Add a Microbusiness to Your Teen’s Curriculum!

Posted on August 12, 2008 
Filed Under Home Business, Homeschool

Once your students hit the teen years, chances are that they are looking forward to relevant, real-world applications for what they are learning. Many of them will have a hobby that they can, with a little guidance and a few resources, turn into a thriving microbusiness. The best thing about business for teens is that they gain practical entrepreneurial experience on a small, reasonably risk-free scale. The next best thing is that they just might end up with a career they love!

What Does a Microbusiness Look Like?

You may wonder what a microbusiness is, or what kind of things a teen can do as a small business. A microbusiness is usually a tiny business, often home-based, that is started and run without obtaining financing. It is low risk, and many regular businesses can be started on a microbusiness scale. Let me give you a few examples from my own experiences. Perhaps it will help your teen develop a vision for the type of business he or she would like to try.

I’ve always had an entrepreneurial bent, so I started my first microbusiness when I was young enough not to be embarrassed to drag my little red wagon through the neighborhood. For several years, I’d wait for avocado season, then load my wagon and peddle avocados through several blocks of our neighborhood. Our tree was really large, so I averaged nearly $100 a year, selling them at .25-50 cents each. I also sold lemons and limes, but those trees were a bit smaller so I didn’t make nearly as much. I started a savings account and saved most of my income, and years later, used it to help pay wedding expenses.

In intermediate school, I started a second microbusiness creating macramé bracelets with people’s names beaded in. I purchased the letter beads as I received orders, so I didn’t have to carry much inventory, and I made a very nice profit for as long as those were in style.

Beginning in high school, I started doing calligraphy on certificates, diplomas, and other items, and that business lasted into adulthood. Eventually, I taught calligraphy at craft stores and the community college for several years before transitioning into writing and speaking. I love what I do now, and don’t have any retirement plans!

I enjoyed each of my businesses, and in each one, I learned something a little different. My parents were very wise- they were there to answer questions or provide support services, but they didn’t make decisions for me, and they let me start, run, and drop each business in a very natural way. There was no pressure to keep working at a business when I was ready to move on. Daddy kept my wagon wheels oiled, and my mom took me to the craft store when I needed beads or pen nibs. I felt both responsible and supported.

Microbusinesses are an excellent addition to a teen’s curriculum. If your student is interested, he or she should begin by researching possibilities. I have a “home business” section on my website, with quite a bit of information and links to more, and the Small Business Administration offers a vast array of useful information on its website.

The essential thing is to let the teen do the research, choose the business, and make the relevant decisions, because that is how the most learning occurs. One of my sons taught himself programming, and started making websites when he was very young. This provided him with experience, a bit of income, and a nice line on his resume. He graduated from college with his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, and went directly into an excellent corporate job in the field.

Although I granted him credit on his transcript for what he learned, I didn’t teach him any of it– he found out what he needed to learn, and studied and practiced on his own. If he had waited for me to figure it out and create a “class,” we may never have gotten past the smattering of Basic programming commands I remembered from college in the early 1980’s. Not terribly useful!

Here are a few resources I’ve found helpful:

These are just a few of the resources for which I could quickly find the correct URL. I have a couple more I’ll add as soon as I find the bookmarked pages!

Small Business Administration

SCORE Counselors-Retired executives offer free business counseling in your local area. They can provide wonderful, practical advice, and it costs nothing. Be sure to get acquainted with SCORE

When I was first starting out, one of the first products I purchased to learn more about internet business was a manual from Derek Gehl. I still have it and use it. His stuff is very good. The most recent thing he’s offering is detailed training in how to create an eBay business. Below is a little snippet of his advertising information about the course, plus a link to the free eBay training videos he provides (posted with permission, of course!).
“Earn Thousands Of Dollars Online WITHOUT The Hassles Of Your Own Website!
If you’ve been dreaming of starting your own lucrative Internet business, but don’t want the headaches that come with starting a website from scratch, these *FREE* eBay training videos will show you how!

You’ll discover the number one mistake that nearly EVERY new “eBayer” makes when they’re getting started… PLUS learn a secret three-step formula for finding HOT products to sell… how to find hungry markets waiting to snap up your products… and many more PROVEN money-making strategies. To get INSTANT access to all three FREE training videos, just CLICK HERE.

Here are some e-books that present a variety of options for small businesses:

I have found e-books to be a good source of current information on online businesses. They are easily updateable, and most have clickable links, so they are very helpful. Best of all, these are all purchased through services that provide guarantees, and you can always buy with confidence.

Homegrown Business
Homegrown Business is a wonderfully inspiring e-book written from a Christian perspective. It presents the stories of many families who have successfully combined homeschool with home business.

Young Wealth Revolution

This collection of short resources, written by a young person, offers several good ways to earn money online. I haven’t read all of his material, but his approach is interesting, and he offers contact information so that you can get more information before ordering.

Announcements

Blog Carnival: I’ll be hosting the Carnival of Homeschooling next week, so if you have a great post you’d like to share, please go to http://blogcarnival.com/bc/submit_199.html , select “Carnival of Homeschooling” and fill out the submission form. I look forward to reading your posts!

Do You Have “Staycation” Ideas? In next week’s edition of the Everyday Education e-zine, I’ll be sharing some of the wonderful “staycation” ideas readers have shared. If you have an idea you’d like to share, please e-mail it to me at jceved at comcast dot net. If you’re not on the e-zine mailing list, please be sure to sign up for a free subscription in the box in the column to the right so you don’t miss this interesting issue.

