Money Management, Marketing, Investing, Business, Jobs, and Entrepreneurship for Teens and Youth
Hey Guys,
For a number of reasons, I’ve decided to shut down Youth Business Blog. I anticipate another blog in the near future, but for the time being, this one’s going down.
Here’s where you come in:
What was your favourite post?
Here are some of mine:
Cost vs. Value
Investments
The Qualities Employers Look For
If you want to keep in touch with me, or find out about my next project, email:
Thanks for reading!
Cheers,
Logan
Recently, I did a guest post over at RadicalParenting.com. The blog’s all about parenting, from a teen’s perspective (it has a bunch of guest posts from knowledgeable teens). It was started by Vanessa Van Petten, who was a teen herself when she wrote a parenting book! I’d really recommend checking it out. Here’s a little preview – you can view the rest here!
Schools in, and the time for sleeping until 11 and relaxing all day in one’s pajamas has come to an end. Now your teen wants to be out and about, hanging with friends and being independent and free. But how much does this cost? And does your teen really know? Here are some sure-fire tips that’ll make your teen more money aware this school year (and richer the next).
Before we begin, the entire purpose of this is to generate independence. Give your teen the choices and decisions – you’re not there to control them.
Step One: Secretly Observe
It may seem like spying, but it’s necessary. Keep track of what your teen does! This may be obvious, but many parents don’t do it, thus missing the chance to help their teen. Find out what they do – if they’re going over to a friend’s house after school, there’s a good chance that:
- They’ll buy a $10 dinner
- They’ll spend another $5 on snacks
- A movie may be in order – a minimum of $5
That’s already $20 for a night with friends! That’s 2 and a half hours of work. The average teen might work 12 hours a week. In one night, they’ve spent almost…
Many people who are successful entrepreneurs will also be 136 great ideas before breakfast type of people. However the way to be successful in business is to be able to work out what the good ideas are and what the bad ideas are and to then just focus on one great idea and make it work.
If you want to achieve something in life you have to be able to dedicate yourself to one thing at a time. The more things you have going on the bigger the chance you have at failing everything. I would rather achieve one great thing rather than fail at a lot of things. You have to learn not to spread yourself too thin.
An important aspect of having great ideas is to know timing. When you come up with an idea you have to access whether it is the right time for this idea. The idea you have may be great but it maybe that the market isn’t ready for it yet or that there are some factors going on in today’s world that would see it not realizing its full potential. These ideas you have to keep hold of and keep accessing when the right time to go with them is as if you go with a great idea at the wrong time it is going to be a waste of a great idea.
When you think you have a great idea always do your research, find out if there is anything out there like your idea. Just because someone may have a similar idea don’t be put off as this information may prove to you that there is a market for you and a space for your product.
Always pitch your idea to other people and be ready to take on board criticism and feedback. I would much rather have people tell me that my idea is rubbish at the start instead of launching it in to a market or investing in it only to find out it was a bad idea and to lose money or reputation. You can’t be too precious about your idea, the only way it is going to be great is if you have the ability to listen to criticism and tweak your idea until it is perfect.
After you have ironed your idea out and tweaked it you have to believe in your idea, as if you don’t believe in it or are unable to show your belief then no one else will. You have to be motivated and determined, just because you have a great idea it doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy to get off the ground. Having a great idea is only half the battle you have to back it up with working the hardest you ever have to support it.
One thing above all is don’t sit on an idea don’t be one of these people that come up with a great idea, sit on it and then watch someone else come up with a similar idea and make money and fame out of it. With an idea you never know how great it will be unless you push it all the way.
Adam Sibley FRSA
Founder of the Talented Young People organization
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
This was a guest post by Adam Sibley, founder of the Talented Young People organization. You can find out more about Adam and the organization here.
You know the deal: you get to work 5 minutes late, and your boss harasses you. You wonder what you did at home that made you late, but you can’t think of anything because your boss is yelling in your face. Here’s how to avoid that nasty encounter, and stay on your boss’ good list.
There’s always a point where you feel that you need to go to your job, but you could just do one more thing before you zip off. Well, that “one more thing” turns into two more things, then three; and before you know it, you’re three minutes from work time when it takes ten minutes to get there.
Step One: Set An Alarm
Alarms are a good way of getting somewhere, because it means that something other than you is reminding you. Set it at least 5 minutes more than the time you should leave to get there, because it always takes at least 5 minutes to get ready. If you’re always watching TV, or you’re hanging with friends, set an alarm on your cell-phone or iPod (to be safe, set it at least 10 minutes faster because friends are the most distracting). If you’re always at home, busy on Facebook on your computer, set your alarm clock to go off.
Step Two: Remove Distractions
It’s the distractions that always get to you, right? Remove them from the possibility of you engaging them. If you’re with friends, but you work soon after school, I recommend just staying at school and getting a start on your homework, or hanging with friends there. If you watch TV and get distracted, put a sticky note somewhere visible in your room reminding you not to watch TV. In my opinion, watching two-thirds of a TV show isn’t worth it; you could be done your math homework by then, and you wouldn’t have to do it when you’re tired after work! If you’re always on your computer, put a sticky note there, or shut it off.
Step Three: Find Someone To Remind You
This is sort of like setting an alarm, but with more meaning. People (if nice enough) won’t have a problem telling you to get to work. For an added bonus, tell them to really “yell” at you and nag you to get to work – annoying brothers and sisters will think is fun!
Step Four: Move Fast
If you’re going to get to work anyways, why not move fast? Then, if there’s a disturbance along the way, you’ve got extra time to get passed it. If you get to work early, you can get a coffee or buy a snack.
Step Five: Collect The Rewards!
Look at it this way: you’re happy with yourself getting to work on time, your boss is happy with you, you’ve got yourself a coffee, you’ve almost finished your homework, and you have time after work to do whatever you want without the pressure of having to get to work!
I Want To Hear From You! What do you do to get yourself somewhere, quickly?