Beyond Lemonade Stands & Car Washes If you're ready to break off your training wheels and move up to the next level of business ownership, here's how to do it.
By Ben Casnocha
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Almost anyone can wash a car, set up a lemonade stand orbaby-sit the next-door neighbor. Those are good first-time gigs,and there are important business lessons to be learned in all ofthem. But if you've decided it's time to take off thetraining wheels and take your business and entrepreneurial savvy tothe next level, we can help.
There is a difference between washing someone's car a fewtimes and earning $50, and incorporating a business, incurringserious expenses and hiring employees. The latter takes a biggerinvestment of time, money and tenacity; it's riskier and can beemotionally very tough. For a teenager who has schoolwork, sports,clubs and friends, starting a full-fledged business is difficult. Ican tell you this, though: Running a business can provide you withlife skills that no school teacher could ever teach. And heck, youcan start slow and work your way up from there. Let's doit!
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What Types of Businesses CouldI Start?
Tons. There are a number of successful teen entrepreneurs who havelaunched food businesses, sports-oriented ventures, consultingpractices and the like with great success. But with the advent ofthe Internet, computer- and Internet-related companies seem to bethe company of choice for many 'treps, including me. The reasonis simple: With the Internet, you can conduct business out of yourhome, and developing software by hiring programmers or writing ityourself is much easier and more feasible, in most cases, thanmanufacturing a hard product in a factory.
When pondering what kind of business to start, first discover aproblem or need that a group of people has to which your companycould offer a solution. Look around, and do research. Is theresomething time-consuming that you think could be done moreefficiently? Are there people who are spending a lot of money onsomething you could offer for less?
Planning &Research
Shorten your list of possible products and solutions your companycould offer by doing research on the size of the market,feasibility (at my age, how much time and expertise will itrequire?) and start-up costs. Once you have your list of possiblecompanies to start down to no more than three, you can move on tothe business plan, which will help you flesh out your choices intoone business idea and discover any obstacles you haven'tconsidered.
Your business plan must be comprehensive and detailed. I wouldsuggest going month by month. In each month, write down the thingsyou want to do, the things you will do to accomplish those goals,any costs you will incur in that month.
Launch!
Assuming all of this is done, consult your plan and implement thethings you have listed in month one. Go slowly, and don't worryif you fall behind your timeline. The moral of this story is thatplanning and research are absolutely essential. You will failwithout some sort of plan--be it on paper or in your head. So finda problem, develop a solution, plan, and then launch yourcompany!
Fourteen-year-old Ben Casnocha is founder, CEO and chairmanof ComcateInc., a San Francisco firm focused on providing technologysolutions for local governments. His work has been profiled in over50 magazines, newspapers, radio stations, TV outlets and Web sitesnationwide. Got something to squawk about? Write to Casnocha atben@comcate.com.
