I was recently asked for guidance from an aspiring teen micro business owner looking to provide a service for senior citizens:

“Hello, I was thinking about starting a small business by helping senior citizens. My plan is to give out cards at a senior citizen home and be paid for cleaning their apartments, taking out trash, any type of little things around the house so they wouldn’t have to clean so much.” – Dexter

Dexter, thank you for contacting me.  I love your idea of helping out senior citizens! Here’s some tips:

• Offer to do a small job for free and get a nice testimonial from one or two people. Something like, “Dexter was so responsible, helpful, etc…” Get your picture taken with the elderly client and print up a flyer with his or her picture and testimony. Your biggest battle will be getting people to trust you, so a picture and testimonial will help.
• Hand out flyers once a month for several months. It takes several tries to get people to remember you, trust you, and hire you.
• Consider a magnetized business card that they can put on their refrigerators. They will see it more often than a business card.

Good luck!

Carol Topp, CPA

Looking to start your own micro business? Find inspiration through Quote This!, a short blog series dedicated to sharing encouraging quotes for teen micro business owners.

Today marks the last in our series of inspirational quotes. It is only fitting that we end with words of motivation that you, teens, can take to heart as your start your micro businesses:

“Everything started as nothing.” – Ben Weissenstein, entrepreneur and micro business owner

“If you start with nothing and end up with nothing, there’s nothing lost.” – Michael Dunlop, professional motorcycle racer

“Yesterday’s home runs don’t win today’s games.” – Babe Ruth, Major League Baseball player

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – Peter Drucker, writer and consultant

“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” – Mark Twain, American author and humorist

Courtesy of 14 Clicks

A micro business is only an idea away. Take a look at some ideas and become inspired to be a micro business owner yourself!

Carol Topp, CPA

Looking to start your own micro business? Find inspiration through Quote This!, a short blog series dedicated to sharing encouraging quotes for teen micro business owners.

It’s easy to talk about abstract ideas, like leadership and wisdom. But what about the practical things you need to know for your micro business? Take a look at these words, and find some practical advice for your work:

“Hire character. Train skill.” – Peter Schultz, professor

“I never perfected an invention that I did not think about in terms of the service it might give others . . . I find out what the world needs, then I proceed to invent.” – Thomas Edison, American inventor and businessman

“In preparing for a battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States

“You’ve got to stop doing all the things that people have tried, tested, and found out don’t work.” – Michael Dunlop, Irish professional motorcycle racer

“If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not making decisions.” – Catherine Cook, teen micro business owner

Courtesy of 14 Clicks

Take these words to heart, and your micro business is sure to flourish, teens!

Carol Topp, CPA

Starting a micro business today is easier than ever, thanks to the folks at the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship. They created a neat website solely equipped to help you become an entrepreneur, much like Micro Business for Teens! Jump on over to MakeYourJob.org. The website functions like a virtual board game, each step leading you closer to the prize of a business! It provides easy ways to discover your interests, create a business plan, develop marketing strategies, crucial financial tips, and much more. And on top of that, MakeYourJob offers worksheets and success stories to get those creative juices flowing.

With summer here, what better way to spend it than starting and running a successful micro business?

This great resource, coupled with my book series, Micro Business for Teens, will put any teen dreaming of a micro business on the path to success! Who knows? You just might be able to “make” your own job this summer!

Carol Topp, CPA

I presented a 90 minute workshop at my local library this week and received the nicest thank you email from  my librarian.

Amy Kleman
Librarian, MidPointe Library West Chester, Ohio

If you’re within a short drive of Cincinnati, OH and want me to present my workshop at your library or community center, drop me an email. I’d love to come!

Carol Topp, CPA
Author of Micro Business for Teens book series

USA Today reports that more than 7 in 10 teenagers are jobless this summer

THinkstock via USAToday

Once a rite of passage to adulthood, summer jobs for teens are disappearing. Fewer than three in 10 American teenagers now hold jobs such as running cash registers, mowing lawns or busing restaurant tables from June to August. The decline has been particularly sharp since 2000, with employment for 16-to-19-year olds falling to the lowest level since World War II.

And teen employment may never return to pre-recession levels, suggests a projection by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Overall, more than 44% of teens who want summer jobs don’t get them or work fewer hours than they prefer.

Entire story

This can be discouraging news, but I have a solution:

Start a Micro Business!

You can do it. Hundreds of teenagers do.

1. Get an Idea. Offering a service is usually the quickest way to start. Tons of ideas here: Ideas for Micro Businesses

2. Do a mini market survey. Ask at least 5 potential customers if they would hire you and what price they will pay.

3. Volunteer to do one of two jobs and use customer comments in your advertising.

4. Create a business card or flyer and tell everyone you know that you’re for hire!

Make this a great summer. Learn a lot and earn some money!

Carol Topp

I will be hosting a Micro Business for Teens: Starting a Micro Business workshop at the Midpointe Library in West Chester, Ohio on Wednesday June 6 from 7-8:30 pm.

This free workshop will help a teenager discover how to launch a successful micro business.

Micro Business for Teens: Starting a Micro Business explains what a micro business is, offers instruction on writing a business plan, and financing the business. Students will develop a viable idea, create a sales presentation, and leave knowing they can be running a micro business this summer.

Date: Wednesday June 6, 2012

Time: 7:00 -8:30 pm

Place: Midpointe Library-West Chester Branch, 9363 Centre Pointe Drive, West Chester, OH 45069. Community Rooms A/B

Charge: no charge!

Presenter: Carol Topp, CPA a certified public accountant and West Chester resident, is a mentor to many successful teen entrepreneurs. She hosts this workshop based on her Micro Business for Teens book series and PBS television show.

Registration: None needed. Just come!

Participants will be given a workbook to brainstorm ideas, draft a business plan and prepare a sales presentation.

For more information visit the library’s website at: http://www.midpointelibrary.org/events/event-detail/?id=504

or the Micro Business for Teens website at MicroBusinessForTeens.com