A teenager who is still in school has revealed how he makes five figures a month through his small business.
Michael Satterlee is currently finishing up his last year of high school.
The 17-year-old used to work in kitchens as a dishwasher making £12 an hour before he came up with a more lucrative side hustle: selling shoe accessories.
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The self-taught entrepreneur claims his business earns him £15,000 a month in sales.
“I started my first business selling 3D-printed calculator cases,” Michael told Founder Insights.
“I just taught myself.
“[Now], I sell charms for everything but mainly clogs.
“I’ve been doing business stuff my whole life, selling products, testing ideas.
“But then I found something that clicked and I just ran with it.
“We offer everything from functional accessories like flashlight charms to gag gifts and White Elephant party [a gift-giving game] items like fake toes.
“It [my success] wasn’t overnight, though.
“It took a lot of trial and error to find the right product and the right way to market it.
“It’s definitely surreal at times but I try to stay grounded.
“I’m grateful that something I started out of passion has turned into something bigger than I ever imagined.
“At the end of the day, I’m just focused on continuing to learn, grow and improve my business.”
Michael’s business is called SoleFully.
He makes sure to fit the work around his classes by heading to his warehouse at 5am and working for three hours before going to school.
After he finishes his last class around 1pm, he’ll head back to the warehouse and work until 8pm.
The teen said: “On weekends, I work usually about 13 hours a day.
“I hardly take breaks but I still make time for family because that’s most important to me.
“A lot of times, to fit both school and work in, I cut back on sleep.”
Michael doesn’t splash the cash he’s earning, either.
He said: “Most of my income gets reinvested right back into the business; buying more printers, upgrading equipment and improving operations.
“I also save a good chunk and keep things pretty lowkey when it comes to personal spending.
“I’ve also built a small team.
“Some are friends who I trained and others I brought on professionally as things grew.”
“I try to get it [my homework] all finished and sent off during school hours.
“And outside of school, I focus completely on business.
“[But] I still place a strong emphasis on my grades.”
Michael says his family and friends are “super supportive.”
The teen, from Albany, New York, added: “My advice to any other young people wanting to follow in my footsteps is to work hard and take it step by step.
“The process is going to be hard and very time consuming but if it were easy, everyone would do it.
“For the future, I want to branch out into bigger 3D printing ventures.
“Being a homeowner isn’t high on my list right now, it’s still a struggle just finding property to buy.
“And I’m still undecided on university but I’ve earned scholarships to a couple of schools, which gives me options.
“I’m weighing whether the traditional college route or doubling down on my business is the better move right now.”
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