Angus Loten

Smells Like Teen Entrepreneurial Spirit

 

September 21, 2005--Responding to a growing interest in entrepreneurship among teens, the U.S. Small Business Administration and Junior Achievement Worldwide have teamed up to launch a business ownership Web site for young people, according to the SBA.

The initiative, which was unveiled at the National Student Entrepreneur of the Year 2005 awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. on September 13, is designed to help youth start, run, and grow a business from the bottom up.

Mind Your Own Business, at www.mindyourownbiz.org, is a step-by-step guide to help teenagers get a business off the ground -- from brainstorming ideas to marketing and money management.

"Legions of young entrepreneurs across the country are changing the face of America's marketplace," SBA Administrator Hector Barreto said in a statement issued last week.

Barreto said the site was aimed at supporting and promoting young people as "contributing members of the American economy."

Like SBA's own youth-oriented Webpage, www.sba.gov/teens the site includes streaming video, animation and interactive sound clips in laying out the small business basics for teen entrepreneurs.

David S. Chernow, the president and CEO of JA Worldwide, a business training organization for young people, said the initiative will "give teens valuable resources to help them start their own business and live the American Dream."

Well on his way there is Brian Hendricks, a Potomac, Md., teenager who was selected last week as the 2005 National Student Entrepreneur of the Year by officials from the SBA and the National Federation of Independent Business, among other business groups.

Hendricks's StartUpPc sells custom-built computers and computer services for home users, offices and small businesses. Three years ago, Hendricks also founded VB Solutions, which develops custom Web sites and message boards.