Micro Business for Teens

December 26, 2010 By

If you are a teenager interested in starting a business, this website is for you. It has articles, tips, information, books you can order and an virtual class to help you learn more about starting and running a micro business.

What is a micro business? It is a very small, one-person business that you can start easily and quickly with what you already know or own. No money needed, low risk and no debt! You can spend as much time running your business as you you wish and close it down if you get too busy.

But most of all a micro business lets you earn some cash-maybe more than you imagined-while learning a lot about business, money and yourself! You might find you future career by running a micro business!

Filed Under: Featured

Chik-Fil-A Owner: Keeping Priorities Straight

November 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Have you heard  Chik-Fil-A owner’s Truett Cathy’s success story?  It’s very inspirational, especially to a teenage micro business.  Mr Cathy closes his business on Sundays in order to keep his priorities in place. You too may need to place the demands of your micro business aside in order to keep your other priorities like homework, family, faith and friends straight.

“I was not so committed to financial success that I was willing to abandon my  principles and priorities. One of the most visible examples of this is our decision to   close on Sunday.  Our decision to close on Sunday was our way of honoring God and  of directing our attention to things that mattered more than our business.”

Chick-fil-A is the only major fast-food restaurant chain to be closed on Sundays, one of the busiest days of the week in the restaurant business. Despite being closed on Sundays, Truett Cathy has led Chick-fil-A on an unparalleled record of 38 consecutive years of sales increases, with its core free-standing restaurants achieving higher sales per unit in six days (with shorter operating hours) than most major chains in the industry.

Read more about Mr Cathy’s business principles here:

Five Step Recipe for Business for Success

If he could do it, then you can do it too!

Don’t sacrifice the important things like faith and family just to make a buck!

Filed Under: Blog, You Can Do This Tagged With: , ,

Fear of failure stopping many teenagers

November 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A recent study by Junior Achievement on teenage entrepreneurs found that mant teenagers are afraid to start their own businesses because they are afraid of risk and have a fear of failure.

Of those polled, 74 percent identified risk (39 percent) and failure (35 percent) as the biggest discouragements from starting their own business, compared to 56 percent who cited lack of money to fund their ideas. The Junior Achievement 2010 Teens and Entrepreneurship Survey was sponsored by Sam’s Club.

But starting a micro business is different!

Micro businesses can be started with little or no risk and rarely fail!

It is not necessary to be a risk taker to start a micro business. Teenage micro business owners do not want to take risks; they are in business to learn something and to earn money. Starting a business does not need to be risky. Micro business owners have a purpose—to learn—and usually have a set financial goal for their micro. They can start with what they have on hand and need little or no money.

Starting a micro business does not need to be risky.

There is a misconception that teenagers starting a business must be on the road to greatness and have Microsoft founder Bill Gates as their idol. This emphasis on super-success can be intimidating to a teenager just trying to learn the ropes. Instead, micro businesses can be quite simple. It can offer a tried-and-true method for teenagers to earn cash, such as mowing lawns and babysitting.

Find out how to start a micro business without risk or fear of failure by ordering my book (or ebook) Starting a Micro Business today

Paperback $9.95 Order Here

Ebook $9.95 Order here

Filed Under: Blog, Starting a Micro, You Can Do This Tagged With: , ,

50 Interviews: Young Entrepreneurs review

November 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Review of 50 Interviews: Young Entrepreneurs by Carol Topp, CPA

Nick Tart & Nick Scheidies did interviews with 50 young entrepreneurs for their new book 50 Interviews: Young Entrepreneurs that will inspire and encourage every teenager who wants to “make more money than your parents.”

The teenagers featured in the book have all been successful, but come across as normal kids. They share their experiences and advice freely. They are not bragging, although most have plenty to brag about! They also don’t intimidate the reader.

Many times a book about young entrepreneurs can make a normal kid feel inadequate or incompetent, but the teenagers featured in 50 Interviews: Young Entrepreneurs come across as genuine, warm and approachable.

They are generous with their advice, sharing wisdom learned from experience such as

“You are going to use a lot of the things that you learn now as an entrepreneur when you’re an adult. Just try it. If you don’t like it, then you can stop – but at least you will be able to say that you tried.”-Savannah Britt

“We want instant results. But nothing is instant. Don’t give up so easily. Some blogs only last one or two weeks before [the writer quits] because the blog’s not making millions of dollars. Come on! You’ve just got to give it time.” -Alex Fraiser Blogussion.com

“I don’t really pay myself. To me, it’s really more of learning experience. It’s more about finding the next step, how to get there, and what it’s going to cost.” -Emil Motycka motyckalawns.com

I am impressed by the common-sense advice these young entrepreneurs share. The book 50 Interviews: Young Entrepreneurs may start off as an inspiration, but it will quickly become a textbook on business success. I highly recommend it and may make it required reading in my micro business classes!

Buy your copy today!

Filed Under: Blog, Ideas, Starting a Micro Tagged With: , ,

Really Cool Business Cards

October 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Most teenage micro businesses need a business card to hand out to potential customers.

One of the best sources for cheap (or even free if you use of of their stock designs and don’t mind their ad on the back of the card) business cards is Vistaprint.com. They are an on-line printer and can put your name and logo on anything. I’ve used them for my business cards, letterhead, banners and more. I’ve been 100% satisfied with Vistaprint.com

I also found a designer that has some gorgeous designs for business cards. She designed a really cool card for babysitters.

