Dallas Crilley’s Kidpreneur Blog — Ways Kids and Teens Can Make Money

The Story:

When Scott Wainner was just 15 years old, the world wide web and personal computing was only just beginning to become popular. Like many teenagers, Scott loved to play video games and run flight simulators — the only problem was that Scott didn’t come from a wealthy family, so without a top of the line computer, Scott’s games would sometimes run slowly or wouldn’t even run at all.

Always a problem solver, Scott began to learn how to tweak his computer so that it ran more quickly and efficiently than it was right out of the box. Looking to find others like himself, Wainner started SysOpt.com, a forum where computer-minded users could congregate to share tips on speeding up their systems.

Eventually Scott began getting offers to advertise on his website, and as his website’s forum grew, so did the demand for his ad space.  Bit-by-bit, the ad revenue grew. Scott recalls selling his first banner ad for $25 a month, and by the time he graduated high school, Scott’s hobby was making him almost $100,000 a year.

The Secret:

I’ve done many of these stories now, and the formula is amazingly simple.  Scott began his website because he loved computers, not because he was out to get independently wealthy. He acted on his passion and the profits followed.

Scott noticed that there was a void — there weren’t any other websites around that allowed fellow computer hobbyists to chat about their latest upgrades. Rather than wait for someone else, Scott decided to take matters into his own hands and make it himself.

Now It’s Your Turn:

Pablo Picasso said that action is the foundational key to all success.  What’s holding you back from following your dreams right now?  Next time you think to yourself that someone should create something, look in the mirror.  That person should be you. And like Scott, you might find yourself with a cache of cash.

As a 16-year old boy, I can tell you that I’m seriously worried about my generation. It’s different than any other in history — most of my friends expect their parents to do everything for them. Their idea of being motivated is getting up the energy to ask mom or dad for money! It’s ridiculous, and if things don’t change this country is in serious trouble.

Think about it. Most grown-ups are in credit card debt now. Just imagine how bad it’s going to be when my generation gets its hands on a few charge cards. I’m a part of the instant gratification generation, and it’s only going to get worse.

We have to teach children the value of a dollar and help them understand that making money is fun. Kids are born entrepreneurs. Just about everyone had a babysitting job, ran a lemonade stand or sold cookies door to door. However, instead of encouraging the “kidpreneur” in their child, many parents send their kids to the mall to get a job in a store and suddenly work becomes a drag.

I’ve spent the last year studying teenage entrepreneurs and I’ve discovered a pattern. The ones who are successful are the ones who turned their passions into profits. They didn’t start their business looking to make money. They did what they loved and the money followed.

Computer legend Michael Dell is a great example. According to his official biography, he was just 12 years old when he first started delivering newspapers. He soon discovered that the real money wasn’t in delivering papers, but in selling subscriptions. He noticed that the people most likely to buy were either newlyweds or couples just moving in.

He thought to himself, “There must be a place where this information is stored.” He decided to jump on his bike and pedal down to the courthouse where he found the office of marriage licenses and real estate transactions. He started copying down names and addresses and then pedaled over to their house to close the sale. Soon it was no longer worth his time to do the research, so he started hiring other little boys to bike down to the courthouse and bring back the information. According to his bio, Michael Dell was making more than his principal by the time he graduated high school.

Here are the lessons I learned from Michael Dell and dozens of other teenage tycoons:

FOLLOW YOUR HEART

Parents should ask their children what they would do with their lives if money didn’t matter. The answer is usually very revealing. If the child says they would work with pets, perhaps they would be interested in starting a pet sitting or dog walking business. If they tell you they would play video games, maybe they could start a business tutoring younger kids on how to take their game to the next level.

ENCOURAGE THE KIDPRENEUR IN YOUR CHILD

Don’t discount your child’s idea. Grown-ups are great at telling children why something won’t work. I know that you’re trying to keep your child from failing, but remember, childhood is when dreams need to be nurtured. I’ve always believed that for every person who is out there saying something can’t be done, there’s someone else who’s already out there doing it.

GROW YOUR WINGS

Children will create businesses that don’t work out, and that’s okay; that’s where the learning happens. You always learn more from the failures in life than the successes. Just encourage your child to jump from the nest and trust that they will build their wings on the way down.

Now the question is, what are you going to do with this information? We suffer from the same vitamin deficiency: Vitamin A—Action. If you want to really help your child, you’ll love them enough to encourage them to go for it. Who knows? You may discover your child is born to do business and if you’re lucky, they’ll be able to take their passion and sell like Dell.

