Hip-hop star Common performed at the White House Poetry night Wednesday (Image: File)

• Common Performs at White House Poetry Celebration

Conscious rapper Common took the stage at the White House Poetry night Wednesday amidst the controversy fueled by conservative politicians from Sarah Palin to Karl Rove earlier in the week.

The hip-hop star was a part of a larger initiative celebrating American poetry and prose. The festivities kicked off with the White House poetry workshop, hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama. It wrapped with the evening showcase featuring artists such as Jill Scott, Billy Collins and Aimee Mann.

Watch Common’s performance at the White House:

• African American Teens At a Lose for Summer Employment Opportunities

As the academic year ends, the number of teens looking for summer jobs increases, however, job opportunities are few and far between for underprivileged African American teens, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

Poor African American teens trail Hispanic and White teens when it comes to securing a summer job by over 10%. In fact, 36% of white and 31% of Hispanic underserved teens—between the ages of 16 and 19—were able to find employment, while only 20% of Black teens in that same age bracket were as lucky. Middle-class African American teens were only slightly more likely to find work in comparison to their white counterparts.

• Survey Reveals 7.5 Million Facebook Users Are Under 13

Consumer Reports’ 2011 State of the Net survey released Tuesday shows children younger than 13 are infiltrating Facebook’s screening requirements, making up approximately 7.5 million of the network’s active users. Among this preteen demographic, over 5 million are under 10.

“Despite Facebook’s age requirements, many kids are using the site who shouldn’t be,” Consumer Reports technology editor Jeff Fox said in a statement. “What’s even more troubling was the finding from our survey that indicated that a majority of parents of kids 10 and under seemed largely unconcerned by their children’s use of the site.”

• Microsoft Acquires Skype for $ 8.5 Billion

Microsoft makes the biggest deal in its 36 year history, attaining the widely-used phone and-video dialing service Skype for $8.5 billion.

Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer will attempt what other companies have failed to do: make money off the Internet phone company. The computer technology company plans to incorporate Skype into everything from it video game device such as Xbox and Kinect to its Office software suite.

Tony Bates, the chief-executive-officer of Skype, sees the deal as an expansion opportunity for both parties. “Microsoft and Skype share the vision of bringing software innovation and products to our customers,” said Bates, in a press statement. “Together, we will be able to accelerate Skype’s plans to extend our global community and introduce new ways for everyone to communicate and collaborate.”

• Michael Steele on Staff at The Root

The former and first-ever African American Republican National Committee chairman has entered into the first media deal since resigning from his position at RNC. Michael Steele is the newest member on staff at The Root, a division of The Washington Post Company.

As contributing editor, Steele will supply a monthly column surrounding major political topics, including the 2012 presidential race.

“At The Root I’ve found a place where I’ll be able to express my opinion. In the past my candor hasn’t been appreciated, but now [at The Root] I’m expected to say what I want without pulling any punches. I look forward to hearing the readers take and public reaction to my commentary” said Steele.

The Wired Techie, driven by the need to be the first to discover, use and recommend new tech devices and gadgets.

The Conformist Yet Somewhat Paradoxical Preppy, traditional yet trendy buyers who are driven to want to fit in and belong.

The Always Mellow Alternative, who deviate from mainstream buying habits in order to pursue and support causes they believe in.

The Cutting Edge Independent, who deviate from the mainstream just for the sake of it.

While it’s difficult to accept that Wells’ tribes truly represent the totality of the thinking of tweens, teens and young adults, her book underscores an important reality of sales and marketing in the age of The Long Tail: Why The Future of Business is Selling Less of More ($10, Hyperion)–Chris Anderson’s must-read book about the changing nature of consumer choice and tastes in a largely digital marketplace: targeting consumers by age, race, gender and other traditional demographic markers alone is no longer enough for a business to be effective and, ultimately, profitable.

When it comes to marketing to youth, comes with unimpeachable bona fides. Already a 15-year veteran in the marketing business, she started Buzz Marketing as an 18-year-old, quickly carving out a niche and establishing a knack for understanding the trends, tastes and influences driving young consumers. Eventually graduating with honors with a B.A. in communication art from Hood College in 2002, and currently earning a marketing management degree at the Wharton School of Business, Wells creates marketing strategies for clients in the beauty, entertainment, fashion, financial and lifestyle sectors. Her clients have ranged from Sesame Street Workshop and PBS to American Eagle Outfitters and SonyBMG. Today, Wells, an expert contributor on entrepreneurship to BlackEnterprise.com, is well established as one of America’s most honored and celebrated young entrepreneurs.

Wells brings nearly than 15 years of youth marketing experience to the table, which she began acquiring as a teenager.

