College sophomore[大二學生] Jessica Granger launched her first business when she was just 11. The story goes like this： She wanted a laptop—a pricey[昂貴的] MacBook—and her parents told her shed have to kick in[繳付] half the money for it. Therefore， she started a stationery[文具] company called My Girls and Me， and began making hand-drawn thankyou cards and party invitations and selling them to friends， family， and boutiques[精品店] in her hometown of Lansing， Michigan. Within five months she had earned her new laptop—and My Girls and Me became such a success that she started marketing her cards online to customers around the globe.

Granger is one example of a trend[趨勢] thats exploding： teens staking a major claim in a marketplace that once belonged only to adults with MBAs. And these arent small-time businesses， either. Take 18-year-old Bella Weems. She launched her jewelry company， Origami[折紙手工] Owl， in 2010， when she was 14. Five years later， shes created a network of more than 60，000 sales reps[銷售代表]， and Origami Owl has made millions of dollars. On the tech side， Nick DAloisio made headlines when he sold his newscondensing[精簡] app， Summly， to Yahoo！ at age 17 for$30 million.

Whats allowed young people to take passions[熱情]， hobbies， and big ideas out of their bedrooms and turn them into money-making businesses has a lot to do with their command[掌握] of the Internet and social media. “We have so many resources[資源] now showing us how to do anything were interested in. When Im stumped[難住] on something， I can Google it and navigate[操縱] what I need， and it lets me connect with other people in my industry，” Granger says. This also helps you spread the word about your brilliant new ideas. “Nothing is stopping kids from putting their ideas out into the world. YouTube videos get millions of hits from all over the globe in just a few months. And no one cares if you dont have special credentials[憑證，證書]. If you have an idea， its going to spread if its good，” says Rich Sedmak， founder of Schoolyard Ventures[商業(yè)投機]， a Philadelphia-based program that helps teens start their own businesses.

By means hes not talking about only YouTube， of course. You can see your handmade goods on Etsy and promote[促銷] them on Instagram. Or you can build a website by yourself. “The cost of starting a web company has dropped 1，000 times in the past two decades，” says Ethan Mollick， Ph.D.， a professor of management at the University of Pennsylvania.“A website used to cost millions of dollars to outsource[外包]， and now you can design your own in a few hours for very little money—and reach an online community[社區(qū)] where age doesnt matter.” And， should you need a little capital[資金] to get you going， you can find it through companies like Kickstarter.

One big plus to being young， adds Mollick：“Marketing firms spend billions of dollars to learn how teens think. Kids already know—so they can go out and do it themselves， and its more likely to be successful than anything some 200-year-old company comes up with.”

Perhaps the greatest edge[優(yōu)勢] they have is this： zero fear. Adults have learned to be critical[愛挑剔的] and afraid of what could go wrong. But as a teen， you have no such fear as to what you can and cant do.

The result of all this has been a growing number of young people starting businesses， who are already good at marketing themselves， and are able to try out their ideas in a low-risk way. If it doesnt take off[突然成功]， then its on to the next thing. And if it does， well， they could retire before its time to take the SATs.

In case any of this has inspired you to dream up your own business， our teenage business owners have a few pieces of advice for you. Read carefully—they clearly know what theyre talking about：

Focus on a brilliant idea. “Look for problems—or‘headaches in life， as my professor calls them—and try to find a solution[解決辦法]，”Granger says. The headache could be that your parents wont buy you a car and you need to raise more money than babysitting will net[凈賺] you; or youre just annoyed[使苦惱] that theres no app for that.

Wear your heart on your sleeve. “Its incredible[難以置信的] how many doors will open if you show how passionate[充滿熱情的] you are—and how much more you want to learn，” Granger says.

Find a mentor[導師]. “The first step is to just ask someone. Youd be surprised how many people are willing to help out and give back if you put yourself out there，” says Weems.

Dont let a few nos stop you. “People are going to tell you that you cant do it—and I got that a lot， being 14 when I started my business，”Weems says. “But you have to believe in your own dream， surround yourself with people who believe in it too， and always keep a reminder in front of you. Above all， remember that you can do anything you set your mind to. Anything is possible.”

大二學生杰西卡·格蘭杰在年僅11歲時就開始了人生第一次創(chuàng)業(yè)，故事是這樣的：當時她想要一臺筆記本電腦——一臺昂貴的蘋果筆記本電腦。她的父母對她說，其中一半的錢得由她自己支付。因此，她成立了一個叫“我和我的女孩”的文具公司，開始制作手繪感謝卡和派對請?zhí)⒊鍪劢o自己的親朋好友和她家鄉(xiāng)（美國）密歇根州蘭辛市的精品店。不到五個月，她就賺到了她的新筆記本電腦。而她的“我和我的女孩”文具公司也大獲成功，于是她開始在網(wǎng)上向全球各地的顧客出售她的卡片。

格蘭杰是一種極速發(fā)展趨勢的一個例子：青少年們開始在曾經(jīng)只屬于擁有MBA學位的成年人市場上圈地了，而且還不是小打小鬧那種。就拿18歲的貝拉·威姆斯來說，2010年，年僅14歲的她創(chuàng)立了自己的珠寶公司“折紙貓頭鷹”;五年后，她已建立起一個擁有超過6萬名銷售代表的網(wǎng)絡，她的“折紙貓頭鷹”公司也獲利數(shù)百萬美元。在高科技創(chuàng)業(yè)方面，尼克·達洛伊西奧在17歲時即以三千萬美元的價格將一款新聞概要手機應用“Summly”賣給雅虎，成為轟動一時的頭條新聞。

