Have you ever wanted to start your own business but just couldn’t seem to get the ball rolling?
Well, the kids profiled below may provide you with the inspiration you need. While their classmates are busy with video games and Facebook, these kids are building their own business empires.
Jaylen Bledsoe – Bledsoe Technologies
The fact that Bledsoe Technologies is worth nearly 3.5 million dollars may not surprise you. What is truly fascinating, however, is that the company was founded three years ago by then 12-year-old Jaylen Bledsoe.
Since then, Bledsoe technologies has become the number one information technology consultancy firm operated by a minor in the Mid-West. The company has grown from two employees to nearly 150 contracted workers in order to meet demand for its services.
Attending classes at his school’s gift-education program, Mr. Bledsoe developed an interest in web design which created the motivation for starting his own company. Jaylen’s company now provides online marketing campaigns, e-commerce solutions, corporate branding, and technology consulting to small and mid-sized businesses.
The young entrepreneur’s best advice: “keep going, move forward and always take risks.”
And the young man is just getting started. He is currently working on a new project that allows customers to check into their hotel rooms with their cell phones and use the phone as a room key. He eventually has sights set on attending Harvard University.
Jaden Wheeler and Amaya Selmon – Kool Kidz Sno Konez
Jaden Wheeler and Amaya Selmon were not content with just starting another lemonade stand. The brother and sister duo wanted something bigger. They decided to start their own snow cone business right in their front yard. And so began Kool Kidz Sno Konez.
“We had a card table, a blender, a poster board, ice and a few flavors,” proclaims the pint-sized owners.
But the pair were not resigned to working from a card table forever. They purchased a transport van from Craigslist and brought it up to food truck standards. Soon after, they were licensed by the local health department and became the youngest food truck owners in Memphis.
Since then, they’ve added nachos and hot dogs to their offerings, and the pair have even bigger plans for the future. Jayden states that he wants to “work smart instead of working hard,” by eventually turning Kool Kidz Sno Konez into a franchise.
In the eyes of a child, anything is possible and the sky is the limit. Many of us could could take this lesson to heart in our quest for entrepreneurial greatness.
BMWK, do you know any pint-sized entrepreneurs?