2011, Issue 5
FUTURE CEO STARS Photograph By Tim O’Shei and Erika Taylor
Miranda Cosgrove The Entreprenurial efforts of an Entertainer (pg 22)
Are You An Entrepreneurial GENIUS? 1 How can a person’s career skills and experiences lead to becoming a successful entrepreneur? 2. What personality traits are more likely to lead to success as an entrepreneur? 3. Are there differences between a market economy, entrepreneurship, free enterprise, and capitalism? 4. What taxes do entrepreneurs pay? 5. What items are part of a firm’s operating costs? 6. How can an entrepreneur learn about what the customers want? 7. How can computer skills help with business operations? 8. How do entrepreneurs deal with risks? 9. How is personal financial literacy related to business financial literacy? 10. What factors determine where to locate a business? 11. Why is branding important? 12. How does competition affect entrepreneurship? 13. What percent of American firms have no employees working for them? Why is this important? 14. What are some sources of funding to start a business? 15. What can an entrepreneur do if business sales drop off ? 16. What should an entrepreneur consider when hiring employees for the business? 17. How does an entrepreneur work in a country that doesn’t support capitalism? 18. What is “tolerance of ambiguity” and why is it important to an entrepreneur? 19. How might an entrepreneur use company profits? 20. Why do entrepreneurs say they are in charge of their own fate?
GET YOUR FREE “GENIUS” CERTIFICATE and Check out our ALL New Website at Go to www.Entre-week.org
FUTURE U CEO STA TARS TARS 4
Gaming, It’s My Business TREP$
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A Nutty Idea Generation E
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Squirming for Earnings Ignite
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Fresh Squeezed Success Holthouse Foundation for Kids
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Streaming Music Chip Lowe
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Youth Innovation Awards.. Marketplace for Kids
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Illustrated Entrepreneurs Museum of Education
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LIVE! Starring Amanda Cosgrove LIVE! Starring You!
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Glambition! Réseau des CJE du Québec
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@Flying The Lyles Center
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Our Sponsors
2011 Issue 5
WORMS!!!! on page 8
Published by The Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education 1601 W Fifth Ave. #199 Columbus, OH 43212 www.entre-ed.org mashmore@entre-ed.org Publisher: Dr. Cathy Ashmore Editor: Mike Ashmore Graphic Design: SPLASH Designs Student Advisory Board Chip Lowe, Claire He, Micah Toll, Kelly Rapp, Marcus Craft Web Page Design and Management CWD
By Hunter Romanko
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y name is Hunter and I am an 11-yr old entrepreneur from Cedar Grove Middle School. This was the first year the TREP$ Marketplace took place at our school and lots of kids participated, so there was some tough competition. I considered opening several types of businesses before arriving at my final decision. I originally thought I would brew and sell coffee at the TREP$ Marketplace, but then I learned we were not allowed to prepare food or drinks on site. So it was back to the drawing board. I couldn’t seem to come up with a business that I could get really excited about. Then my whole family spent one evening brainstorming different ideas to help me. My dad came up with one which I knew instantly was for me. He suggested I create and sell my own video games. We researched different websites that allow kids to create video games for free and found one that fit our needs. To keep expenses down, my dad thought I could even email the games to my customers, but I thought customers would prefer a CD with the games on it and nice packaging would help sell the product. That’s how my business A.R. Games (A-Rated Games) was born! The most fun part of the whole process for me was making the video games. Among the games I made were a driving game, a game that resembled Pac-Man, and a game similar to Fruit Thief. The biggest challenge I faced was working on a game I called Alien Destroyer. I just couldn’t get the spaceship to shoot lasers on a straight horizontal. It kept shooting them at an angle. It took me nearly a week to figure it out and make it work the way I wanted. (conti inued oon n next page) (continued
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It was much more work than I anticipated. It literally took a solid month to produce all the games because there were a lot of steps involved. After I created the games, I had friends and family play them and provide feedback on how they could be improved. I created help screens that players could access by pressing the F1 button while playing. There was one final round of testing before burning the files to discs. We learned along the way that the files would not work on Macs. So that was something we needed to disclose in our advertising and packaging. I created original artwork for the covers of the CD cases, burned the discs, and put together the packaging for 100 CDs. To give my customers a really good value, I decided to sell 5 video games on a CD for $2.99. My total expenses were $31.22 for Slim CD Storage Cases and 100-Pack Spindle of CDs to put the games on. Since my CDs would sell for $2.99 each, my breakeven point would be 11 games sold. I told all my friends about my product and got a lot of “pre-orders” for the game. I was confident that