Jordan Culpepper and Tavis Smiley

The Story:

Ever since he was old enough to hold a crayon, Jordan Culpepper was an artist. After winning art contests in elementary school, he decided to start designing buttons for his family and friends.

Pretty soon, everyone wanted one. He realized that there was money to be made. He remembers borrowing $500 from his parents to start his bedroom business called Buttons by Jordan.

When the media heard about his story, it caused a button bonanza. He even sold 5,000 buttons to nationally syndicated radio host Tavis Smiley.

He’s already saved $7,000 towards college, and every one of his customers is a walking billboard for his business.

The Secret:

Jordan recognized an opportunity when it hit him on the chest. It would have been easy for him to be safe and keep it as a hobby, and borrowing $500 from his folks surely pinned him down. However, he knew he was investing in himself, and his business would live or die based on his own ability to button-up new business.

Now It’s Your Turn:

When was the last time that someone complimented you on a talent? Do you play an instrument? Maybe you should make some money tutoring other kids. Are you good at video games? I bet someone would hire you to teach them your secrets. Who knows, like Jordan, you may discover that starting your business is as simple as pressing the Easy Button.

John Paul Pigeon

The Story:

His mom always knew he was gifted.  After all, how many 7-year-old boys are learning Greek and reading at a 12th grade level?

While other boys his age were playing Nintendo, John Paul Pigeon was reading the Wall Street Journal and breaking into the latest business book.

By the age of 10, he had taken the stage, and was speaking to crowds of hundreds on the importance of financial literacy.

John Paul, now 14-years-old, travels all over the country not only teaching finances but also building his bank account along the way.

The Secret:

John Paul dared to be different.  It would’ve been very easy to do the same things his friends did, but instead he decided to continue fueling his passion for profits.

Speaking in front of a crowd can be a terrifying experience if you allow it to be one.  John Paul Pigeon faced his fears and found himself coming alive on stage, captivating his crowds.

Now It’s Your Turn:

What’s stopping you from taking flight?  Many teens I know seem to be just passing time until they turn 18.  Your future can begin today.  And like this tiny Tony Robbins, you may discover that there’s a financial freedom of speech that can only be found if you get yourself out there.

The Story:

As a child growing up in a foreign country, Barry Soetoro remembers feeling disconnected.  He was African-American, but he was living in Indonesia and didn’t look like his friends.

Barry was taller than the other kids but that didn’t stop others from picking on him.  He remembers coming home with a lump on the side of his head after he got in a fight with an older kid.

He would spend much of his life fighting — fighting to prove that people should not be judged by the color of their skin, but the content of their character.

His third grade teacher gave all of her students an assignment titled “What I Want To Be In The Future.”  Barry wrote, “I want to be President.”  If you don’t know who I’m talking about, then you probably don’t know that as an adult he took his father’s name, Barack Obama. And on Tuesday that little boy’s dream comes true.

The Secret:

Like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Barack Obama used society’s prejudices to fuel his passion.  Perhaps had he lived in a different set of circumstances he wouldn’t have been as driven.

He knew that the important thing was not the number of times that you get knocked down, it’s about how many times you get back up.  Everyone should have something worth fighting for.

Now It’s Your Turn:

Motivational speaker Les Brown once said that you should never let someone’s opinion of you become your reality.  On Monday we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, and on Tuesday we celebrate the inauguration of the first African American President of the United States.

Maybe it’s time for you to start dreaming with your eyes wide open.

The Story:

In 2005 while most of the world was watching the destruction of Hurricane Katrina, 12-year-old Talia Leman was determined not to leave the rebuilding to grown-ups.  She went to her school and organized a trick-or-treat campaign where the kids would ask for donations to hurricane relief instead of candy.

It caught the news media’s attention and after it hit all the network news programs, every school in the state wanted to get involved.  Before it was all over she had raised $226,000.

The Secret:

You can either sit on the sidelines or get in the game.  Millions of kids watched the news and were touched by the tragedy, but Talia knew that in order to organize an army of adolescents it would take a student leader — not an adult.

Now It’s Your Turn:

What’s going on in your community, and how can you make a difference?  Is there crime in your neighborhood?  Form a crime-watch club made up of kids, then call up the news and tell them about it.