So it’s no surprise that Wells brings and authoritative voice to Chasing Youth Culture and Getting It Right, confidently explaining the diverse world views of young consumers while smartly taking into account parents, as both their primary financial resource and the people with the most influence on their values. Wells also breezily illustrates, using vignettes of real young people who were subjects of her company’s survey, the impact of social media, globalization and the Great Recession on the “new millennials.” She also courageously weighs in on how young consumers feel about everything from environmentalism and corporate America to hypersexual content and America’s two-party political system.

In fact, sometimes Wells is over confident, making bold, sweeping overstatements about this or that aspect of the way young people think. For example, her description of “Global Mobiles” —young people who “live in a world without geographic or cultural boundaries” —is a stretch, conveniently overlooking the millions of young people, particularly low-income rural and urban Americans, who are hardly conscious of how people live on the other side of the tracks, much less the other side of the world. (Think Shawn Carter in the Brooklyn’s Marcy Projects before he became Jay-Z, the mogul and global citizen.) While global mobiles abolutely exist, it’s too early to categorize them as a dominant factor in marketing.

The other major weakness of the book is that it so many examples of companies’ failed and/or successful efforts to market to youth culture that Wells ends up quickly glossing over most of them, causing them to lose some of their illustrative impact. I wish she’d used fewer examples, which would have allowed her to more effectively use those that remained as more enlightening and instructive case studies.

That said, if you’re a marketer or entrepreneur who wants to tap into the spending power of the generations of consumers who will drive the national and global economies over the next several decades (and come on, who doesn’t?), then you cannot afford to not read Chasing Youth Culture and Getting It Right. The book is both confirmation of Well’s formidable track record as an expert on the trends and tastes of young people, and powerful evidence of her prowess at using her immersion in her chosen area of expertise to peer around the corner into a future consumer marketplace, one that is evolving as unpredictably as it is quickly. Chasing Youth Culture and Getting It Right does solve all of the mysteries of marketing to young consumers, but it most certainly provides the most necessary, fascinating and useful clues.

Tina Wells is CEO of Buzz Marketing Group and is a columnist for BlackEnterprise.com. Follow her on Twitter at @tinacwells and check out her new book, Chasing Youth Culture and Getting It Right, available now on amazon.com.

Customers aren't like a room full of crying babies. Each group has specific needs and interests. (Image: Thinkstock)

If you enter a roomful of crying but healthy babies, chances are they all share at least one of the same needs: food, sleep, a diaper, or some undivided attention from a loving adult. As they grow into early childhood, they will hit the same developmental benchmarks at roughly the same time, and they’ll still want and need lot of the same basics (snacks, naps, potty, hugs), though they are beginning to assert their distinct personalities. Even before preschool, the differences start to emerge. This kid loves soccer, that one only wears sandals, this kid cares about animals, this one is afraid of animals, and this kid collects menus. And so it goes as they grow, with each young soul becoming his or her own person.

Any parent or teacher will tell you that, although they may have similarities, all children are different. Yet we consistently make the mistake of behaving as if they all want and need the same things. While this is obviously practical and necessary on many levels, children become even less alike as they grow into their tween and teenage years—and we still often act as if they’re all cut from the same cloth. This true paradox is that tweens, especially, are bursting out of their early childhood selves, trying to figure out where they fit in, and they’re both attracted to and afraid of the idea of more independence. They want to be “like the other kids,” but they have already formed a distinct set of likes and dislikes. They face a substantial challenge in striking a balance between being like their peers and flexing their one-of-a-kind personalities.

Marketers—and society in general—have typically categorized people by their age. You might read something like, “Adult males between the ages of 35 and 45 are more likely to have a Facebook account than adult males between the ages of . . .” or “New Yorkers between the ages of 15 and 18 are using the subway at alarming rates.” Classifying people by age makes it easy to survey them and is often appropriate. However, in an era of growing individualism and the use of technological profiles to display individual characteristics, it’s important to see past the demographic boundaries and begin to define people based on their cultural attributes—instead of focusing first on numbers.

While we may be inclined to think of them as “ages 9 to 12,” the 12-year-old may be making the same choices as a 15-year- old, and the 9-year-old may be an early adopter of certain trends, regardless of his or her age. It’s not about how we view them; it’s about how they define themselves—and how the lines often blur between the tween and teenage groups. With that in mind, I’ve developed a new system for looking at teens and tweens by separating them into four tribes: the wired Techie; the conformist but somewhat paradoxical Preppy; the always-mellow Alternative; and the cutting-edge Independent. We’ll have look at each of these in further detail, but first, it’s important to explain why we need to look at Millennials in this way.

