Young Entrepreneurs: What it Takes to Make More Money than Your Parents

About a month ago Nick Scheidies, the co-author of What it Takes to Make More Money than Your Parents, approached me to write review about his book.  His book is about compilation of 25 interviews with young entrepreneurs, some of whom are as young as 12 years old.  Just by reading the book title, I was so intrigued of reading it.  I’m all about entrepreneurship.  Sometimes I do wish my brain can stop thinking about business opportunities so I can just relax and have normal schedule like everybody else.

I have to say this book is amazing!  It’s such an inspiration reading all these young entrepreneurs on how they came up with an idea, work through it and essentially became successful in their business.  Some of these kids earned six figure income by the time they were in high school.  The majority of their businesses are run online, such as online fashion magazines, social networking sites, blogs, online wedding reference (online platform where couples and wedding vendors will be able to connect), graphic designers, advertising, and many more.  Their success didn’t just happen overnight.  Just like any other entrepreneurs, these kids work really hard, juggling their time between school and business, and many had to face challenges and learn from their failure.  This book is so fascinating I decided to interview the authors.

Mommylicious :  These kids are pretty successful entrepreneurs for their age, but they are not top Fortune 500 entrepreneurs or some sort, where did you find these kids?

Nick Scheidies : There are a lot of successful young entrepreneurs out there, so they weren’t too hard for us to find.  Most are pretty tech-savvy, so they’ve got a significant online presence.  We did a few months of research before we actually asked for our first interview.  Then we made sure to ask each one who else they thought deserved to be in the book

Mommylicious :  Adam Toren, the creator of youngentrepreneur.com, gavea list of what it takes to be entrepreneurs: (1) a go-getter outlook, (2) creativity, (3) focus and passion, (4) drive and ambition, (5) open minded to taking calculated risk, (6) commitment and dedication, (7) belief in yourself and tendency to thrive on independence, (8) ability to multitask, (9) honesty and integrity, (10) refusal to let failures defeat you and ability to learn from mistakes.  Is it possible to be an entrepreneur if he or she doesn’t have all the requirement above?  If so, how?

Nick Scheidies : This is a great list from Adam and it matches up with what our 25 young entrepreneurs told us.  But I would turn it on its head.  These aren’t the requirements of being an entrepreneur; they’re the qualities that entrepreneurship encourages in people .

Mommylicious :  With series of regulations and many businesses are outsourcing from Third World Countries for cheaper labor, I hate to say this but it seems almost impossible to become an entrepreneur in this country.  Why would anyone should be interested in becoming one?  What are the advantages?

Nick Scheidies :  What you described in your question is exactly the reason someone should be interested in becoming an entrepreneur.  If you’re your own boss, then the only way your job would be outsourced overseas is if you decide to go on vacation.
Slow economic times are actually a perfect environment for entrepreneurship.  It means that there are a lot of opportunities out there, in the vacuum of other businesses that have gone under.  Entrepreneurial ventures – new companies, services, and ideas – are the things that are going to get the national economy back to up to size.  I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, but the iron is definitely hot enough to strike right now.

Mommylicious :  I’m a mother and have a slight hope that one day my son will become an entrepreneur or at least have the spirit.  Do you have any advise on how to raise an entrepreneur child?

Nick Scheidies : When you giveyour children a set allowance every week, it’s hard for them to grasp the value of money.  You’re missing an opportunity to teach them that money comes from taking initiative and doing something valuable.  So, when your son starts showing an interest in money, you could suggest that he could do something around the house that would be worth paying for.  Raise an entrepreneurial kid and get a foot rub for $5.00 – what’s not to love?
Once he gets a bit older, you can start reading to him from our book.  There’s just something about kids hearing the stories of other young entrepreneurs their own age that is really motivating – and I’ve seen the effects first hand.  When a kid begins to realize how much they’re capable of accomplishing with a little bit of hard work and determination, it’s a beautiful thing.  That’s why we wrote the book.

Mommylicious :  One of your interview questions is, If you had to battle a giant, what weapon would you use?  You asked this question to find out how these young entrepreneurs battle the big box companies and win it.  What would be your answer?

Nick Scheidies : Every problem has a solution.  Every giant has a weakness. So – even though facing stronger, more experienced competition is challenging – there’s always going to be way for the little guy to come out on top.  Maybe the giant’s a Cyclops with a big, vulnerable eyeball.  In that case, I’d probably use a slingshot and try to temporarily blind him.  Promoting ‘What it Takes to Make More Money than Your Parents’, every day feels like battling a giant.  Nick Tart and I are promoting our book without using a traditional publisher.  We’re spreading the message of youth entrepreneurship without having any kind of budget.  We’re underdogs, but the great thing about being the underdog is that you’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain.  The same is true for any kid – high school, middle school, or college – who’s thinking about getting started with entrepreneurship.

Very interesting point of view from the author, isn’t it?  My favorite quote from this book: “Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.”

For more information about this book, visit http://youngentrepreneurs.50interviews.com and http://juniorbiz.com .