I would be able to reach my breakeven point. The night of the TREP$ Marketplace it was really hot, and I was glad I was not selling hot coffee that night! I brought a mini laptop computer with me so that I could demo the games for my customers. People who visited my booth said my business was a very cool and unique idea. That kept my spirits up, which I needed since sales were slow to start. As the night went on, business picked up and at times I had a crowd of people gathered around nigh my booth watching me demo my software on my laptop. Before I knew it, I surpassed my breakeven point. Half the people who stopped by said they were going to come back later, breakeve they didn’t. I know I lost a lot of sales because many people use Macs these days, but I but the knew that going in. In the end, my sales revenue was $135. I sold 45 CDs and made a profit of nearly $104. One of my teachers even bought a disc for her kids. I had a really good experience creating O my own business and I plan on participating in TREP$ again next year. I’m already thinking up ways to expand my business. I’ll build upon what I learned this year to create even more exciting video games and/or expansion packs for my existing video games.
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A NUTTY IDEA By Hannah Swank
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ello, my name is Hannah Swank. I am in sixth grade, and I enjoy doing community service, being in nature, business and school. I am always looking for ways to reduce, reuse or recycle to help mother earth. I also feel that helping the community is very important.
I started developing my product a few months ago. I have started selling in the past couple of weeks. I got started through an elective course in school. It is a business/finance class. We learned some of the dos and don’ts of business. Then, we started to come up with ideas for our own business. We are now at the point of selling our products or services. At first, I was not sure on what I should do for my business. I wanted something that others from my class would not think of for their business. I came up with multiple ideas, but I did not truly like any of them. I wanted to create something original. I thought of making rock pets and selling them but I did not think that they would sell, plus I was looking for something more original. One day my mom, dad, brother, nana and grandfather were painting acorns silver and gold because we had extra paint while we were camping. We had come up with an idea and we didn’t even know it! I felt I wanted to use something from nature for my business, or at least the main part of my business. My family was brainstorming a couple weeks later on what I could do for my business. We talked about the pet rock idea, and then we came up with a new idea; acorns like pet rocks. I liked that idea a lot because it was not very expensive, plus there would be less risk if your business did not turn out. This was an original idea and it would also bring back one of the toys, the pet rock, in a completely different form. This toy is not commonly found in the hands of today’s kids. I collected acorns with the help of my family. I had a lot to plan still, so I started working on that right away. I spent the next few days exploring ideas. A couple of weeks later my uncle, dad, brother and grandma were helping me. They started coming up with cool ideas. We roasted them in the oven, which helps the paint stick as it dries them. We thought of different designs and products. It was a very time consuming process. I used paint, glitter glue, glitter, nail polish and other items. It was becoming late fall and so I would need to collect all I was going to collect before it started to frost. (continued on next page)
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I have a couple of dos and don’ts that I have learned. First, I learned to start off with a reasonable price and if you are making a lot of sales, you can make adjustments in the price. I also learned that if you ask people for ideas on what you could sell it expands the horizon for your business. I got most of my ideas from suggestions. Do listen to the ideas people make on your business. You don’t have to use all the ideas, but they may help you out in the end. Also, don’t get disappointed if your product isn’t selling; you may just need to change one little thing or try a different sales location. Lastly, I think this is the most important, DO NOT GIVE UP. If you give up, you may give up right before the product really takes off. My business is acorns that are hand painted and designed showing multiple characteristics of a variety of personalities. I have four main things that I am selling so far but they are all different. I have hazelnuts, butternuts, acorns and pinecones. Also around Christmas, I had pine needle miniature trees. As of right now, I have necklaces, small charms/ornaments and acorn pets. In the future, I hope to expand my business. I have learned a lot from my business already and it is still so new. I have learned to be more organized, to listen to what others have to say and to never give up. As I begin to make more profit, I plan to save some towards a college education, spend some of it to improve my business, and spend some of it to help others. I have had help from family, friends, customers and teachers. My teacher for my business class, Mrs. Jones, has helped me significantly with my business. She has made some great suggestions to help me improve my business and helped me come up with designs. My customers have helped me to find a reasonable price and helped me come up with more ideas. Thank you to those who have helped me along the way.
