Had my parents encouraged me to have my own business from the age of 13, I would have long been on Forbes richest people in the world list, I’m pretty sure I’d be first or second on that list :-)! When I was growing up, parents where less open minded, and much more protective of their children, so kids were more concentrated on school and nothing but school.

These days, parents are more open to ideas from kids, more trusting and way more confident that their kids can be anything they want to be, at any age, which is great, because these days, kids are owning their own businesses from the age of 5.

Teenage Entrepreneurship serves as an advantage for teens, as they get more exposure to real world earlier,  they get a sense of responsibility and they learn to manage money and time more efficiently.  http://www.mysmallbiz.com/teen-business-ideas/ has some really great ideas for teenagers who are interested in starting their own businesses.

mysmallbiz.com says: “Many kids find that developing their own teenage businesses is a better option because the business can be tailored to the teenager’s needs, interests and time commitment. These are important factors when finding ways for teens to make money.”

Parents can also assist in the process, by helping to decide on a company name, business logo, stationery look and feel and how best to market the business… This is where a parent’s expertise, resources and experience will come in handy.

mysmallbiz.com  suggests: “while many teens baby sit during the week, if your teen advertises as the Saturday night babysitter, she will be very much in demand, Dog walking or house cleaning are relatively simple ways for teens to make money. Or you can take a popular idea and focus on one aspect of it.”

Check out the website and get started…Best of luck, you can do it! :-)