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

Freelance Writing

Interview with Farrhad

Interview with Armen

If you want to keep in touch with me, or find out about my next project, email:

logan.c.graham@gmail.com

Thanks for reading!

Cheers,
Logan

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:

1. They’ll buy a $10 dinner
2. They’ll spend another $5 on snacks
3. 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…

Read the rest here!

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.

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?

It’s rare that you would walk into a store and be hired on the spot. For employers, it takes time to sieve out the potential candidates. In order to make sure that you’re the best, you need a resumé that shines! Here’s how to make that multi-format resumé that’ll get you hired.

Name & Contact Info

First thing you want to do is have your name (usually in large capital or bold letters), your address, phone number (be sure to include both cell and home), and email.

Objectives

Quickly make a note of:

1. 2 or 3 goals that you want to achieve
2. Why you want to work there

You’ll then combine these into what’s called “objectives”. For example, my objectives on my resume are:

• To provide a useful service while interacting positively with others
• To gain work experience
• To achieve my financial goal to pursue University and other activities

These are pretty clear objectives.

Education

On my resumé, I’ve listed “Education” as one of the first things, because I value a good education more than anything. Education helps to establish your background, and what your work habits are. I generally like a chronological order here, where I’ll have the most recent education first and the earliest meaningful (you probably don’t need to include where you went to pre-school) one last. For example:

• 2007 – 2009: Some High School (don’t put city if you still go there), 5.0 (you could put A+/A/B+/B average if you want) overall average (just put something close to what you get), Grade 11
• 2001 – 2007: Some Junior School, Some Town Some Province, A Averages, various awards (see awards & recognition), prefect leadership position
• February 2008: Food Handling Certification (put other education after schooling)

Awards & Recognition

This is the part where you make yourself shine! Awards and recognition show who you are: if you’re a humanitarian, you may have gotten some citizenship awards; if your musical, you may have gotten some band awards, et cetera. Don’t worry, even if you don’t have many awards, put em’ in there anyway (it doesn’t hurt)! Say, if you’ve been interviewed by a newspaper, or been featured somewhere, this is the place where this goes too. I like to do this part chronologically, too.

Volunteer Experience

This is where you make yourself shine again! Any volunteer experience is good – make sure you list anything and everything that you’ve done. It will take a while for you to remember, because you probably haven’t made a list over the years. You may say: “Well, I didn’t do much with this, and I wasn’t actively involved in that”. The truth is, it doesn’t matter! If you were a part of something, list it! A ton of my friends resumés are very naked, though they’ve done so much. Again, I do this chronologically.

Work Experience

Now I like to list work experience. Put down everything you’ve done where it involves making money from an employer. It doesn’t have to be formal jobs – it could be babysitting, a summer landscaping job, a movie extra, a garage-sale organizer, a garden-carer, or even a lemonade stand-runner (I put it in there because we did quite well, which shows business-skills). I generally don’t do this chronologically, unless it’s a formal/more  job.

Various Interests

This is a section I like to add, just because it gives your resumé a nice friendly touch. You can put anything you like in there, like any sports you do, what subject interests you a lot, etc. Make it a list, not a proper paragraph.

That’s about the general construction for an effective resumé, but there are a few things that you want to avoid.

1. Do not lie – if you get a C+ average, use that. Don’t say that you have a B, because it’ll show later.
2. Don’t rely solely on your resumé. When delivering a resumé, make sure the employer gets a good impression about you: be mature, outspoken, polite.
3. Always say that you would welcome an interview! A great resumé followed by a good interview is one killer combination.

Keep a lookout for the other parts about getting a job!

Your Turn! What do you add to your resumé to make it shine?

...and he's only 17!

I was excited one day when I received a kindly email from 17 year-old Armen Haroutunian. Through a series of emails, I got to know about his involvement in business from when he was little to now. It’s a lengthy article, but it’s definitely a recommended read – it provided a ton of inspiration for me!

At the young age of 17, you’re already the Chief Marketing Officer of a reputable telecommunications solutions company. How and when were you introduced to this position?

I have always been involved and interested in business. I got introduced to the telecommunication industry because it has been in my family. My father owns the company, yet I have proved myself to him as being worthy of my position. I had always been in the office from a young age working with telecommunications products. I remember how I would register phone systems and set them up, making the job of the technicians much easier. I also would answer incoming phone calls and transfer them to the correct department. Once in a while if a customer had some questions regarding the products we sell, I would take the initiative and answer them to the best of my knowledge. I officially began doing sales for Phone Lines Com Inc. about 2 years ago. We sustained great growth through some of the techniques I implemented. Following this, as a company we sat down and decided we must market ourselves to a greater number of small businesses. One of the first steps we took was to create a new and redesigned website, www.phonelinesinc.com , which launched in late August of 2009. Much of the responsibility for publicizing our company and site now remains in my hands. The great part of what I do is by executing the tasks at hand, I am able to learn and further educate myself about marketing.

