Why This YouTube Star Is Building a Business Beyond Video Content

Connor Franta isn't your typical entrepreneur. But that's the beauty of today's business landscape.

With close to 6 million YouTube subscribers and 6 million followers on Twitter, you could call Franta a social media influencer. However, with his business savvy and marketing smarts, you'd be remiss to not refer to him as an entrepreneur.

At 24 years old, he's managed to not only amass a large social following that rivals Elon Musk on Twitter and publish his book, A Work in Progress: A Memoir, but he's also started two businesses -- one, a record label called Heard Well, where he works with other social influencers and YouTube artists, and the other, Common Culture, which sells coffee, clothing and music. While his online fame is a great business on its own, he knows that celebrity will not last, so starting a business now seems to be the way for him to stay active online without relying on his face.

"I feel like there's more longevity that way," he says in an interview from the September 2016 issue of Entrepreneur magazine. "The ideal goal would be to make Common Culture a name brand that is omnipresent and sells on its own, where no one even knows or cares that I had anything to do with it."

In an exclusive video interview, Entrepreneur magazine's executive editor, Jason Feifer, chats with Franta as they dig in deeper into the how's and why's of building these brand extensions. You'll hear some great insights and tips, like the importance of having a trustworthy partner in business, what deals and projects to say "no" and "yes" to, authenticity and much more. Click play on the video above to learn more.

Connor Franta was featured on the cover of the Young Millionaires September 2016 issue. See the contents of the magazine and subscribe to Entrepreneur here.