16-year-old Juny Nguyen had the chance of a lifetime; the possibility to pitch his entrepreneurial product in front of the President.
Juny entered a contest last year where he had to design a product and write up a business plan to sell and market it. The product that Juny invented is called Neckcessories – a tie that snaps into place behind the neck with a fastener that Juny sews onto the fabric. He explained that, “Clip-on ties (look) unsophisticated, and normal ties are normally complicated.” Check out Juny pitch his product:
Neckcessories presentation at National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge finals from NFTE on Vimeo.
Juny and four other students were chosen from the contest to be able to pitch their products at the White House. Juny’s goal was to give the President a silver-grey tie with cherry blossoms, but one of the President’s aides explained that the President is not allowed to accept gifts. However, Juny said that the President spotted the tie and wanted to know if Juny made it for him, when Juny explained that he wasn’t allowed to give the President the tie, the President said, “I’m taking it anyway.”
Since then Juny has sold 60 ties priced at $15 a piece. If you have an interest in purchasing a tie from Juny, you can email him at: nguyen.juny@gmail.com or check out his website, Neckcessories.
H/T: Patch.com
If you have an idea for a product like Juny did, you should think about starting a micro business. A Micro Business is a low-cost, low risk, small-scale, business that a teenager can start in a relatively small amount of time. In my book, Starting A Micro Business, I outline the steps required to start a micro business for success! You can check out my book on Amazon in paperback or Kindle edition.
Carol Topp, CPA