Continued on page 2

Is your customer a Techie, Preppy, Alternative or Independent? (Image: Thinkstock)

At some point, we began to blur the lines of which brands, products, and services should be consumed by whom. In another post, I’m going to talk in depth about the concept of a “tweenebe.” Tweenebes are adults who want to be tweens. Now, they may not truly want to be 12 again, but they are consuming a 12-year-old’s culture and loving it. Do you know those moms who love Justin Bieber? Are you one of them? Do you know dads who seem to enjoy rocking out to the Disney channel more than they should? It’s okay; they’re just enjoying the benefits of being a tween. I have to admit, in a society full of major economic, social, and political concerns, we’d all love to fawn over the latest tween singing sensation, read a Twilight book, or grab a Frappuccino with friends. Oh wait—don’t we already do those things?

As we look at these tribes, we have to ask ourselves: Do you have to be 13 to be a Preppy? Twenty something to be an Independent? No, you don’t. That seems like an easy question to answer, but it has stumped marketers for generations. Now, I doubt that you’ll see an ad for Tampax Pearl in Sports Illustrated or a Justin Bieber ad in AARP magazine, but you will see major brand extensions happening over the next few years. And I’m not talking about product development; I’m talking about market development. Marketers have to get outside of thinking in boxes, whether it’s ages 7 to 12, 13 to 19, or 20 to 24.

Technology has created so many generationally shared experiences. Facebook is no longer for elite college students. Indeed, the fastest growing demographic on Facebook is women over 50. How people think, feel, and react to brands is a completely new experience. Because of that, I’ve developed four tribes that I feel are universal. I think that these tribes definitely have subtribes (which I’ll explore in the future at some point), and I do believe that consumers can belong to more than one tribe. But the tribal migration is happening, and has been happening for years. As with any good disruptive innovation, technology has forced us to deal with this issue.

Ten years ago, if you wanted to launch a new product for teens, you’d probably launch a major ad campaign in a teen magazine like Seventeen. You would likely reach more than 10 million girls and call it a day. Fast-forward to 2011, where readership of Seventeen is now about 4 million. Where did all those readers go? They’re online, of course. They’re on thousands of web sites. How are you going to find them? Well, sure, you can just launch a campaign on a network of web sites and hope that you’re going to reach your entire target.

However, there’s an easier way. Targeting a tribe is also about understanding a mind-set. A tribe is defined as a “social division of people.” The key word here is social. Social involves so many things. What are people doing? How are they doing it? With whom are they doing it? How often? How long? When? Where? This is starting to sound like an invitation to the best party. That’s the mind-set a marketer should have when thinking about tribes, and that’s why tribal marketing works.

If you start to think about these consumers—Preppies, Techies, Alternatives, and Independents—as tribes, and then think about all of their social activities, you can easily figure out how to reach them. Then you won’t just be bowling in the dark. You will hit your mark every time.

Read more about tribal marketing in Tina Wells’s book, Chasing Youth Culture And Getting It Right (Wiley), in stores April 2011. You can also follow Tina on Twitter at @tinacwells. And be sure to check BlackEnterprise.com every Friday for her weekly small business posts.

Sprite Refreshing Films (formerly Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmaker’s Award program), is hosting a nationwide search looking for young, creative writers and filmmakers. The program is free and open to teen’s ages 13-19 years-old and college students who are looking for an opportunity to write, create, produce, direct and edit short films, each featuring celebrities, alongside industry pros.

The project is Sprite’s initiative to empower and inspire the next generation of creative minds, explains Alana Bardauskis, marketing and PR Manger for Dreaming Tree films, a production company working with Sprite. “A lot of times teenagers don’t get access to opportunities that allow them to express their creativity via film and television at that age and sometimes the schools don’t have the funding. This is an equalizer to bring teens from all over the country to take part in a collaborative learning experience where they can get hands on opportunities of a lifetime,” she says.

Programs like Sprite Refreshing Films are challenging the status quo by producing highly trained young filmmakers of all races and ethnicities whose vision may eventually change the way movies and television shows are made.

Sprite Refreshing Films is hosting a nationwide search looking for young, creative writers and filmmakers.

For high school senior Kristen Robinson, the program has landed her corresponding jobs with BET and given her a nice clip to add to her reel when applying to broadcast journalism undergraduate programs. Last year, Robinson and her team produced, shot and edited a documentary featuring hip hop artist Roscoe Dash where they captured his main performance at Atlanta’s biggest concert of the year and conducted exclusive backstage interviews.

“Working with all the media professionals and celebrities was really a once in a lifetime opportunity,” says Robinson. “When people aspire to be a filmmaker or broadcast journalist it can seem far fetched, but this fueled me to stick with my passion.”

