Category: Entrepreneurship

Over the years, I've seen hundreds of notices in the paper and online about "networking opportunities." But I've never attended one, until I started researching tonight's story on "business networking." I spent a few hours with the 70-odd members of the Miami Beach chapter of Business Networking International, or BNI, for short. "Business networking" sounds boring, but not when you sit in with this bunch. These are people who've made expanding their networks -- spreading the word about themselves and their business -- part of their weekly regimen.

But it's a lot more complex than just handing out business cards. To truly be successful, business networks need an element of trust. And the best kind of trust is when two people or more meet on a regular basis...they get to know each other, and conduct business together.

Authored by Shonika Proctor, Teen Entrepreneur Coach

Almost 40 percent of the nation's 18- to 24-year-olds in 2008 were enrolled in college, a record number, according to a Pew Research Center survey. And as teens look forward and consider their employment options, it appears that Entrepreneurship is all the rage and buzz. Schools that might not be nationally recognized are providing progressive courses in entrepreneurship and in some cases arranging seed capital for business ideas thus making their institutions an attractive option for teens who might not have otherwise even considered a degree focused on Entrepreneurship.

Traditional business programs and business schools offer degrees and all the necessary courses to run or manage a company. The difference is they all assume they are educating students that will go work for a company that already exists. Entrepreneurship programs focus on innovation and the creation of new businesses in a variety of industries and teach non-traditional growth strategies. The programs often combine theory and real time application and offer the opportunity to create and collaborate with student entrepreneurs from around the globe. So young people gain confidence and exposure in what they are doing long before they walk across the stage to receive their diploma.

Brian, Peter, and Tom McIlwee know a thing or two about surviving a crisis. Almost twenty years ago a fire nearly destroyed their family business, McIlwee Millwork. Following that disaster, the family came up with a list of lessons to follow. They say the list is helping them survive the current recession. I think it could help other businesses too. Here it is:

Lessons Learned from the Fire

Authored by Stephanie May, NBR Summer 2009 Intern

As the months tick by, I have to admit that I am less and less excited to leave my collegiate bliss and be thrust out into the real world. But although I am slightly fearful for my own future, I can't help but seriously feel bad for friends of mine who have graduated recently. Talk about poor timing! I know people who graduated with great grades, internship experience and tons of promise, who are still searching for jobs two years later! I have friends who were laid off at the ripe old age of 22, and I even have a friend who was laid off, and she hasn't graduated yet! YIKES!!

As someone who is about to walk the plank (graduate...gulp), I have heard advice from all kinds of people. They've generously given me their secrets to success. I am extremely grateful for these kind words of wisdom, but there is one common thread making their advice less useful to me. They're all adults! I've decided that to be able to really see what I'm actually getting myself into, I need to get some advice from someone who didn't wear scrunchies in college. (Just kidding!!)

As a part of Fiscally Fit 2010, I've decided to find out what these recent college grads are up to and what it takes to succeed in this job market, in this economy, today.

Authored by Shonika Proctor, Teen Entrepreneur Coach

MySpace was the social networking site that brought millions of teens together from around the globe to share music, updates on what they were doing, videos and photos. Social networking was something they did purely for fun and to live out their e-personality. The popularity of MySpace began to resonate more with musicians and artists as teens,and young adults began to discover and migrate towards MyYearbook and niche social networking sites like Gaia. Meanwhile, You Tube and Facebook burst on the scene and became household names. Their rapid growth brought them a more diverse and older segment of the population as well as businesses.

As more technologically savvy and entrepreneurial teens are beginning to realize the scale of these social networks, they are exploring ways to literally design and build their own collaborative communities. Over recent months I have noticed an emerging trend with my teen entrepreneurs, especially those in Europe, who are conceptualizing and writing code to build their own software programs to manage projects, project workgroups, and joint ventures they are working on. The technology challenges they face and work to circumvent are as follows: Email is limited in its applications; software programs that have all the bells and whistles can be cost prohibitive; and while open web based communities present great opportunities to capitalize on ideas, they also present challenges in control of their intellectual property.

It started with a suggestion, "Why don't you do a story on Twitter?"

That turned into a six month project which has now generated a three-part series, which I have been calling "Scott's Guide to Social Networking".

It has been an interesting journey. At first, the problem was to figure out what I could say about Twitter which hadn't been said before. I knew some people, who I assumed were mostly young, spent a considerable amount of time Tweeting. Yes, the AP Stylebook now says "to tweet", and I don't mean the thing birds do, is an acceptable verb. You can also be Facebooked, which sounds to me like it must hurt and deserves at least a 15 yard penalty. But I didn't know much more.

Authored by Shonika Proctor, Teen Entrepreneur Coach

Teens don't want to be helped. They want to be empowered. They want the same access to information and opportunities as adults and they don't want to wait until they are 21 years old or 'older' to get it. Adults often ask me how I can get teens motivated and inspired to do things like writing and publishing books, speaking in front of a group or even looking forward to attending school everyday. And I tell them that instead of trying to teach or guide or lead, I focus my energy on awakening the passions and dreams of teens. They will find what motivates them, and the parent's job is to fully encourage them as they travel on their journey. By 'teaching' or 'leading' you are reinforcing invisible hierarchical roles in terms of one individual being superior and the other inferior. In my experience, this is what often causes the lack of trust between young people and adults. Teens feel threatened and controlled in the relationship so they are acting out of insecurity.

I have worked with teens that have been able to exploit new technologies before they become 'mainstream.' By poking around and trying different things, they have been able to master various technologies and, as a result, make more money in one month than the average adult makes in one year. Then they go onto the next thing and repeat it all over again. You would be awfully surprised to find out how simple and straightforward some of their profitable ideas were.

Authored by Shonika Proctor, Teen Entrepreneur Coach

The old adage says that 'everybody has at least one great book in them'. You may be pleasantly surprised at how easy technology has made it to turn that dream into a reality. The teen entrepreneurs I work with are discovering the accessibility and ease of writing and publishing their own books thanks to print on demand options offered by online do it yourself publishing websites such as createspace.com and lulu.com.

Print on demand (micro) publishing allows a book to be printed as it is ordered. No upfront money is needed to publish each book once it has been created. No minimum order is required, and the cost of the production for the book is deducted from the sales price after the consumer has placed their order. The books are produced using high end digital printers, and provided the books have an ISBN (International Standard Book Number obtained through Bowker) and barcode they can be sold online through major book sellers as well as in your hometown book store.

Authored by Shonika Proctor, Teen Entrepreneur Coach

The season of giving and forgiving is upon us. You may be wondering how you can give a gift that will make an impact on the special young person in your life. I am here to tell you- it's easier than you think! Teen entrepreneurs get tremendous satisfaction when they are recognized for their accomplishments and when they achieve their goals (regardless of size). When it comes to choosing that perfect gift for the budding entrepreneur in your life, it is not about consumables but about investing in productive gifts that help them grow themselves and their business. Often teens are afraid to ask for these kinds of gifts because they are not sure if they will be taken seriously, so here are a few gift suggestions, all under $100, that will definitely affirm that you fully believe in their entrepreneurial pursuit:

Julie and Edward Smolyansky have come a long way since that July day I interviewed them back in 2002. It was less than a month after their 55-year-old father, Michael, died suddenly of a heart attack. The siblings were left to run the company he founded, Lifeway Foods.

At that time Julie was 26, Edward was 22. Both looked their age, but they also had a maturity well beyond their years. That maturity served them well. In the 7 years since Michael Smolyansky died, sales at Lifeway Foods have grown from $12 million a year to nearly $60 million. The sister and brother also expanded the company's plant, and moved the executive offices to another facility.