Everyone can make a difference, and you don’t have to wait until you’re 18 to do it.  Live your life with passion and purpose and there’s no telling what you can do.  And like Talia Leman, you’ll discover that even the forces of nature can’t keep you down.

The Story:

For as long as 14-year-old Evan Ducker can remember, he was different.  He was born with a birthmark on his cheek.  It’s known as a port-wine stain, similar to the one former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev had on the crown of his head.

His mother at first was ashamed to take him outside, but as he grew older she decided that the mark wasn’t something to be embarassed about, instead it was what made him special.  Evan and his mom went to the library to read up on birthmarks, and were shocked to find there was very little written. So they decided to write one themselves.

The children’s book, called “Buddy Bobby’s Birthmark,” was an instant hit and has earned him interviews on CNN, CBS, and USA Today.  Evan says his dream is to raise $100,000 for the Vascular Birthmarks Foundation, and he’s well on his way with speaking engagements that take him all over the country.

The Secret:

It’s not about how many times you get knocked down, it’s about how many times you get back up.  Too many kids use setbacks and difficult circumstances as an excuse not to try.  Not Evan.  Instead of playing the blame game he got busy and did something about it.

Now It’s Your Turn:

What excuses have you been using?  Born into the wrong family?  Too young?  Not attractive enough?  I don’t want to hear it.

Evan should be inspiration to us all.  When it comes to overcoming obstacles, he literally wrote the book.

The Story:

When Ephren Taylor was just 12-years-old he remembered not being able to afford video games, so he decided to start making his own.  After learning how to program computers, he started duplicating copies of the games he made and selling them to his classmates for $10 each.  He ended up selling over 100 copies.

His early success only fueled his passion. He discovered he was “Taylor made” for business and by the time he was 17-years-old, he had created a multi-million dollar technology company.

Now in his 20s, Ephren is the youngest African-American CEO of a publicly traded company of all time.

The Secret:

Ephren didn’t use his humble beginnings as an excuse.  It only made him hungry and driven to succeed.  He also didn’t see his age as a handicap.  While other kids his age were playing video games, he was creating and selling them.

Now It’s Your Turn:

It’s never too early to begin your dash for cash.  What’s your dream job?  If it doesn’t exist, do what Ephren did — create it.  Many people find themselves years down the road in a job that they hate.  If you do what you love it’s not work.  But if your only motivation is money, it’s game over.

The Story:

15-year-old Jennifer Sharpe from Dearborn, Michigan knows how to make a mint when it comes to selling cookies — a thin mint, that is.

Earlier this year Jennifer began selling Girl Scout cookies. However, instead of going door-to-door like most Scouts, she set up a stand in her church parking lot. Rain or shine, every day she was out there smiling and determined.

By the time the cookie selling season was over, Jennifer had set what is believed to be a new record — she sold 17,328 boxes… enough to send her entire troop to Europe for a week.

The Secret:

It may have seemed like a half-baked idea to some, but setting her stand up in a church parking lot was genius. When a Girl Scout comes to your house she only has one chance to make a sale. By setting up shop in one place, Jennifer’s customers knew where to find her and they could keep coming back for more.

Most importantly, Jennifer had a goal. She was focused on sweet success and knew that the pay-off would be in the satisfaction of sending all her friends on the trip of a lifetime.

Now It’s Your Turn:

The problem with many teens is they don’t have goals. If your goal for the day is to not wipe out on your skateboard, it might be time to reevaluate.

What are you passionate about? Whether it’s saving up to pay for your college tuition or to set a new record, Jennifer Sharpe proved that all you have to do is dream and come up with an idea you can sink your teeth into.

The Story:

All kids know what a problem crayons can be after a little use. They become broken and hard to draw with.

11-year old Cassidy Goldstein decided to do something about it. She took a small plastic tube used for holding flowers and after fashioning it into a crude creation, the “Crayon Holder” was born.

Her father helped her get a patent and the device was picked up by Wal-Mart. This clever endeavor has earned her more than six figures!

The Secret:

Your life is a blank canvas. What are you going to do with it?

Cassidy didn’t just see a problem. She saw a solution and decided that the art of business doesn’t have an age limit.

Now it’s Your Turn:

What’s stopping you from doing the things you want to do? Is it the fear of failure or the fear of success?

It’s time to pick up the broken crayons in your life and start coloring your dreams. You may draw attention to yourself, but as Cassidy discovered with a little bit of ingenuity you’ll find yourself a picture of prosperity.