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Squirming for Earnings W
ORMCO is a youth operated business in Delta County, MI. This 4-H group has been maintaining worm farms for the past year. They originally only planned on selling worm castings (vermicompost) as their product and adjusted their strategies when they realized there was profit to be made elsewhere. They have been able to diversify their products and services centering on worms, their castings, and worm farming. The group has found teaching other people about worm farming and selling “starter kits” and worms in workshop settings prove to be quite profitable and using power tools is pretty cool as well. WORMCO is a project we started, to learn more about entrepreneurship and creating a business. We went to the Kettenun Center for a workshop and got a grant to start our farms for selling worm castings. Since then our business has grown from one farm (where castings are made) to many. Our business goal is for each member to have three farms in our homes. We have recently sold at garden shows and the U.P. State Fair. We are now giving presentations to other people about worm farming and selling our worms to them. Our business is based out of our homes in Delta County, Michigan. We meet regularly. Sometimes to talk about business and other times to process our worm castings. It is a long, tedious process, but we’ve learned to make it fun. Our business has been in operation for little over a year and has been profitable. We have also been attending seminars and networking with other youth businesses. During these seminars we listen to local successful business owners and have learned how to develop a business plan and how to become better entrepreneurs. WORMCO is unique, different and not a lot of businesses are like it. Our business has been thriving due to the talents each member brings to the table. The only way we could have possibly made it this far is with a lot of time and effort. We have all learned responsibility and work skills that are not only good for us now, but will help us in the future. During the making of our business we all had to commit. Teamwork was not optional. We still have to be responsible, and that’s how we will continue to expand our business. (continued on next page)
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We all agree that the adventure of being an entrepreneur in WORMCO has its pros and cons. Even though we all agree creating our business plan is sometimes boring we are gaining skills that will help us in the future. Some of us think it’s gross and disgusting, while others dive right in. We had a lot of fun creating our mascot costume, but it’s not so fun to be inside. The cold, hard cash from our sales isn’t bad either. Our journey has not been without obstacles. We have had many casualties that have turned into learning experiences. Erica’s worms escaped, Pierce’s dried out, Francis grew fruit flies, killed another, and is now on his third farm, Jordyn smothered hers, and Shania was hesitant to even take them home. Our experience as a whole has proven what others have told us, “Learn from every mistake and never give up.”
The WORMCO TEAM Erica Baker, Jordyn VanPortfliet, Pierce Mayville, Francis Eagle, Shania Miller
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Bring Lemonade Day to your city!
Build a Stand...
SPARK A DREAM!
Free, Fun, Experiential Learning This year 100,000 kids across the nation will start their own lemonade stand business
In May .2. By 2013, Lemonade Day will reach 1 million young entrepreneurs in 100 on cities. We want to bring this community-wide event for kids to YOUR city!
or business schools, foundations, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, youth sports Great project for ol programs! and after-school
Let’s talk! Contact Executive Director Julie Eberly at 713.626.KIDS or jeberly@prepared4life.org.
Lemonade Day FAQ What is Lemonade Day?
How does a child register?
