Barnum was an entrepreneur from an early age.

One of the interesting facts about P. T. Barnum is that he was an entrepreneur from an early age. An interesting tidbit about PT Barnum is that when he was just 12 years old, he started making money by selling soldiers food and cherry rum. Later, after relocating to New York City, he got involved in a number of businesses. Some of them were running boarding houses and some were even creating newspapers. In his early years in Bethel, Connecticut, Barnum first showed his aptitude for making money. At neighborhood events, the future entertainer sold snacks and homemade cherry rum, and by the time he was 12 years old, he had raised enough money to purchase his own herd.

Before relocating to New York City in 1834, Barnum launched a weekly newspaper at the age of 20 and started his own little business. He began his career in show business by joining "Barnum's Great Musical and Science Theatre," a theater group. Shortly after, he bought Scudder's American Museum, which he renamed after himself. Barnum had managed a number of companies by the time he was 21 years old, including a department store, a book auction house, a real estate investment firm, and a state-wide lottery network, he published the "Herald of Freedom," his own newspaper.