A job or self employed?

June 29, 2010 By 1 Comment
Wendy at Homeschool-Curriculum-for-Life.com is my guest blogger today. She shares her thoughts about whether it better to look for a job or be an entrepreneur:
Entrepreneurship for teens is a hot topic these days. As a parent of a soon-to-be teen, my thoughts are turning more and more towards her future. I knew very early on that our children cannot look forward to a job in the public/private sector due to certain imbalances of the political past in our country (Wendy lives in South Africa) . But even if this were not the situation, I would still not consider a career working for another person as an ideal.

A job or self employed?

Why not a job in the public sector? My reasons:

  • We need to realize that jobs are not secure these days just because our children have graduated from school and college with a degree – a degree is not an automatic pass into a job anymore.
  • I have seen many homeschooled and public schooled teens come to the end of their schooling and not know what they want to do with the next few years of their lives. Some are so out of touch with their passions and interest that they opt to travel for a year on their parent’s expense. This is not an option for us.
  • Other teens have not been trained in responsibility or with business skills and are thus totally unprepared to begin an entrepreneurial venture or even hold down a summer job. These young people think that the only way to make money will be to get a job as a waiter or waitress.
  • In this country 30% of our population is unemployed, this means that to each job there are hundreds of applicants. Our local newspaper states: “At least a third of the 351,503 who finished school will still be unemployed a year from today, while half will battle to find jobs.” Taken from a newspaper article dated 11 January 2007.
  • By raising a child to think entrepreneurially they will be able to provide much needed employment to others.

    • Wendy has more to say here.

    Filed Under: Blog, Featured, Starting a Micro

    If you make money at writing

    June 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

    I’m doing a workshop for my local writers group titled

    The Business of Writing: What to Do if You Ever Make Money with Your Writing.

    I’ll be discussing the difference between writing as a hobby, as a ministry to help others or as a business. I’ll also talk about taxes, special deductions for authors and what business structure a writer should have for  a writing business.

    Here’s a handout that I prepared for the workshop.

    The Business Of Writing

    If you live in the Cincinnati area, come attend the workshop live!

    Wednesday, June 23 at 7:00 p.m. at Faith Church in Milford

    Filed Under: Featured, Money & Taxes Tagged With: , ,

    Teen entrepreneurs offer tips to peers

    June 17, 2010 By 3 Comments

    USA TODAY polled some successful teenage micro business owners for advice. Here’s what they said:

    • Expand upon your interests. “Find a task (or) work you like and that is in demand,” says Lucas Rice, 18, who runs a successful landscaping business in Loveland, Ohio. “With my business, I like to be outdoors and to work with my hands, which was one of the reasons I chose landscaping.”

    • Price wisely. “Feel around and see what other companies are charging,” then price competitively, Rice says. “When you’re starting out, go a little lower on price in order to start capturing some customers.”

    • Make taxes less taxing. Save every work-related receipt. Those expenses could become tax write-offs. IRS.gov has details on dependents, such as children, filing tax returns.

    • Don’t overinvest in supplies/equipment. “Allow your business to grow, and then grow your equipment into your business,” says Rice, echoing advice he was given by others. He invested in his first riding mower at age 12 (bought at a yard sale with savings from a newspaper route) and as his customer base grew, he conservatively bought more equipment.

    • Promote your business and yourself. “Seek business; do not wait for it to come to you,” says Rice. “I go and welcome new people in the neighborhood and offer my services and give out business cards.” Archer promotes herself and her products on the Web, as well as through fliers she places into shipments to customer

    Lucas is one smart kid.  I know him personally; he’s one of my business clients!

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

    Chess into $$

    June 4, 2010 By 1 Comment

    Turn a hobby or passion into a money making micro business.

    I heard about Jonathan Hilton at a graduation party where I met his mother.  She told me how Jonathan made money from chess. “Do you mean prize money?” I asked. “No,” she explained, “by writing magazine articles and books.”

    Jonathan is selling his knowledge about chess and people are willing to pay for what he knows!

    The 19-year-old college freshman holds the title of National Master from the United States Chess Federation.

    He writes articles relating to his experiences at playing chess abroad and has co-authored  “Wojo’s Weapons: Winning With White,” with International Master Dean Ippolito.

    For those who might be interested in learning about chess but fear it just isn’t “cool,” Hilton has these thoughts: “Chess is something that transcends all ages and cultures. I’ve been in situations where I didn’t speak the same language as the other player, but yet I was still on such good terms with them because we could play, we could analyze and we could learn some things. Chess unites people because you have a common experience and a common passion.” http://www.uc.edu/spotlight/student/jonathan_hilton.html

    You may not hold a national title, but you may know something about some thing, right? Start writing it down!  Start a blog, write some articles and see if magazines are interested in paying you for your knowledge and perspective on life. Maybe even consider writing a book. Other teenagers have done it, why not you?

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