She has an entire teen entrepreneur series of business cards.

Go to the Greek Cookie’s website to see her other  business card designs.

Filed Under: Blog, Running a Micro Tagged With: , , ,

Be a Jedi Knight!

October 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I love this micro business idea!

Be a Jedi Knight and visit birthday parties, school events, community fairs, etc.

One teenager, Adam Roesner of Cincinnati becomes Jedi Master Adaro Moced. He will arrive (in costume) at a child’s birthday party and teach light saber dueling! He uses pool noodles so the dueling is safe. Adam offers a demonstration, story, games and an official Padawan (Jedi in Training) certificate.

His price ranges from $50-$75 per party and he is so busy he books several months in advance!

This is a great idea for a micro business in your local area. Easy to start and with very little cost. You can market to friends and neighbors and then let word-of-mouth do the rest!

Filed Under: Blog, Ideas, Starting a Micro

Free ebook on creating a business plan

September 29, 2010 By 2 Comments
Beginning this Friday, October 1, 2010, my book, Starting a Micro Business will be featured on Homeschool Freebie of the day.

I am offering a free ebook which is a chapter excerpt from my book Starting a Micro Business on writing a business plan. The ebook is titled Creating a Business Plan.

Free ebook available starting  Friday Oct 1, 2010
Does your teenager (or you, their parent) want to earn some money by starting a micro business? Start by creating a business plan. A business plan will help you anticipate anything that might go wrong. By thinking through issues like who will buy your product and how to reach them, you will save time and money as well as avoid frustration.
This ebook, Starting a Micro Business: Creating a Business Plan, is an excerpt from the Micro Business for Teen book series. It will help you put your thoughts on paper and covers the important issues in starting a micro business such as marketing, your potential customers, your competition, start up costs, pricing and sales.
This is a business plan for a micro business, so you won’t get bogged down in tons of details or fancy financial projections. It is designed for the teenage micro business owner, although it can be helpful to anyone.

“I wish I had seen the systematic business plan template thatyou have in the book when I started my businesses in the past”
-Noah W., homeschool graduate and micro business owner.

How can you get this free ebook? Visit Homeschool Freebie of the Day on Friday October 1, 2010. The offer will be left up all weekend, but not forever, so download your copy as soon as possible!
Filed Under: Blog, Starting a Micro Tagged With: , ,

How to make a website for your business

September 19, 2010 By 1 Comment

My friend Nick Tart over at JuniorBiz.com can tell you how to make your own website. He’s offering a free 10 step guide.

With simple strategies and step-by-step videos, we’ll show you how to build your website into a place where you can launch a product, strengthen your service, share your ideas, or even start an online business from the ground up.

Have an Idea1. Have an Idea

Small, big, or kooky.

Purchase Domain and Hosting2. Purchase Domain and Hosting

Where, how, and with coupons.

Get WordPress for Free3. Get WordPress for Free

Set it up right.

Grab a Design4. Grab a Design

Cool site – no coding necessary.

Organize your Site5. Organize your Site

A checklist for settings and structure.

Optimize your Site6. Optimize your Site

With plugins and analytics.

Think Strategy7. Think Strategy

Create the content that your visitors want.

Strike it Big8. Strike it Big

With social media and search engines.

Keep your Visitors9. Keep your Visitors

Capture their info and keep them coming back.

Strike it Rich10. Strike it Rich

The four fool-proof ways to make money online.

I learned how to build my own website, just like Nick did, but rather than tell you how to do it, I’ll just send you to Nick’s site JuniorBiz.com and you can learn from him!

Filed Under: Blog, Featured, Starting a Micro Tagged With: , , ,

Carnival of Homeschooling: Raising Real Men

September 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

My friends Hal and Melanie Young are hosting the blog Carnival of Homeschooling at their site: Raising Real Men. Check out all the blogs with a focus on bring up boys.

I submitted  a post on teenage entrepreneurs:

Teen entrepreneurs offer tips to peers

Filed Under: Blog

Tax Jujitsu. Would it help business owners?

September 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Robert Reich

Robert Reich, who is now a professor at UC Berkeley used to be Secretary of Labor under President Clinton, has an idea he calls Tax Jujitsu or the Peoples Tax Cut.

Jujitsu: a method developed in Japan of defending oneself without the use of weapons by using the strength and weight of an adversary to disable him.
Here’s the idea:
Democrats should propose eliminating payroll taxes on the first $20,000 of income, and making up the revenue loss by applying payroll taxes to incomes above $250,000. Read all about it here:
I actually like some things about this idea, but here’s my question:

Would that apply to teenagers who own a micro business? In other words, would business owners benefit too, or only people working for an employer?

Business owners (including teenagers) have to pay 15.3% of their profits to Social Security and Medicare (it’s called self-employment tax. Read more about it at TeensAndTaxes.com).

Wouldn’t it be great if a teenager could start a micro business and know it would be self-employment-tax free up to $20,000!

Wow! Now, THAT would stimulate the economy! We’d find kids starting businesses like crazy. Maybe their parents would start a business too! Maybe these businesses would grow and hire employees, putting more people to work.

Or better yet, maybe these businesses would hire owners of other people who own their own business like webmasters, freelancers and independent contractors. This would spread like wildfire and really get the economy back to health!

I can dream can’t I?
Filed Under: Blog, Money & Taxes Tagged With: ,
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