Whiz Kids: America's Next Business Tycoons

• Age: 17
• Hometown: New York
• Business Type: Web Design

With 20 ongoing projects, including designing banner ads for clients such as the producers of the movie Saw II and Kanye West's second album, Late Registration, LAVT generated $25,000 in revenue in 2006. Tazmin, who will attend Columbia University in the fall, put that money toward paying family expenses while her mother struggled to find work. Tazmin plans to start a second business creating Web portals for college towns.

• Ages: 17
• Hometown: Oakland, Calif.
• Business Type: Fashion Retail

Bling Buckles grossed $2,075 during the last academic year, selling custom chrome rhinestone-encrusted belt buckles, primarily at events sponsored by BUILD, a program in the Bay Area created to teach high school students in low-income school districts about entrepreneurship. The future of the business is uncertain as the partners, who are high-school juniors, are applying to colleges far apart.

• Age: 18
• Hometown: New York
• Business Type: Web Management

BlueStream, which specializes in helping nonprofits with limited resources, brought in $40,000 in 2006 and earned Faruk the Youth Entrepreneur of the Year award given out by Ernst & Young and the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship. One of Faruk's customers is Intertradingcorp.com, an organization that helps women in Guyana sell crafts on eBay.

• Ages: 17
• Hometowns: Rochester, Minn., and Miami
• Business Type: Podcasting Services

The partners, who met via an online message board, started their business in June 2005. Switchpod's product soon generated 800,000 downloads and was bought out by Wizzard Software in an all-stock transaction worth $200,000. The sale also provides the partners with annual salaries of $40,000 for a 20-hour workweek.

• Age: 19
• Hometown: Jupiter, Fla.
• Business Type: Video-Game Instruction

Last year, Taylor signed a three-year, $250,000 contract to play Halo 2 on the Major League Gaming tour. Yet, he's planned for his retirement from professional gaming by starting his own tutoring business, which connects wannabe gamers with freelance professional-level instructors. Taylor estimates Gaming-Lessons has assisted more than 1,000 students.

• Age: 14
• Hometown: Olive Hill, Ky.
• Business Type: Pet Products

Three years ago, Hammond began making all-natural dog snacks for her dog, Pancake. Now, she sells her homemade dog treats, which come in flavors such as Mutter Butter and Chic'n Lick'n, from her website and in a neighborhood store which sells local artisan's goods on consignment. Hammond earned $700 last year and $1,500 since she started the company.