Has business and money-making played any role in your younger life? Were you always such an entrepreneur?

Thinking and dreaming about business has been in my veins for as long as I can remember. For me it is just a natural part of my everyday life. I am always thinking how I could improve our business. I have always been involved in business. I remember as a kid I would have lemonade stands regularly. At the age of 10 I was thinking like an entrepreneur. I had a lemonade stand, but I didn’t only sell lemonade. I would have iced tea on certain days and sell Limeade as well. This gave my customers a choice on refreshments. I also began offering the lemonade in a larger cup (16 oz.), I put a lid on the cup and a nice straw, this way I was able to sell my lemonade for $1.00 instead of $0.50. When I turned 12, I began to write letters to CEO’s asking them what they did that helped them achieve so much success. After writing about 50 letters, I received 20 responses all of which were very insightful and motivating. At 15 years of age, I started a business club at school. Through the help and commitment of many friends this club has become a prime club at our school. I served as President of the club for 2 years, in which I learned a great deal of leadership skills.

Can you give a brief description of what your job at Phone Lines Inc. entails?

My job and duty at Phone Lines Inc. entails a lot of researching. I am always on the computer searching for new avenues with which we can market our products and services. It definitely takes time and effort especially when you are not very experienced, but knowing that adults trust you in what you do truly gives me the determination and hope I need to succeed.

Aside from your job at Phone Lines Inc., you intern at a real estate agency and you’re in grade 12 – a busy life. What do you like about your job/internship that makes you so determined to balance it all?

I never thought I would find much interest in real estate. I always would tell myself, that once I had enough money to invest, then I would start looking into developing and investing in real estate. I had the opportunity over the summer to learn more about real estate and took it. It turned out to be great! I truly loved how I was learning so much about commercial and residential real estate. So I began to intern at Keller Williams by a great broker, who always provides me with insight into his business. The most important part of real estate is marketing. There is a lot of competition in the industry because most agents do the same thing. Off course the way you present yourself to the client means a lot, but ultimately what matters is how many potential clients you can expose yourself too. The more people that recognize your name the more deals you will close. That is why marketing is so important to real estate. Learning more about marketing in real estate has also made me come up with new and more innovative ways to market Phone Lines Inc.

What do you see in your future?

I will be applying to university this year. My goal is to get as much experience in the business world as possible through all of college. Once I get my B.A. I am planning on getting my MBA. After I have met those qualifications, I hope I can become a CEO of a business one day and grow that business. Seeing a business you started or had a part in, become more and more profitable would make my dream come true.

What word of advice would you like to give to people?

I would like to tell anyone reading this to just work hard and start from a young age. Experience is what defines you, the more experience you have when you enter the business world the more likely you are to succeed. A great way to gain a lot of information is right on your fingertips. The internet has an infinite amount of resources and use that to your advantage. Also, read any sort of material that interests you whether it be online or in various kinds of books.

If you’d like to know more about Armen, here are some resources:

Armen Haroutunian’s LinkedIn account: http://www.linkedin.com/in/armenharoutunian
Our companies Twitter account: twitter.com/phonelinesinc
Phone Lines, Inc: www.phonelinesinc.com

The Lowdown

For the past year or so, I’ve been babysitting. However, this level of babysitting has been very professional – sometimes 5 kids at once (and I’m 15!) – and you get special bonuses for that. I’ve been such a responsible babysitter that I manage about 6 or 7 repeat clients. I usually have 2 or three jobs per week. 5 hours a job x $10 a job x 3 jobs a week = $150 a week, just from babysitting! I even have a steady weekly gig, for 4 hours, managing 3 kids – I just get up earlier, and by the time the job is done (it’s in the morning, on weekends), I haven’t missed any part of the day at all. Sometimes I only have that $40 job, but that’s more than enough for my weekly spending needs. I’ve probably made upwards of $2000 between September and now, just from babysitting.

In July I started my own landscaping and garden care business. I started by mowing my neighbour’s lawn, then my own. Because both properties are moderately big, I can charge about $30 – $35 a mow. It now takes me less than an hour to mow a large size lawn. I began offering more services: edging, weeding, gardening, watering, and other yard work. Because edging often comes with mowing, I might take in $45 for an hour and a half worth of work. Multiply $45 by twice a week, and that’s $90. Then I got some odd weeding and yard work jobs – from working about 8 hours, I received about $110 for yard work and weeding.

Recently, I got a job. No, it’s not a typical job in the sense that it’s for an establishment – I work for myself. I was phoned by a person wanting a weeding job on a really large property. It’s so large that it’ll provide consistent work – on my own time – at about $10/hour. I choose my own hours: recently, I’ve been doing about 2 hours/day, and about 9 hours/week because it’s summer; I expect 5 hours, or $50/week, when school starts… which I’ve just realized is tomorrow.

