Colette Young is just starting her education at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology, but by some standards, she's already an old hand at the rag trade. Now 18, Young was just 14 when she founded L'Colette Boutique, a women's clothing store in her hometown of Tulsa, Okla.
Meet this cheerleader-turned-moneymaker
Because she was a minor, her mother, Chae Young, had to put all the loans, permits, bills and taxes in her own name, but the institute freshman, whose official title is creative director, is responsible for everything from store design and fashion decisions to financing, marketing and advertising. (Her mother's title is active professional CEO; they're in the process of making Colette a legal partner.)
Since opening the shop, they have turned a profit, the young entrepreneur says. "The store does contribute to the household income," she says. "A lot of our profits we put back into the business for renovations, but the rest of the money goes to either savings or disposable income. I'm thrilled to be able to contribute."
Not all of the youthful business owners profiled here are focused just on the family finances. Some were simply lured to the business world because it seemed like fun.
22-year-old CEO: 'I just love my job'
But like Colette Young, many are finding an additional benefit to pursuing their small-business dreams: With the economy spiraling downward, these startups have become a way to stay occupied, make some money and help their families at the same time.
What does is take to succeed?
Four years ago, when he was just 9, Jason O'Neill of Temecula, Calif., came up with a simple idea to sell at a local crafts fair: colorful, buglike pencil toppers that would make schoolwork a bit more fun.
Little did he know that people were going to like his products -- which come in eight colors and perch on the eraser end of pencils -- as much as he did. But they do, and now Jason is the CEO of Pencil Bugs Plus, selling his wares on his Web site and shipping them internationally.
"His business is profitable -- otherwise we wouldn't spend as much time with it as we do," says his mother, Nancy O'Neill. "He's certainly not making millions or even close yet, but he's on his way, and we're always coming up with new marketing ideas to expand and working on getting his Pencil Bugs mass-produced."
The young toy mogul -- who donates some of his income to charity and socks away the rest for college -- now also has a Pencil Bug-related board game, and a video game is in the works. Last year, Forbes.com placed him on its list of 10 role models 18 and under.
Now Jason is writing a book of business tips. His best piece of advice? To "keep taking small steps one at a time, and eventually something big will happen," he says.
Michael Rodov, 22, followed a time-honored tech tradition by founding ZepInvest -- an investment and financial-news search engine that provides unlimited access to more than 75 investment publications -- from his dorm room at Boston University. He's currently on leave, with one semester left, but he concedes he's not sure he'll go back.
"I'm already doing what I want to do," he says.
He always has. Rodov, who was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and moved to Brooklyn at age 5, has already founded a string of successively larger companies, including an online tech support firm and an eBay-based business.
"I love to build companies," he says. "It's something I have to do. I can't imagine not doing it."
Rodov's businesses have brought him lucrative success. MagManiac, an online subscription business he had founded, was sold three months after its debut for 15 times the original investment.
ZepInvest is poised to be even greater: The company, based in Manhattan, has 12 employees -- all older than their fearless CEO -- and has attracted more than $2 million from investors. Rodov says his parents were a little worried at first, especially when their son dropped out of school. But the two, both computer programmers, have since relaxed, he says. "They're impressed with what I've accomplished."
Like clothing store founder Young, Chad Kennedy says that including his family in his endeavors is a big priority. Kennedy, 22, is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Teen Scene Magazine, an online magazine he founded nine years ago. The site, which is written by teens and young adults, the magazine's target audience, has a monthly readership of more than 150,000 and a staff of about 30. In 2008, profit was around $17,000.
Kennedy's family plays a regular role in the business: His cousin Meagan Anderson, for example, is the site's senior managing editor and a reviewer for By the Book Reviews, one of five sister sites owned and run by his company, Kennedy Omnimedia. His sister, Trish Yaden, is the site's assistant editor-in-chief, and another cousin, Jennifer Mosher, is the company's vice president for business development.
"Both my family and friends get to enjoy some of the perks of my job," says Kennedy, who lives in Rensselaer, Ind., and has staff and interns throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. None of them are paid yet.
"They're helping me as much as I'm helping them," he says, adding, "I love what I do on so many levels."
Produced by Elizabeth Daza / Graphics by Elizabeth Daza
Published Feb. 13, 2009
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