There a three ways you can get involved in Sprite Refreshing Films:

Screenwriters: See your vision come to life. All entrants must be 18 or older and attend one of the participating schools.

Teen filmmakers: You could be one of 60 filmmakers chosen from across the nation. You’ll work in teams of 10 to produce one short film in seven days. No experience is required but you must be between the ages of 13-19. Six film crews will compete in six different cities: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta and Miami.

Staff Intern: This is your chance to run the film set as a director, producer, technical director or behind the scenes documentarian. You must be between the ages of 18-26 and be a student of one the participating school.

Finished films will be showcased and go head-to-head for viewing nationwide through a text messaging voting competition. The top three films will also be viewed and judged by the Green Ribbon Panel, a collection of industry experts who will judge on the technical aspects of the film. The winner will be announced in June and have their film showcased in more than 2300 theaters nationwide.

So what are you waiting for? The deadline is Nov. 30^th sign up now at www.spriterefreshingfilms.com

Read more about breaking into the film industry…

• Rules for Making Money in Hollywood
• ACTIONA New Generation of Filmmakers
• Backtalk with Antoine Fuqua

LaToya M. Smith is an assistant editor at Black Enterprise

With a penchant for making money and a grasp of their life’s passions, these young money savvy students successfully run burgeoning businesses. Check out who they are and what they do:

K-9 Kouture

Jada Marie Nicome founded K-9 Kouture last fall, drawing from her passion for fashion and her pet.

With a passion for fashion and a love of dogs, Jada Marie Nicome founded K-9 Kouture last fall after developing the business plan for an in-class competition. “Ever since I was little I wanted a dog so I could dress him up,” Nicome says. “I never thought I could create a business out of it.” But indeed she did, winning the class competition, and joining the market of pooch clothiers.

Pet owners can choose from K-9 Kouture’s line of sweaters with quirky quotes and jazz up their puppy’s apparel with rhinestones or Swarovski crystals. Since launching K-9 Kouture last November, the 18-year-old has sold more than 50 units of her signature sweaters, raking in $800 to $900.

Nicome expects to sell 180 units in the upcoming year ranging from $30 to $50 a pop, depending on size and design. The Maryland native is also working out a deal with the Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) to provide signature hoodies for its dogs.

Simply Last Video Production

A screen shot of a Simply Last Video on study skills

When Jonathan Bryson’s family was preparing for his grandmother’s 90th birthday celebration, Jonathan wanted to do something special. Noticing the countless pictures his grandmother had socked away, he decided to produce a video featuring the photos. “After that a lot of people began asking me about it,” says Bryson. “I started doing it for them as side projects and turned it into a business.”

He launched Simple Last Video Production in 2007, specializing in filming and editing video for parties, special events, and other special occasions. The company is growing through word of mouth, and in 2008 Bryson generated $2,300 in revenue. Now a sophomore in college, he’s taking advantage of the various events and organizations and expects to bring in $7,000 in revenue by the end of 2009.

“In entrepreneurship there’s no one to really push you. Here, you have to motivate yourself, but it’s easy because I’m doing something I really love,” Bryson says.

Innovative Event Concepts

Brandon Haynes developed the courage and perseverance to start his own business after being homeless.

A battle with the Maryland school system helped Brandon Haynes develop the courage and perseverance to start his own business. After being evicted from his Maryland home in 2001, Haynes along with his mother and four brothers were forced to seek shelter with relatives in Washington D.C. But when the family couldn’t provide proof of residency for either school district, a federal court battle ensued, forcing Haynes to miss most of his junior year of high school.

After months of fighting, Haynes was allowed back in his Maryland school where he was forced to play a tough game of catch up. And it was while taking an entrepreneurship class his senior year that Haynes developed the idea for his event planning company.

“I always had a passion for planning events,” says the 24-year-old. “When I was six-years-old I lived at the bottom of a big hill and I wanted to plan a soap derby.” Now, Haynes plans proms and sporting events, and has even parlayed his entrepreneurial endeavors and disadvantaged past into speaking gigs.

Between event planning and public speaking he expects to close out the year with $30,000 in revenue. He charges $1,000 to $2,000 per speaking engagement and commands 15% of the total budget for events he plans.

While he specializes in sporting affairs, Haynes will plan almost any event, with weddings being the only exception.  “I want to have a replica of the NBA All Star Weekend here in DC,” he says. “I’d like to have a large community event.”
Divinity Chocolates

Alisha Wiggins used her experience in a family business to start her own, Divinity Chocolates, specializing in customized treats.

After working for her godmother’s chocolate business for five and a half years, Alisha Wiggins decided to branch out on her own to create Divinity Chocolates. The 17-year-old says it’s not easy running her own business, but it’s definitely worth it.

