different community members. Word of mouth from family and friends is one of their most effective ways to market their small business. 

“Just don’t be scared of it,” Higgins suggests, offering advice for other high schoolers wanting to start a business. “If you want to do it, just go all in. I mean, it’s going to be a little tough at first, but once you get going, it’ll get easier and easier as it goes on.”

Both Higgins and Toft recommend the various business classes that New Trier offers, saying that they learned good tips about marketing and business organization from classes like financial management and accounting. 

Elyse’s Salad Stop

Saving the most delicious summer small business for last, we have Elyse’s Salad Stop, founded by the self-proclaimed salad lady herself, senior Elyse Newlands. Newlands sends out an email blast to clients and subscribers on Mondays, showcasing different flavors and combinations each week, and then prepares and sells her homemade salads on Wednesdays. 

During COVID, she made a ton of salads, mixing and matching different ingredients and further developing her love of cooking. She realized that there weren’t very many places to find delicious and reasonably priced salads on the North Shore. She began to sell her products and share her recipes with the community, giving a large percentage of her proceeds to A Just Harvest in Evanston, Illinois, a non-profit organization that works to fight hunger and poverty in Chicago. 

“I think that when you buy one of my salads, you’re also feeding someone else. So, I think that that’s a really good philosophy,” Newlands explains. 

Her best marketing strategies have included putting up flyers at her country club, using TikTok to share her recipes, and once again, good old word of mouth. She plans to create a website for business inquiries in the near future, especially because it’s difficult to cater salads for big parties without having a public information page with a menu.

One of the challenges she’s faced has been the price increase in certain ingredients, which has caused lower revenues and forced her to adjust her budgeting. Besides that, Newlands has a successful Excel sheet organization system and likes to make the non-perishables ahead of time. Her secret for smooth customer service is using a SignUpGenius to order the salads. It makes decisions easier for the customer, and there are minimal customizations, only for dietary restrictions, for simplicity purposes. 

“Don’t worry about what other people are going to think, because I genuinely don’t think that many people know that I have this business,” Newlands says, offering a tip for aspiring entrepreneurs. “There’s no harm in trying something new, and if it doesn’t work, there’s always ways to adapt and work with other people on how you can become better. So just, take the first step, because you never know how much you could grow.”