They say you're too young to run your own business? Meet Brandon Relph

They say You're too young to start a business, well I'm here to prove you wrong. I started my first company when I was thirteen, now I'm nineteen and I've built two more.

Brandon Relph - Teen Entrepreneur

My business story started back when I was thirteen in my bedroom where I built and scaled a company and since then I've gone on to do consultancy and strategy, telling big brands how to engage with young people, and now I get the exciting job of making television shows and online content.

Back then my parents didn't really have a clue what I was doing; they don't really come from 'businessy' backgrounds. I mean my mum cuts peoples hair and my dad drives lorries.

So initially the money came from some of your favourite YouTubers or some of your favourite Minecraft servers. We used to build the maps that were around it.

What our business shifted into is content and live shows. Back in 2017 was the series 'How to Minecraft' and we had hundreds of thousands of people watch every night.

Legally in the U.K., you can't actually be involved in a company when you're thirteen, so luckily my business partner was out in Germany and we could use the German company system to have our company out there.

And there was this time where I think we got quite a lot of press coverage and such, and that was when we realised there was a lot of demand, and a lot of interest in what we were doing. I think that's when it scaled and grew.

I think to make a successful business, your heart and soul has to be in it. If you're the boss you're always the person that's going to putting in the most hours, things always go wrong, it never really goes to plan.

That's fundamentally what makes somebody a really good boss, being able to prepare and manage, and do stuff very, very quickly.In the musical Hamilton, there's this wonderful phrase "talk less, smile more", actually talk less about what you're doing, let people discover it, but listen a lot more to what other people have to say to you, and sort of take on board what they're saying.

We're here in Brighton Dome, which is instrumental within the Brighton community anyway. It house every year TEDx Brighton, which I was fortunate to speak at.

From enjoying shows from this side of the stage to then take the stage a be looking out into the audience, you know, was a very different experience and not something i don't I'll be forgetting for a long, long time.Public speaking over the years has really allowed me to travel a lot; I mean the real highlight for me was when I spoke in Dubai back in 2016.

The fantastic office in Brighton, I very rarely actually do work there; I love to work from my bedroom at home. Now, more than ever, with how connected everything is, it doesn't really matter where you are. We kind of live in a world where all that knowledge is online, for me it's about being invested in it as much yourself, you know, as much as if it's going to take a part of you away.

If you're thirteen and you're looking to start a company you need to make something that's the raw basics of what you can do and then you can use that to test on potential customers and such. You can kind of make a business out of anything; but fundamentally you've got to find something you want to get out of bed for in the morning.

The real inspiration really, for me, has always been about elevating and empowering young people.