“I answer to myself. I have the authority to decide what I want to market,” Wiggins says.

Divinity Chocolates specializes in custom chocolate treats. Even with balancing high school and her business, Wiggins has managed to generate $1,000 in revenue since launching in February.

Recently, she’s slowed down from the actual day-to-day business to focus on school and building the Divinity Chocolates Website. “I’m also applying for my vendors license, and I’m working on getting my original recipes patented and my logo trademarked,” says the Cleveland native. She expects to generate $1,500 in revenue by the end of this year.

Luxes Industries

Blaine Mickens is founder of Luxes Industries, a holding company for Estate Groomers, a landscaping business.

Blaine Mickens learned how to get his friends to part with their money at an early age. In 7th grade he set up shop at school selling candy. By the time Mickens graduated high school, his company, Sweet Tooth, became a candy distributor at three local schools.

But the now 19-year-old is setting his sights higher with the launch of Luxes Industries, a holding company for Estate Groomers, a landscaping business and Young Picasso Painting, a commercial and private real estate painting company.

“I’ve been leveraging my own personal brand and my own personality to keep the companies going,” says the Cleveland native.

Mickens started Estate Groomers in the summer of 2004 when he began landscaping to make extra money. Business thrived and the company grew. “I have roughly five part- time employees.” He later started Young Picasso Painting where he hires independent contractors for local paint jobs.

But the enterprising mogul refuses to rest on his laurels. He’s working on launching a Website called MogulsAndBarons.com that will feature video interviews of a range of entrepreneurs. He’s also in the planning stages to launch Flawless Mobile Detail under his holding company. The car maintenance business will provide vehicle detailing services to clients at their homes.

Further Reading

Part 1: Youth Use Entrepreneurship As a Pathway to Success

Part 2: Lesson Plans For Young Entrepreneurs

Part 3: Teen Tips for Entrepreneurship

These are just some of the sentiments uttered by baby boomers and preceding generations about Generation Y. While browsing MSN Money, I came across an article that called the past 10 years a “lost decade” for young people. The piece, which was originally printed in SmartMoney magazine, looked at a study conducted by the labor organization AFL-CIO, which said during the past decade many 18- to 35-year-olds fell short on getting their own places, finding stable employment, and saving money for emergencies.

Aside from the startling statistics, even more intriguing was the underlining attitude of one of the subjects in the piece that was echoed by several people who commented on the article: Young people are lazy.

“It’s easier for younger people because they have less experience and they don’t cost as much,” said Robin Ryan, a career counselor and the author of 60 Seconds and You’re Hired.

So, has reality TV, iPhones, and the Web spawned a do-nothing generation? I think not.

First, it’s completely unfair to make a sweeping generalization about an entire generation.

Second, there are a confluence of factors that account for this perceived lethargy, and applying the standards of yore to the present only create an inaccurate understanding of the way young people operate.

How many parents teach their children financial literacy? Understanding the value of money and what to do with it starts in the home. According to the study cited in SmartMoney, a third of respondents cannot pay their bills and seven in 10 do not have enough saved to cover two months of living expenses. If parents are haphazard in their spending habits and finances, would it be wrong to expect for the kid to be the same way? Kids learn through observation.

Furthermore, how many times have you seen parents give their children allowance or money for doing absolutely nothing. No chores, subpar grades, and frankly a funky attitude. Take for instance one commentator, a 57-year-old father of three who said, “We [parents] pacified our kids way to much…Everyone wants a job that feels right. We should have made them work at McDonalds, and dig ditches and lay pipe…”

Giving children money or gifts for their hard work and achievements helps them to understand the value of money and the relationship between work and earning a reward. Unfortunately, some young people grow up never understanding this relationship.

Next, there is an economic paradigm shift taking place, so standards of yesteryear are not fit for today. Many baby boomers had wel-paying factory jobs from which an entire household could be supported. Even if a baby boomer did not graduate high school or college, there was a position at an automotive plant or other local manufacturer. Let’s not forget about the handsome retirement packages many received once their tenure was up. But these are the same packages that have forced many of those industries overseas and have put U.S. automakers in a tailspin.

Even in the past 10 years, wages have been depressed. According to the survey by the AFL-CIO, compared with 1999, more people this year under the age of 35 have lower paying jobs.

In some ways, given the large industrial boom the baby boomers and previous generations lived through, one could even surmise that in terms of landing a decent-paying job, it was easier for those generations than  for GenYers.

As Jennifer Jannon, a regional director for Working American, the AFL-CIO’s community organization for nonunion workers told SmartMoney, young people are “literally putting off starting their adult lives because of the conditions they’re facing economically.”

“Young people are really yearning to move out on their own to start their adult lives,” she adds. “[But] they can’t find the type of work that supports an adult life.”