Lemonade Day is a FREE, community-wide, educational initiative
Beginning in the spring, a child can register by completing a
designed to teach children how to start, own and operate their own
printed application available through participating partners, such
business – a lemonade stand.
as schools or youth organizations. Youth can register online at
How did Lemonade Day get started? Michael Holthouse, a Houston entrepreneur and philanthropist,
www.LemonadeDay.org. They can also sign up and receive a backpack at numerous events in the spring in each city.
co-founded Prepared 4 Life (P4L), a nonprofit that provides fun,
What do children learn?
proactive programs infused with life skills, character education
The objective of Lemonade Day is to teach youth how to start
and entrepreneurship. Inspired by the lessons he was able
and run their own lemonade business. Children learn the
to teach his young daughter and her friend when they set up a
entrepreneurial skills necessary to be successful in the future and
lemonade stand, Holthouse launched Lemonade Day in Houston,
become contributing members of their communities. The best part
Texas in 2007. It has now become P4L’s number one outreach and
of the program for kids is that after covering their expenses and
educational priority.
paying back their investors, they can keep what they earn. With
When is Lemonade Day? Lemonade Day takes place the first Sunday in May. It will be on May 2 in 2010.
Who can participate?
this in mind, children are encouraged to open a youth savings account so their profits can continue to grow as well as give a portion of their earnings to charity.
Who can get involved and how? Anyone and everyone can be involved in Lemonade Day.
Youth of all ages, from pre-K through high school, can register for
Young entrepreneurs with lemonade stands need mentors,
an official Lemonade Day stand. Adults are needed to participate
investors, employees and customers! Sponsors and volunteers
as mentors and volunteers. In addition, community support
are also needed to make Lemonade Day a success. All money
from schools, churches, businesses, and youth organizations is
raised through local donations and sponsorships is used directly
essential to the success of Lemonade Day.
to support Lemonade Day in your city. To get involved, please visit
How does it work? Each child that registers for Lemonade Day receives a bright, yellow backpack with an informational workbook for the child
your local Lemonade Day website at www.LemonadeDay.org.
How can I bring Lemonade Day to my community?
and another for a responsible adult. The workbooks outline the
To learn how to bring Lemonade Day to
steps needed to start a business, from setting a goal, creating
your community, call 713.626.KIDS (5437).
a business plan, forming a budget and finding an investor to saving money and donating a portion back to their community. (Materials are available in Spanish.)
www.LemonadeDay.org
Lemonade Day is the perfect opportunity for the entire community to come together and train the next generation of entrepreneurs.
What’s All This About Streaming Music? Technically Speaking By Chip Lowe
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ith so many options on the market today to buy, rent, and subscribe to music services – how do you know which one to use? In this month’s issue of Technically Speaking, we will cover the differences between several popular music services.
The first, major player in the market is iTunes. Until last month, when you bought a song on iTunes, it downloaded immediately, and you were responsible for keeping up with the file. That file is an unprotected high quality audio file, a new feature from a couple of years ago when only 5 computers could be simultaneously authorized to your Apple ID to play music purchased with iTunes. But now, with their new iCloud service, anyone with an iOS device will have access to their music to be downloaded as many times as they like, once they have purchased it. Though iTunes is the world leader in music sales, other services, such as Pandora, Grooveshark, and Spotify offer solutions for music streaming, which is generally enough to meet the needs of many music listeners. While all of these services offer a free level of use, they also offer paid membership that allows such features as unlimited playback, local music storage, and full access to their music libraries on mobile devices, such as Apple® iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads, and Android mobile devices as well.
See you next year in Chicago at IIEE’s Young Entrepreneur Conference!!! (continued on next page)
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So what is for me? You might find yourself asking that very question. It all depends on how you listen to your music. If you are on the go and don’t necessarily have time to wait for music to stream, or you are in places where you don’t always have an Internet connection, iTunes or a similar storefront is probably your best solution, since you can download your music and have it physically stored on your device for playback. If you are looking for some good music to listen to in the office, at home, or rarely, on-the-go, a streaming solution will most likely fit your needs, and be significantly cheaper than making a music purchase. The bottom line is, whatever you choose should be simple and allow you to enjoy your tunes without being worried about the technology involved. Good technology is not noticing it’s there. That’s what we are filling you in on in this month’s issue of Technically Speaking! Be sure to catch the column again next month.
Have questions or ideas on subjects I should write about!? Email me at clowe@entre-ed.org We love your feedback!
