Student Entrepreneur - Tyler Tolbert, Behind Enemy Lines Metal Art
Tyler is a 1
7 year old high school student who attends Riverton High School.
Tyler's Story
June 26th, 2007
Being a teenage entrepreneur from Riverton Utah is both easier and more difficult than I would have expected it to be. For several years I have had the idea to start my own business but I couldn’t figure out what kind of business I wanted to start.
Last December, I went to a Conference put on by Young Entrepreneur’s of America. There were over 650 high school students there and we spent the whole day talking to 40-50 entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, business professionals and investors. It got me very excited to start my own business.
When the Director told us about a new program I knew this was going to be my big chance. YEA was going to help with my idea, provide an experienced mentor and give us money to start our own businesses. I applied online at www.yeabiz.com and waited and waited and waited.
About a month ago I learned that I had been chosen to participate in this year’s Summer Startup program. We have had several meetings to discuss our business ideas and learn more specifics about finances and marketing ideas. Over the course of ten days we refined our business ideas and I really struggled over which business idea I should start with. Then YEA Founder, Brian Acord told us that we could start any business provided it met two main criteria.
1. We needed to pick a business where we could get a paying client within 7 days.
2. Funding wouldn’t be an issue because any business we picked had to be started for less than $100.
Other than that, it didn’t matter what the business model was but we needed to pick one and stick with it through the summer. We talked about keeping the business simple and how we needed to dedicate a minimum of 30 hours per week in order to get our business running. My mentor is Bill Aho, Founder of ClearPlay and he has already given me some great feedback.
I am really glad that I took the opportunity to get involved with Young Entrepreneurs of America because they have helped me pick an idea and have given me a lot of resources that I didn’t know were out there. In less than 10 days I was able to establish my business, find a great mentor, and build my business.
The business I picked was to create custom designed metal art work for a vehicle, house, or the garden that I will cut using a plasma cutter. I already have several clients already lined up and am really looking forward to a great summer running my own business and making money doing what I love.
You can learn more about me and follow my struggles and successes at www.blog.yeabiz.com.
June 20th, 2007
Fear, this is an emotion that stops many people from becoming their own boss. The entrepreneur that I interviewed about his business experiences said that he wished he would have started the entire business earlier and not have let fear scare him of the market. The business has been sold now but he also stated that he should have let the business grow at its own rate rather than trying to slow down the growth rate to make it more manageable.
He said that in business understanding the customers needs/wants and knowing how to deliver the product/service at a reasonable cost is the most difficult obstacle of keeping the business above ground. Along with the constant improvements and evolution required to expand your business by improving your products/services in order to have a cutting edge on the competition.
All in all developing the customer base is the hard part, the accounting processes will come natural as the business moves along and succeeds.
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Young Entrepreneurs (under the age of 18) are encouraged to share their stories and promote their businesses in our blog, our national newsletter, our website (www.yeabiz.com) and several other free promotional opportunities. Send your brief background, a company description, and an interesting story to us here and be sure to include some pictures.
Check our other teenage entrepreneurs or get your business listed here.