What do you think? Are GenYers just lazy?

Renita Burns is the editorial assistant for BlackEnterprise.com.

In this, the third article of a four-part series about youth entrepreneurship, three teens tell the stories of how they started businesses and learned how to find fun while financing their futures.

Zoe Damacela Apparel

Talk about being fashion forward, Zoe Damacela, 17, has been making and selling her own original clothing designs since she was a freshman in high school, but no one expected the hobby would take her to the White House.

Although the trip to meet her fellow Chicagoan, President Barack Obama, was her award for winning second place in the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship competition earlier this month (click here to read about the NFTE competition and classes), Damacela believes that running her business and selling her apparel is a reward in and of itself.

“I love being able to be my own boss and set my own hours,” says the senior who is proud to have earned almost all A’s throughout high school. “I’m not only making more than the minimum wage teenage job, but I’m also doing something that is fun and I’m making a name for myself instead of making a name for someone else.”

Damacela estimates that she has made $10,000 over three years, but she also wants teens to know that her accomplishments require a lot of hard work and sacrifice. She’s been doing this for such a long time that she has found ways to balance her time and make her business more profitable. Here are her tips on how to get a leg up on the runway to success.

Keep your grades up. “Make sure that you are not neglecting your school work because you are running a business,” says Damacela, who has a 4.25 GPA and applied to Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford for college. Putting school second will result in bad grades, which will decrease your chances of attending the college of your choice, reminds Damacela.

In addition, she wants teens to consider that yes, they’ve started a business, but they still don’t know everything yet. “As a teen you are just starting your life out and there is so much you don’t know, and you don’t even realize that you don’t know it unless you learn it [in school].”

Work hard, but know your limits. Damacela designs her clothes, updates her Website and orders supplies when she gets home from school at 3pm. She finds that is the time when she has the most energy. Unless she has homework, she usually works on the business until 9pm.

She knows when to say enough is enough and call it a night. Experience has taught her that stressing out and over exerting herself is unproductive. “I’m sure every high school kid has felt overwhelmed even if they are not running a business,” she says. “I do feel like I have too much stuff going on sometimes, but what I do is take a step back, take a break, and just relax for a little bit,” says Damacela, who has learned that if she keeps working too late her designs will come out terrible.

Learn from your mistakes. When Damacela first started out she made a couple of mistakes. She bought supplies that were too expensive and she didn’t charge her friends enough for custom-designed garments. Taking the NFTE class at her high school taught her how to determine her profit margin and helped her realize she could purchase fabric and other embellishments for wholesale prices online without needing to have a wholesale license.

Stay confident. “Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something because you are too young or you are still in high school or because you come from a low income community,” says Damacela, who says people have tried to discourage her since she first started thinking about running a business at age eight. “Obviously I proved them wrong. If I can do it anyone can do it.”

Cotrac Co. ’s SmartButton Teaching Device

Joel Williams, a high school sophomore from Temple, Texas, is the inventor of SmartButton, a shoe attachment he developed at age 9 while helping his three-year-old sister try to learn the difference between her left foot and her right foot. The product, which verbally instructs children and the disabled or blind how to differentiate between right and left, was so successful that in 2008 he made $30,000.

In addition to SmartButton, Williams is moving on to motivational speaking. He produced a DVD which endorses his product and motivates kids to become inventors and follow their dreams.

“There is a huge market of school districts out there and my plans are to make sure every school has a copy someday soon,” says Williams, winner of the Black Enterprise 2007 Teenpreneur Award for entrepreneurs under the age of 18.

But between developing his products, getting patent protection, meeting with newspapers and televisions shows and marketing his product, it’s easy for Joel to forget that he’s only 15 years old. Yet, he is confident that if teens follow his advice, they will get their business started on the right foot.

Learn to sacrifice. Sometimes it is hard to choose between doing work at the business as opposed to hanging out with friends, but Williams, who often stays up late at night to do homework says that working long hours to achieve your goals are a necessity. “You have to be able to look into the future and see the rewards that come with owning your own business.”

Williams once missed out on a party all his friends planned to attend because he had to film his motivational DVD that day. “I felt like I was missing out at first but, after completing the filming, I felt great and knew that all my friends would want to view the DVD when it became available.”

Be self-motivated. Being an entrepreneur comes from within, says Williams, who sells his product over the Internet. “I think that truly great inventors are born with something different inside. When you start to feel overwhelmed, Williams encourages teens to think of the many benefits of entrepreneurship, including the attention you’ll get from friends, fans, and the media. Making money is not a bad incentive either, he says.