Beat-the-Clock Essay Workshop: This much-anticipated workshop has now been scheduled for Saturday, September 6, from 10-2:30 at First Mennonite Church at 601 E. Parham Road, Richmond, VA. It’s sponsored by the Richmond Regional Home Educators, and you will find complete information at the rrhe.org forum (for members), or at my website, www.EssayWorkshop.com (the date needs to be updated on the site, but the rest of the information is all there). Contact the coordinator by e-mail at Kathleen Lansing at gmail dot com. (remove the spaces and use appropriate symbols, of course!) to ask questions or register.

SAT*-Prep Workshop: If you’d like to catch the “Conquer the Test! Tips, Techniques, and Strategies for Getting the SAT Score You Need” workshop in person, I’ll be doing one in Chester, Virginia on Friday, September 12. You may contact coordinator Darleen Rudnick at 748-0984 or via e-mail at darleen2 at yahoo dot com. If you can’t make the workshop, or you’d just like to have it handy to listen to more than once, you can purchase the recorded workshop with 60+ page worktext at www.SAT-Workshop.com (and it’s at a special introductory price until 9/15/08, or until the first printing runs out, whichever comes first– I just got the quotes for the second printing– OUCH!!).

Phonics Curriculum: I’ve just heard that Lynda Coats will be offering a back-to-school special from the 17th through the end of August on her excellent curriculum, All the Letters, All Year Long. It’s already a bargain at $27.00, so I’m sure it will be a really great deal when it goes on sale. This total immersion program is a simple, comprehensive introduction to phonics and much more. As soon as I know more, I’ll update this post, so be sure to check back! ***Update! The sale price is $17, and the sale starts on Sunday, the 17th! Be sure to tell everyone you know– this curriculum is really worth it!

Comments

5 Responses to “Add a Microbusiness to Your Teen’s Curriculum!”

  1. Carol Topp, CPA on August 15th, 2008 10:21 am

    Janice,
    As a homeschooling CPA I have a few small business clients that are teenagers. I just LOVE working with them. They are so eager to learn and sooo smart for consulting with an accountant! Ha, ha!

    I’m toying with the idea of writing an ebook for teenagers wanting to start a microbusiness. I got the idea when I attended a Kids in Business workshop that Amanda Bennett, the unit study queen, did at the Midwest HS Convention (in Cincinnati). It was packed with parents and students! Amanda doesn’t have a unit study on kids in business, so she was trying to talk me into writing something!

    At this time all I can offer is an article I wrote called Teens and Taxes. It’s on my website here:
    http://www.caroltoppcpa.com/TeensinBusiness.html
    The webpage also has slides from a workshop I did for teen entrepreneurs. It’s on my To Do List to record that presentation and upload it.

    Thanks for the links. All good stuff to help a teenager get started.

    Carol Topp, CPA
    http://www.CarolToppCPA.com

  2. Barbara Frank on August 18th, 2008 10:35 am

    Great article! I too have found that the business has to be their inspiration, and they need to take the lead. My older kids learned a lot from their small businesses. Also, my dd17 started a business earlier this year that has done very well, and she’s learning a lot and having fun, too. She sells at the farmer’s market and craft fairs, as well as at etsy.com, which is a great place for young people to sell their work:

    http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5611012

    It doesn’t cost much to set up there. She has learned a lot about marketing from etsy’s webinars, too.

  3. Carnival of Homeschooling: It's Not Just Textbooks! | Janice Campbell on August 19th, 2008 10:22 am

    [...] Add a Microbusiness to Your Teen’s Curriculum! [...]

  4. Ed Nelson on August 23rd, 2008 5:51 pm

    Please let me urge that you re-study your site with special attention to hyphens and dashes. These two marks are very widely misunderstood. (The Chicago Manual of Style, while commonly thought to be exclusively academe oriented, is good and thorough — maybe even more so than needed.)

    In any case, despite slips such as one a few years back by the NYTimes’ Bill Safire, thhe two marks have almost opposite intent. The hyphen joins typographic elements; the dash separates them.

    The most commonly accepted view ignores, to begin with, the en dash. So “dash” is commonly considered a reference to the em dash alone. In the old typewrite world, two hyphens were used to indicate an em dash. It’s used much like the comma (and commas are often over-used).

    The hyphen role easiest, perhaps, to misunderstand relates to its use in compound modifiers. When the two (or more) elements of a modifier are in an unclear construction, joining them with hyphens can be a great service to the reader. And the reader is, after all, the ultimate target.

    I hold the dash-hyphen distriction to be fully as important as the serial comma. Thus I hope you won’t object to [a] my rant on the subject and [b] my quite possibly have misplaced it based on my lack of familiarity with this service. I appreciate your patience. –Ed Nelson

  5. Janice Campbell on August 24th, 2008 12:21 pm

    Dear Ed,

    Thank you for taking the time to visit the site and comment– I truly appreciate your interest.

    I have to admit that I’m thoroughly aware of the distinction in purpose and intent of hyphens and dashes, but have simply never figured out how, as I type into the WordPress interface, to create a proper en- or em-dash. Thus, the use of the hyphen as a substitute. I tend to use hyphens on compound modifiers only when it seems absolutely unclear without them.

    I do have the Chicago MoS at my elbow, and use it while writing formally. The blog functions as a completely informal way to communicate with readers, and posts are written quickly and casually without a great deal of editing. However, I’d love to know how you achieved those tidy looking dashes in your comment!

    Thanks again for your helpful input!
    Janice

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