年輕人得以把自己的熱情、興趣愛好和奇思妙想從臥室的主意變成賺錢的生意，與他們嫻熟掌握互聯(lián)網(wǎng)和社交媒體密切相關?！拔覀儸F(xiàn)在擁有眾多資源教我們怎樣完成我們感興趣的事。碰到難題，我可以用谷歌搜索和瀏覽我需要的信息，網(wǎng)絡還讓我可以與業(yè)內(nèi)的其他人取得聯(lián)系?！备裉m杰說道。這也有助于你宣傳你的絕妙新點子?？偛课挥谫M城、旨在為自主創(chuàng)業(yè)的青少年提供幫助的“校園風險投資”項目創(chuàng)始人里奇·賽德馬克說：“沒有什么事情可以阻止孩子們把自己的想法公諸于世。YouTube網(wǎng)站上的視頻在短短幾個月內(nèi)就可以得到來自全球各地高達數(shù)百萬的點擊率。也沒有人關心你有沒有特殊的證書。當你有一個點子，如果它是一個好點子的話，它自然會傳揚開去?！?/p>

當然，他絕不僅僅是指YouTube這個網(wǎng)站。你可以把你的手工制品放在Etsy上，然后在你的Instagram上加以宣傳;或者你也可以自己建一個網(wǎng)站?！皠?chuàng)建網(wǎng)絡公司的成本在過去二十年里已經(jīng)下降了一千倍之多?！保绹┵e夕法尼亞大學管理學教授伊?！つ锟瞬┦空f?！耙郧埃粋€網(wǎng)站需要花費數(shù)百萬美元外包出去;現(xiàn)在，你只需花很少的錢和短短幾個小時，就可以設計出自己的網(wǎng)站，并連接到一個不注重用戶年齡層的網(wǎng)絡社區(qū)?！比绻阈枰稽c資金啟動，你可以通過Kickstarter之類的公司找到資助。

年輕還有一大優(yōu)勢，莫里克補充道：“營銷公司花費數(shù)十億美元去了解青少年的思維模式，而這是孩子們已經(jīng)知道的事——所以他們可以直接走出去自己做。而且，比起有兩百年歷史的老公司想到的，他們的創(chuàng)意更可能成功?！?/p>

不過，也許他們最大的優(yōu)勢是這個——零恐懼。大人們已經(jīng)習慣用批判的眼光看問題，他們會害怕哪里出問題。而一個十幾歲的青少年對于什么能做、什么不能做，并沒有這些畏懼。

所有這一切，造就了越來越多年輕人創(chuàng)業(yè)，他們善于推銷自己，并能以風險較低的方式實現(xiàn)自己的想法。要是不成功，就繼續(xù)嘗試下一個;要是成了，他們就可以在SAT考試來臨之前退休了。

假如以上這些例子激發(fā)了你的創(chuàng)業(yè)夢想，我們的青少年企業(yè)家們可以給你幾條建議。不妨仔細讀一讀，因為他們很清楚自己在說些什么：

瞄準一個好點子。“你要去發(fā)現(xiàn)問題，或者按我教授的說法，你要去發(fā)現(xiàn)‘生活中令人頭痛的事——然后嘗試找出解決方法?！备裉m杰說道。這個讓人頭痛的事可以是你的父母不給你買車，所以你需要籌到比照看小孩所能賺到的更多的錢;又或者你只是很惱火沒有可以用來做某件事的手機應用。

坦言自己的想法?！爱斈阏宫F(xiàn)出你是多么有熱情、還有多少事情想要學習，你會驚奇地發(fā)現(xiàn)原來有那么多扇門為你打開?！备裉m杰說。

找一位導師?！暗谝徊骄褪侵鲃忧蠼獭Ｈ绻阌掠诎炎约簲[出來的話，你會驚訝有多少人愿意幫忙，給你回應。”威姆斯說。

不要因為遭到幾次拒絕就放棄?！叭藗儠嬖V你你不能那樣做——我14歲開始創(chuàng)業(yè)時就經(jīng)常遇到這種事。”威姆斯說?！暗?，你必須相信你的夢想，你要和那些同樣相信你的夢想的人在一起，并且永遠在眼前放點什么東西提醒自己。最后，你要記住，有志者事竟成，一切皆有可能?！?/p>

Only One Instance

Mr. Henry Beecher entered Plymouth Church one Sunday and found several letters awaiting him. He opened one and found it contained the single word “Fool”. Quietly and with becoming seriousness he announced to the congregation the fact in these words：“I have known many an instance of a man writing a letter and forgetting to sign his name， but this is the only instance I have ever known of a man signing his name and forgetting to write the letter.”

一個星期天，亨利·比切先生到普利茅斯的教堂去，在那里有他的幾封信。他打開其中一封，發(fā)現(xiàn)信中只寫著“傻瓜”兩個字。

他平靜而認真地把這件事告訴教友們：“寫信時忘了簽名的人，我遇到過很多，但只簽了名卻忘了寫信的人，我還是頭一次遇到。”