At Biz Kid$, we’ve followed the lives of dozens upon dozens of young entrepreneurs. Each is as impressive and inspiring as they come. And while everyone loves a good success story, sometimes the most helpful thing of all is a healthy dose of reality.

The reality is that not all young entrepreneurs strike it rich. And striking it rich isn’t the only indicator of success. Sometimes, choosing to press pause on an entrepreneurial dream is the best decision a teen could make. Here are a couple updates from Biz Kids whose stories haven’t followed the typical “everything worked perfectly” plotline.

Ava Anderson Cosmetics

When Ava Anderson began selling beauty products from the comfort of her kitchen table, she never dreamed that she’d someday have sales in the millions or employees by the dozen. But that she did, even growing to have 12,000 consultants nationwide. But then something happened.

What exactly happened isn’t clear, but the Ava Anderson website simply stated, “we will be closing our doors.” One factor appears to be all too familiar to the modern teen: online bullying. There’s word that Anderson may launch a new line soon. All of us at Biz Kid$ are rooting for its success.

Snap Caps

After the Snap Caps sisters appeared on Biz Kid$, they added another show to their resume: Shark Tank. The impressive young entrepreneurs earned an investment from all three Sharks, forking over 30% of their company for $300,000 in funding. It seemed they had everything a Biz Kid could hope for.

But the investments were cancelled after the show discovered that they’d sent cease and desist letters to a number of bottle cap jewelry makers, claiming to have the trademark on the art. They didn’t. Today, the eldest of the sisters is at Stanford, surely dreaming up her next big idea and taking the hard-earned lesson in stride. Hopefully, we’ll get to profile them in the future. 

Learning from Life’s Missteps

Not everything is as easy as it looks. It’s easy to see your own “behind the scenes” footage in life and compare it to the “highlight reel” of your peers. Let’s stop that. Financial success is often hard-won, and a quality life is worth making sacrifices for, even if it means going without the “get rich quick” story we all dream of.

For more doses of reality, watch our episode, The Wheel of Misfortune .