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Youth Innovation Awards Program T
his year Marketplace for Kids was pleased to announce a new awards program to further acknowledge our young entrepreneurs. The “Youth Innovation Awards Program” is designed to give special recognition to past winners of the Bright Ideas Showcase and Contest at their regional Education Day where they first presented their project. The Bright Ideas Showcase and Contest, held in July of 2010, had some fantastic and innovative projects which resulted in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in each grade level. Among those talented winners, the following students were recognized at their local Education Day throughout this past year: From Region 1 Williston on April 19, 2011: Ruthanne Erickson, co-inventor of the Kernel Katcher Wilkinson Elementary School, Williston, ND Ashley Fagerland, inventor of The Flip Frame St. Joseph’s Elementary School, Williston, ND From Region 2 Bottineau on March 15, 2011: Austin Suchan, inventor of the Bobcat Trailer #2 Bottineau Middle School, Bottineau, ND Jacob Blessum, inventor of Bunnie Bites Little Flower School, Rugby, ND From Region 2 Minot on April 12, 2011: Hunter Benjamin, inventor of the Super Storage Dog House Edison Elementary School, Minot, ND Aspen Lenning, inventor of The Goat Bar Lewis & Clark Elementary School, Plaza, ND Hudson Roness, inventor of the Bag Binder Perkett Elementary School, Minot, ND (continued on next page)
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From Region 7 Bismarck on May 2, 2011: Ian Ridenhour, inventor of the Animal Attack Trading Card Game Home School Student, Bismarck, ND Alex Harris, inventor of the Helmet Airbag Wilton Public School, Wilton, ND From Region 8 Dickinson on March 16, 2011: Caden Tuhy, inventor of the Come Along Caller South Heart Public School, South Heart, ND
While projects displayed at the regional Education Days are not judged, and all participants are awarded a ribbon, the Bright Ideas Showcase and Contest allows those students who want to take the next step in developing their project the opportunity to meet with judges and talk to professionals from various backgrounds. Encouragement and competition with other students from around the state allows the student to further improve and expand their vision for their project. By recognizing these student winners at their regional Education Day where they ďŹ rst began, other students will be encouraged to realize the full potential of their own ideas.
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Our Mission... ™
The National Museum of Education seeks to celebrate the learning, insight, creativity, and workmanship of America's students, teachers, administrators, and all those who have made a positive contribution to the educational process by recognizing and preserving their accomplishments for the inspiration of future generations.
Visit us on the Web at: www.nmoe.org
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Photographs By Tim O’Shei and Erika Taylor
LIVE!
Starring miranda Cosgrove By Tim O’Shei & Lauren McDaniel
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hen you hear the name Miranda Cosgrove, what do you think of? Most people see her as an actress — which, of course, is correct. Miranda is the star of Nickelodeon’s smash-hit show, iCarly. You could also correctly think of her as a singer: Miranda is a Columbia Records recording artist who is on tour this summer promoting her latest album, “High Maintenance.” Entertainer, celebrity, role model – there are lots of labels that fit Miranda. But when we interviewed Miranda recently, another description became clear to us: She’s a savvy entrepreneur. Miranda, whose career started at age 3 when a talent agent saw her sing and approached her mother, has been strategically building a business around her skills for the last 15 years. One of the keys to success for Miranda has been maintaining a steady, diverse set of supporters. That came through clearly in our conversation with her, which happened backstage this summer before her concert at Darien Lake Theme Park Resort in New York.