Rely on friends and family for support. Williams keeps an intense schedule. He wakes up at 5:45am to prepare orders that come in overnight then attends band practice at 6:45. He spends four to five hours on afterschool activities and after doing homework he usually goes to bed after midnight. “Sometimes there are many things going on at one time and I do feel pressure to do things the right way,” says Williams, who manages a staff that consists of three people; his mom, dad, and little sister, but plans to hire additional help.

Despite working for him for free, his parents do their part to minimize his stress and keep him balanced. During the day while he is at school they ship out orders and make phone calls that can only be made during the day.  “I am very fortunate to have my [parents] to help me when needed,” he says.

Kalissa’s Kakes

Kalissa Armstrong, 16, launched her cake business when she realized that every week she was attending a different friends’ quinceañera, a coming of age ceremony common in the Hispanic community and is held on a girl’s 15th birthday. After doing some research on the city of Dallas where she lived, Armstrong learned that Hispanics made up 66% of the population and celebrated 20,000 quinceañera every year. So when she needed to start a business for school, Armstrong thought about her love of baking and decided this market was a prime opportunity to make a profit on  quinceañera cakes. Now charging $35 per cake she has earned profits of $850 so far for 2009 and plans to open up a bakery in the future.

But scheduling around a business can be tough for a teen entrepreneur. For her first quinceañera, the high school junior had to bake two dozen cakes that would be used as centerpieces. “It was very challenging,” says Armstrong who says the job took her two and a half days and required help from four volunteers. Although she says she has fun baking cakes she still knows that organization is a key recipe to her success. Here is her advice on how to make the dough without missing out on the sweet life.

Create a detailed schedule. Armstrong suggests that teens make a chart of everything they need to complete in a day. Include time for school and homework before planning to spend time on the business. Finally, add must-attend events with friends and family.

Choose a business that is fun. Armstrong doesn’t mind spending 30 to 40 hours a week on her business because for her it doesn’t feel like a job. She had started baking as a hobby before coming up with the business concept. She encourages other teens to start a business doing something they already love to do so they won’t have a problem doing it. “Once my business is up and running, my hobby will have just turned into a career,” she says. “For me, that’s my fun right there.”

Don’t let your customers down. Some people will doubt your abilities because of your age. Make sure they know that they can trust a young start up, says Armstrong who is very aware of the importance that young Hispanic girls place on the success of their quinceañera. She compares their desires to how she wanted her own Sweet 16 party to be perfect. “Every time I make a cake I put myself right back in that place. I tell my customer…I will make sure your day is as perfect as my sweet 16.”

Further Reading

Part 1: Youth Use Entrepreneurship As a Pathway to Success

Part 2: Lesson Plans For Young Entrepreneurs

In part two of BlackEnterprise.com’s four-part series on youth entrepreneurship, we’ll be looking at resources for parents and teachers on the basics of entrepreneurship. There are a number of tools available, from Web-based and online activities to classroom simulations, for educators and parents to get students thinking like an entrepreneur.

(Part 1: Youth Use Entrepreneurship As Pathway to Success)

Here are curriculums that are fit for large classes and one-on-one teaching:

The Classroom Mini-Economy Lesson Plan

Introduce students to the real-world economy by creating a microcosmic economy in the classroom. The “Classroom Mini-Economy Lesson” plan by the Council for Economic Education allows teachers to create a functioning economy teaching students their role in the global marketplace. This lesson plans also teaches students to hone teamwork and negotiation skills as well as the value of financial literacy. By taking up roles as consumers and produces, students will lean how to run a business, what it means to pay taxes and make smart investments.

In a mini-economy, students earn play money in a variety of ways and spend it at a class store, class auction, or at stores operated by their classmates. Although mini-economy activities vary widely, students typically apply for classroom jobs, run businesses, pay taxes, buy rental properties, and make investments. The curriculum also includes a web link to the new Mini-Economy Banking Program, which allows students to do their banking on the computer.

Grades: 2-6
Cost: $29.99

New Youth Entrepreneur Interactive

What’s the difference between a purchase receipt and a sales receipt? What about accounts receivable and accounts payable? The “New Youth Entrepreneur (NYE)” curriculum is designed to teach students all of these terms and more. Presented in 12 modules, this curriculum shows how to examine different methods of obtaining startup resources and identify places for loans, through interactive lessons available of the accompanying NYE CD. The curriculum includes an installation CD and 35 licenses, a user’s manual, a set of modules, and an instructor’s guide.

Grades: 5-9
Cost: $2,499

Be the “E”

Help students discover their own passions and how to monetize them with the “Be the ‘E’ ” curriculum by the National 4-H Cooperative Curriculum System Inc. The plan includes workbook activities and “Be the E Jeopardy” where students can test out their entrepreneurial knowledge against their peers. The lesson plan helps students develop critical skill sets necessary to become a successful entrepreneur including decision making, problem solving, planning and organizing, and thinking creatively.

