TikTok and the Rise of Young Female Entrepreneurs

Written by Riya Anand (C’26); Edited by Anna Moehn (W’26)

When thinking of small business owners, CEOs, and entrepreneurs, teenage girls are rarely the first to come to mind. 

In 2017 TikTok, a social media platform allowing users to share and view short videos, made its debut, reaching peak popularity near the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the beginning of quarantine in March 2020, numerous users found themselves scrolling through TikTok as a primary method of staying connected with friends. 

While some used TikTok solely for the purpose of entertainment, others found other applications for this app. For example, the app facilitated the spike in small female-owned businesses during this time. Girls as young as twelve began to use the app to sell a plethora of hand-made products, ranging from jewelry to slime. 

Many found great success, gaining millions of followers and customers at rates faster than ever. However, when dissecting the successful small businesses, it becomes evident that running a profitable TikTok business is not as simple as posting a couple videos. 

TikTok gives users the option to create a business account which allows the business owner to gain access to marketing and analytic tools. The owners can see a variety of statistics: level of engagement with their audience, demographics of their audience, and overall magnitude of reach to other users. Through the analysis of this information, businesses can assess what marketing strategies work through content creation. They can use this to better cater to the “algorithm,” and reach a targeted audience and wider customer base. 

Without any background in business, young female entrepreneurs navigated the marketing, production, and management of business, a process which deserves more recognition than it currently receives. 

As young girls use Tik Tok to demonstrate their business capabilities, it is vital to continue this trend and normalize female entrepreneurship outside of social media. With a new generation of female business leaders, we can redefine our stereotypical idea of small business owners, CEOs, and entrepreneurs for generations to come.