Junior chievement’ High Tech Tips For Junior chievers By David S. Chernow, President Junior chievement (NPS)—Many young people are eager to learn even more than they can in school. That’s why—if they want to learn about business first-hand—they often become involved in a Junior chievement (J) program. It used to be that young entrepreneurs cut their teeth on lemon- ade stands, lawn-care services and babysitting. Today, a young busi- nessperson’s first enterprise is nearly as likely to involve setting up a Web site as whacking weeds. The emergence of the hightech/information technology arena has changed the face of entrepreneurship andit’s only natural that teenagers would turn to technology as a meanstostart their own businesses. Working with J programs and volunteers, teens are setting up a More and more young people are starting a business in the high-tech industry. Web site design to computer consultation, the resale of hardware, critical in a business. * Start small. Think of begin- wide variety of high-tech businesses. These ventures range from software development and Internet Service Providers. In some cases the ventures have been quite profitable. Michael MeKenzie—a 13-year-old from Houston—runs a computer manufacturing and consulting business from his parent’s home in Houston, Texas. In his first. six months of operation Michael grossed over $20,000. Here are a few tips from J for young people who want to get started in a high-tech/information technology business. * You may need a license. Check with your Secretary of State’s office or your city hall to see if you need to register your business. * Focus on doing something you like to do and can do well. Quality and the ability to deliver what you promised—on time—are ning by providing services to your family and friends, your church or your school. Once you’ve developed a good client base, then you can start to move on to larger clients, such aslocal businesses. Junior chievement reaches more than four million students through 156 offiees nationwide and nearly two million students in 112 countries worldwide. For more information on J, visit www.ja.org, call 1-800 THE NEW J (1-800-843-6395) or write J National Headquarters, One Education Way, Colorado Springs, CO 80906. You can also contact the nearest Junior chievement office. Mr. Chernow is President and CEO of Junior chievement Inc., the largest and fastest growing non-profit economic education organization in the world.
