Much has been said about success in business. As you start your micro business, keep these thoughts in mind:

“The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.” – Vidal Sassoon, recognized British stylist

“If hard work is the key to success, most people would rather pick the lock.” – Claude McDonald, British diplomat

“Every single person I know who is successful at what they do is successful because they love doing it.” – Joe Penna, musician and filmmaker

“The road to success is always under construction.” – Arnold Palmer, American professional golfer

“Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.” – Henry Ford, Industrialist, Founder of Ford Motor Company, and Developer of the Assembly Line

Courtesy of Nick Tart, Founder of 14 Clicks

Work hard to build a micro business around what you love, teens, and that is a success!

Carol Topp, CPA

Today’s quotes center around the spirit of entrepreneurship. Take a look at these wise words to bring into your micro business:

“The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer.” - Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States

“An entrepreneur tends to bite off a little more than he can chew hoping he’ll quickly learn how to chew it. ” - Roy Ash, co-founder and president of Litton Industries

“Start today, not tomorrow. If anything, you should have started yesterday.” – Emil Motycka

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” – Thomas Edison, American inventor and businessman

“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest learning experience.” – Bill Gates, former CEO and chairman of Microsoft

Courtesy of Nick Tart, Founder of 14 Clicks

Aim high and work hard, entrepreneurs!

Carol Topp, CPA

© by Anthony Albright

Want to see the products from your micro business sold at a multi-national retailer? Walmart is running an online contest, “Get on the Shelf,” for entrepreneurs (or micro business owners) to submit their great product ideas. The grand prize winner could see their product sold at Walmarts across the country! Entrants must be “age of majority” to enter, but don’t let this stop you, teens. You just might need a parent or adult’s help in submitting your product. The contest would be a lot of fun and, not to mention, a great way to get some publicity for your micro business! Entries for this year’s contest ended on February 22nd, but keep an eye out for the contest again in 2013. See “Get on the Shelf”‘s website for this year’s contestants, and start thinking about your product for next year’s competition.

Want to enter this competition, but not sure about a product? Check out my website for great micro business ideas that you can easily make to compete!

Carol Topp, CPA

My friend, Janice Campbell, of Everyday Education shares 5 reasons entrepreneurship should be part of your teenagers education:

Mindset: We live in a society that teaches passivity, rather than active exploration and initiative. … Entrepreneurial training takes this a step farther by teaching students how to act with freedom, integrity, and purpose in their work life.

Flexibility and Preparedness: Entrepreneurial education provides a way for anyone of any age or financial condition to be better prepared to independently generate personal income. Business transitions are a fact of life. Factories close or automate, corporations merge and shift focus. It’s critical to be prepared to observe trends and be ready and able to move into another field or to supplement income with a microbusiness.

Learning:  Teens who choose run a business rather than flip burgers for the summer learn not only the service or product they are selling, but they also learn about business structures, bookkeeping, customer service, marketing, creative problem solving, real-world communication, and much more. Real bookkeeping for a small business is a lot more memorable than exercises from a consumer math textbook. Best of all, the skills and knowledge gained can be applied to many other parts of life.

High-School Transcript: A small business is a great addition to a high-school transcript. … entrepreneurship demonstrates initiative, hard work, creativity, perseverance, and other valuable skills and character traits. It’s likely that you’ll be able to grant credit for many of the business functions (bookkeeping, salesmanship, web design basics, etc.) your student learns as her or she builds a business.

Using the Micro Business for Teens curriculum will earn you 1/2 credit of high school credit and running your business can be another 1/2 to a full credit.

Fun: Finally, entrepreneurship is just plain fun. It empowers individuals– moms, dads, teens, pre-teens– to create something of value and share it with others in a profitable way. A young person who starts a microbusiness gains a lot more than spending money. He or she gains confidence, valuable experience, and a host of new skills that can be used for life.

Janice, you are so right. There are so many things a teenager can learn by starting their own micro business-and earn money while learning!

So, don’t delay, get an idea and get started. Start with reading the blog posts here and then my books will help you launch your own micro business.

Carol Topp, CPA

Data show(s) that virtually all new job growth in the United States has been driven by firms less than five years old.

This video explains three things entrepreneurs do (better than the government) and why entrepreneurs are our heros!

“My sister was selling candles for school, and I was kind of making fun of her because they were really girly scents, and the idea came to me to make man-scented candles ’cause nobody was doing that,” Hart says.
He used $100 from his savings to start his business called ManCans. He makes the candles at home when he’s not in school.

He’s all about “being green.” His candles come in recycled cans and feature labels made of recycled paper.

The candles sell for $8.00 and come in different scents such as:

• New York Style Pizza: Straight out of the oven.
• Money to Burn: Use your tax refund to buy a candle.
• Gear Head: Smells like the auto garage.
• Cracker Jacks: A prize for your nose in every can.
• Coffee: Men don’t go to coffee houses, men go to ManCans.
• Bacon: Bacon, Bacon, Bacon, Bacon… I smell Bacon.
• Bubble Gum: Just like opening the pack of Topps baseball cards.
• Grandpa’s Pipe: A fresh tobacco blend just like grandpa smoked.
• Sawdust: A light cedar smell.

I love Hart’s micro business idea and wish him great success!

Hart’s ManCan website.

Carol Topp, CPA

They do things like

• plan ahead,
• wake up early,
• work late,
• work while others play,
• set goals and
• manage their time.

How Young Entrepreneurs Balance Business And School

People always talk about work-life balance. Well, with young entrepreneurs, it’s more of work-school balance. Here’s how some student entrepreneurs were able to balance their school work and the company they were running on the side. It’s more like the the company they were running and classes they were attending to on the side.

Read more…

If they can do it, so can you!

Carol Topp, CPA

“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!

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.