So here’s what it all looks like:

4 hours every week babysitting for one person = $40
Average of 3 hours every week additional babysitting = $30
1 yard mow/trim average, a week = $45
Weeding job = $50
Additional = $30
Total = $195/week, or $780 a month*.

I realize this figure is high – $195 is sometimes irregular, and I may make only $40 (*it’s actually usually around $500/month), but you get the jist of it. Once you’re comfortable with knowing that babysitting is not just a job for a 12 year-old girl (and that there’s no shame in it), and that landscaping is easy and not that time-consuming, there’s easy money! This post was really only meant for some inspiration. Be sure to check out my friend Ben’s lawn-care blog , it’s really helpful.

Band/Solo Artist – Make sure you can make some good music though, before you plan on making some money out of it. Ask yourself: “Would I buy my music”? If so, record some demos (you can do it quite for quite cheap now, or even for free), and send them out to talent agencies or promoters. This demo could also be an album; sell your album to other people in real life, or even online (my friend sells his album on iTunes). This is a great way to make an easy $10 – $20/album. A great step would be to look for open-microphone nights, competitions (or talent shows), or jams – they all give some wonderful publicity, and usually have some juicy cash prizes. You could even ask a café, restaurant, or recreation center if they’d be interested in having some live musicians – they might pay $10+/hour, or maybe $50 a night. You could even be a busker on the street (go to your municipal hall and apply for a license, first), and make $20 or more an hour!

Pianist – Making money from being a pianist applies mostly to those who are really good, so you’ll have to be very experienced before you plan to make some moolah. Try asking hotels if they’d like a “live ambient artist” (someone who provides background music), or talk to event planning services, because they often need pianists. Like a solo-artist, you could compose and record your own songs and sell them. Talent agents are often at competitions, and if you can impress them, they can help promote you too.

DJ – Being a DJ is a fun, entertaining, and often high-paying job (if you’re a good one). Contrary to popular belief, it’s not an age-limiting job: I’ve heard of 9 year olds rocking bars. DJ’s can be paid sometimes upwards of $50/hour for a wedding. Though it is usually very expensive to get into, anywhere from $700 to $5000 (for truly high-end, state-of-the-art stuff), if you are determined, you can work that off. Again, make demo mixes (or if you’re a mobile DJ, record videos of yourself), give them to promoters or clubs or bars (look for ones that sell food, because they can often let minors in if they do) or even your school! DJing your school dances are great – commercial school dance DJ’s charge far too much, and you could undercut them a bit, and clean up quite nicely. If you have any other questions about this in particular, email me, because I’m a DJ myself!

Question: Are you a musician? Do you make money from it? Would you like to make money from it? Explain in a comment!

Buy Low, Sell High

The stock trader’s motto, it’s deadly accurate for what should be happening right now. Today is a great time to buy stock. Generally, stocks lessen in value during an economic downturn because there are less people wanting to buy it. It’s the law of demand: if little people want to buy a product, the price goes down, and vice versa. Take advantage: rearrange your money into a portfolio that has a long-term return, because:

It’s Going To Go Up

The TSX (Toronto Stock Exchange) recently reported 5 straight months of growing profit! The recession has provided us with some of the lowest prices that we’ve ever seen on big companies’ stock. Normally, a severe downturn isn’t followed by a worse downturn. Sure, the economy will take a while to bloom again, but there are almost guaranteed profits (don’t hold me to it) if you buy in a safe, long-term stock (preferably) now. Even if you don’t have money to invest right now, see this post to find out how you can simulate investments, for free!

Stimulate The Economy

It’s what we need. We need investors to start re-building the economy, as well as the trust between companies. Your investment will help a company regain its balance, while the investment will be pretty safe for the next little while (until the market really fully regains stability).

You’ll Learn Valuable Lessons

As a teen, we learn things! So if we learn to take advantage of the market now, we’ll be able to use it later in life. This provides a huge head-start! Also, investing at this time will give you a wealth of economic experience (pun intended).

If you have any questions, feel free to email me.

Disclaimer: I’m not a stock market professional, so I’m not liable for any losses in this market – but I would appreciate some praise if things go well!

My portfolio is my own, and so are my investments. Yet there’s a simple answer to this question. My investments are in my name, but are in trust from my parents. That means that legally, they’re operated by my parents, but they’re held by me. See? It’s a simple bypass of the system!

I’ve been investing since I was eleven. If you’re under 18 or 19, and you have maybe $500, $1000, or even $2000 just lying around in your savings account, ask your parents to set up an investing portfolio in trust for you! Don’t worry, you pick the investments. There’s no limit to the age you can invest at, because why would there be? Age plays no factor.

There are many benefits to investing at this age, but I can’t give away all my secrets at once! Stay tuned, or subscribe for FREE!

Question: If you’re under 18 (19 in Canada), do you have investments? Would you like to hold investments? Answer in the comments below!