Through online and workbook lessons students learn record-keeping, types of businesses, products and pricing, marketing, partnerships, agreements and contracts. They also learn about opportunity costs, how to connect their other skills and interests to money-making opportunities, the crucial importance of timing for an entrepreneurial enterprise and how to write a business plan.

Grades: 7-10
Price: $13.50

The YoungBiz Foundation

The “Entrepreneurship Today” curriculum provides high school students with an in-depth look at business ownership by teaching them how to write a working business plan that can be immediately put into action. The course provides 120 hours of instruction enabling students to conduct real-world business research, create marketing materials, learn to manage business finances, and improve teamwork, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.

YoungBiz also publishes “You’re the Boss” which offers 30 hours of instruction used to dissuade at-risk youth, juvenile drop outs, and teens attending alternative schools to consider entrepreneurship as a viable career option. Students learn how to develop an idea out of their own interests and learn how to start a business by actually doing it.

Age Group: High School
Price: A classroom set with guides for 10 students and one teacher will cost $210. The student and teacher’s guides can be purchased individually for $19 and $30, respectively.

Junior Achievement

Junior Achievement distributes “JA Be Entrepreneurial,” a new high school lesson plan that challenges students to start their own entrepreneurial venture while still in high school. JA Be Entrepreneurial consists of seven sessions which take 45 minutes to complete. The curriculum teaches students to analyze the needs for their market, define their competitive advantages, and recognize the elements of a successful start-up business. In addition to the curricula, more resources are available online, including full-length sessions, podcasts, and activities for students to practice on their own.

Materials are packaged in a self-contained kit that includes detailed session plans for the teacher and materials for 32 students. In addition to entrepreneurial skills, the program will enhance students’ skills in other areas including their ability to categorize data, express multiple viewpoints, present information to groups, and weigh consequences. Each student will be capable of writing a business plan upon completion of the series of lessons.

Grade: 9-12
Price: Free of cost to schools and organizations. To learn more about receiving this program in your area, contact your local Junior Achievement office.

Resources:

Youthenterpriseconference.org

Actonfoundation.org/

Further Reading

Part 1: Youth Use Entrepreneurship As Pathway to Success

Renita Burns also conducted reported for this story.

Recently, I stumbled upon the Cash Cache, a low-tech planner with resources and strategies to teach young adults – ages 12 to 16 – the fundamentals of money. Billed as a “beginning personal finance organizer” it comes with four pouches to stash cash, each labeled with a its own purpose: save, invest, spend, and donate.

At a sale price of $19.99 (regular price 21.99) you will be paying a pretty penny for a binder that any parent or teen semiskilled in arts and crafts can make for under $10 with a quick trip to a Staples Business Supply Store or even a local dollar store.

Alas, it’s not the dreary grey binder that makes this item worthy of your time and dollars. What’re ingenious are the tips and worksheets that come along with the mini-trapper keeper. The folks at Money Savvy Generation  — the minds behind the Cash Cache and Money Savvy Pig — break down a number of fundamental savings, investing and overall life principals to simple terms.

One of the worksheets in the accompanying booklet is a “Spending Wish List” which might add some clarity as to whether your little one actually needs that new gadget he’s been whining about for the past week. After your child lists every item he’d like to purchase, he must answer questions in the “Gotta Have It Gauge,” i.e.“Is this something I must buy now?” and “Am I sure that it will get used or worn frequently?” What a way to quell impulsive buying? (I know a few adults who could use that same tool.)

The booklet also breaks down subjects, such as banking, with a set of definitions and charts, including pictures detailing how to read a bank statement and write a check, which in today’s digital world may seem quiet foreign to many young people.

More importantly, this planner also teaches life lessons along with the money lessons. The booklet defines and short term and long term goals by first and helps young people create a plan on how to develop these goals and keep track of them.

“Dividing up your money with no plan about what you’re going to do with it seems pretty pointless, doesn’t it? That’s where setting goals comes in,” it notes.

Now to my favorite part: The booklet includes a special section on investing in stocks and bonds.

“Investing means you put your money in a place you hope will earn additional money over time. When people talk about investing they are often talking about investing in the stock market,” it reads. The language doesn’t get any plainer than that.

Yes, it sounds a little elementary, but oftentimes young people – heck, even adults — are intimidated by investing just from the jargon alone. It includes a quick how to guide on reading stock quotes, including an illustration and definitions.

One year with the Cash Cache, and you might have to start asking your little one for financial advice.

Renita Burns is the editorial assistant at BlackEnterprise.com