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Here are some pointers we took away from the conversation with Miranda, along with ideas on how you can develop a similar support team: • Family Family: Any successful businessperson will tell you that having family support is key. Different family members tend to play important roles different points in your career. For example, in your 20s, 30s and 40s, the key supporter may be your spouse, who allows you the time and flexibility to build your business. Later in life, those supporters may be your grown-up kids, who begin working with you and may even take over the business. But early on – especially in your teens – the number 1 supporters will hopefully be your parents, whose roles will range from transporting you places to just “being there” in case something happens.That’s the case for Miranda. “My mom travels with me everywhere,” she said, “and both my parents are always there helping me.”We’ve seen it. One year ago, when our Live! Starring … You! team was covering a meet-and-greet event that Miranda did for a radio station, her mom was there too, quietly standing off to the side. While Miranda signed autographs and posed for pictures, her mom watched, quietly and proudly — and available if needed. • Mentors: Being the lead performer on a show is similar to being the CEO of a company. You’re the face of the organization, and everything you do reflects on your entire team. Miranda comes across as a pro at handling that responsibility – and she is. But she learned from two mentors: actors Drake Bell and Josh Peck, who were the leads on Nickelodeon’s Drake & Josh. Miranda played a supporting role as their little sister on that show. “It sort of prepared me,” she told us. “I got to watch Drake and Josh have a show and see how they handled it.”Miranda still keeps in touch with Drake and Josh, calling them frequently and meeting for dinner every couple of weeks. • Friends: Whether you sell quilts, detail automobiles or act and sing, running a business is tough. The long hours and constant demands can easily dominate your mind to the point where you have trouble even thinking about other things.That’s typical, but it’s not healthy. Even the most dedicated entrepreneurs need a break from business. One of the best solutions is to maintain a set of friends who are interested in you for you, not for your business .Miranda told us she’s worked hard to do that, keeping in touch with her best friends though texting and video chatting. “My two best friends are from elementary school — I’ve known them forever,” she told us. “I talk to them every day.” At the end of the day, she added, her thumbs actually hurt from texting so much! • Customers: Your customers – or in Miranda’s case, fans – are the key component of your support team. Without them, you’ll have no business at all. It’s important to treat them well and stay in touch. They’ll know you care, and you’ll know what they want as their tastes and needs change. Directly after our interview, Miranda spent a half hour chatting with fans. “I have a really good time meeting them!” she told us. But from a pure business view, it’s about more than enjoying the interaction. Every time Miranda – or any entrepreneur – meets with her audience, she gets to know them a little bit better. Over time, that kind of feedback helps her create entertainment – and you create products or services – that the audience wants
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Tim O’Shei is the founder of Live! Starring … You!, a pop-culture education organization, and is a member of the National Honor Roll of American Entrepreneurs. Lauren McDaniel was a student in the Live! Starring … You! program at Mount St. Mary Academy in Buffalo, New York, and is entering her freshman year at SUNY Brockport in New York. For more information on Live! Starring … You!’s school programs, or to see Lauren’s interview with Miranda Cosgrove,
www.LiveStarringYou.com Building YOUR team Here are some questions that will help you build your own support team: Family support can come from parents or others. Who are your biggest family supporters? How do they help you? Mentors are people who have built successful businesses before you. They understand the challenges you’ll face and can help guide you. Who are your mentors? Who could be your mentor, if you asked? Friends help you maintain a sense of normalcy when you’re chasing after big, allencompassing dreams. Who are your friends that help you escape work for a while and just relax? Without the support of your customers, you won’t have a business for long. What do you do to make your customers feel special? How do you keep in touch with them?
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THOUGHT YOU COULDN'T AFFORD A WEBSITE? DIDN’T THINK VIDEO PRODUCTION COULD BE AFFORDABLE? never had the time to setup your company to take advantage of social networking?
THINK AGAIN! find us on facebook Future CEO Stars 2011 Issue 5
Visit www.cwd.me today! Email us at go@cwd.me call us at (352) 575-0055 25
ovember 18th, 2010 marked the beginning of what promises to be a long lasting tradition for youth entrepreneurship training in Quebec. Glambition was a one day event in Montreal for girls between the ages of 12 and 15 which offered eight different interactive workshops lead by successful, female entrepreneurs aimed to give girls a feel for entrepreneurship and the opportunity to interact with women in the field first hand. The girls that participated seemed to have enjoyed themselves immensely and also felt that they benefited a great deal from the experience of participating in a workshop given by a strong female entrepreneurial role model. Here is what a few of the participants had to say about the event: Tenaiya from Orchard Elementary School said that when she first heard about the event she was very excited and couldn’t wait to go. Immediately after participating in the workshop about starting one’s own magazine she began discussing with her friends the idea of having an online magazine where they would like to post pictures of themselves and their friends with funny and informative captions underneath. (continued on next page)
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Meghan from Beurling Academy begged her teacher to let her go when she heard about the event. She believes that these types of events aimed specifically at girls teaches them that they can do anything they want. After attending the jewelery making workshop she felt truly inspired and would like to make jewelery herself. She said if Glambition was offered again next year she would definitely attend and bring all her friends with her. Savannah from Collège de Montréal found these workshops particularly useful because she has already started taking the steps towards opening her own travel agency. She collects pamphlets and brochures about different places that she has visited in Quebec and distributes them to her friends and advises them on where to go and what to do while they are there. Any money she raises she donates to charities doing work in Haiti. What she found most useful about the workshops was the guidance and tips that the presenters provided her on how and who to approach to raise money, how to network, which websites to consult and books to read.
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ello, my name is Connor Alstrom and this is my business, “@ Flying.” I am a Junior at Bullard High School and I am 16 years old. That exact statement was the beginning of my business plan presentation to my NFTE class during April 2010. I went on to compete against ten other schools and won first place and the title of “2011 NFTE Regional Champion.” I never would have guessed the magnitude of applause and support that would soon follow. The idea of “@ Flying” originated during 2009 when I was getting my brand new (to me) ’69 Nova painted at Maaco in Fresno, CA, where I live. My father and the owner of Maaco were trading law enforcement stories while my car was being painted. The owner told a story about how they once used a large remote controlled helicopter to allow him to see what an armed man was trying to do, which allowed his team to safely defuse the situation without the loss of any lives. After that story and a little bit of research, “@ Flying” was born. For non-emergency medical situations, a life-sized chopper isn’t economical. Helicopters are limited on the space that they can land on, require a trained pilot and a huge amount of money to operate. “@ Flying” is an aerial video and photography service that allows remote controlled helicopters to get closer and are more economical than full size helicopters would be able to do. The goal is to make “@ Flying” available to law enforcement agencies for surveillance of high-intensity situations that would risk an officer’s life. Currently, I am in the process of raising sufficient funds to build a larger helicopter that would allow me to start this business. I hope that competing against 32 other NFTE students at the National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge in New York in October will (continued on next page)
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help me gain exposure to raise even more funds. Once started, philanthropy is something that I want to instill with “@ Flying.” I plan to volunteer time and resources for the Fresno Search and Rescue Team. Hence the tagline; “We will always find you.” Many companies in my local area have expressed interest in using my services, even though I am still using my current, smaller helicopter. To date, I have lined up an aerial video for a real estate firm, a ranch, a vineyard and a music video. With the correct marketing and word-of-mouth, I expect it to take off at an astronomical speed. The reason that “@ Flying” is becoming so popular is because there is no competition in or around my city. There are other companies in the United States and abroad using RC helicopters to take video and photographs and I use their data on what has worked and what has not worked to my advantage with an outside target market. By doing this, I have been able to cut my research expenses while gaining knowledge and data from a similar market. The demand for such a cost-cutting business keeps me focused and constantly improving my ideas and goals. The support that I have received from family and the NFTE program has given me the confidence to get my business up and running very soon. Many have heard the phrase, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know;” this statement has stuck to me while I have been building my business. By knowing the right people and networking, you open up a whole new window of opportunities that may have not been there in the first place. By building a network, personally and professionally, it has allowed me to get advice when I need it the most, has helped me get my business idea off the ground and has offered me so much for my future.
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Future CEO Stars
2011 Issue 5
The COLEMAN FOUNDATION Holthouse Foundation for Kids Buchholz Academy of Entrepreneurship Delaware Financial Literacy Institute IL Institute for Entrepreneurship Education Marketplace for Kids NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation The National Museum of Education Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship CWD Ignite - MI State University Georgia REAL Enterprises TREPS Quebec RCJLQ FFA Cal State U Fresno, Lyles Center LIVE! Starring You! TREPS Empower Youth Entrepreneurs Inc.
Future CEO Stars 2011 Issue 5
www.colemanfoundation.org www.lemonadeDay.org www.spiritspotbhs.com www.DFLI.org www.IIEE.org www.marketplaceforkids.org www.NFIByef.org www.NMOE.org www.NFTE.org www.CWD.ME www.primacivitas.org www.gareal.org www.TREPSED.com www.cjereseau.org www.ffa.com www.csufresno.edu www.livestarringyou.com www.trepsed.com
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