Kid / Teen entrepreneurs are a big business, some earning millions, they are determine, focus and playing by their own rules. And it’s not just roadside lemonade stands and bake sales, either.

These days, “kidpreneurs” are making grown-up money with businesses from web design to toy consulting to natural product creators to lawn services, even magazines and radio shows. Nothing has been off limits.

Even if your child doesn’t have a business of their own yet, you can teach them how to become more entrepreneurial by following these easy tips.

Let them help with your business ( research your city because their are regulations, called Child Labor Laws) but we all know parents are the first and greatest example of everything. If you’re not an entrepreneur being supportive in their dreams by assisting is just as important. (It’s not unusually for our kids to teach us). Most kidpreneurs will tell you that they got their first exposure to entrepreneurship from mom or dad, helping you with small tasks or just seeing you in action teaches they the ropes.

Since we are in the techno age, they may know more than we do with this social media jazz. But filing papers, typing documents, maintaining the office, filing orders and even sealing and mailing envelopes give them tons of exposure to being in business for yourself.

Assisting them to understand the value of being your own business ( big or small) helps them to see one of the quickest way to build wealth, and puts them in control of their financial destiny. Explain the difference between and employee and an employer.

Scout out and encourage them to join Jr. Entrepreneur programs, Toastmasters, Jr. Achievement and National Business Camps for kidpreneurs that’s provided in various states, most have grants and require no payment. A great program is Network For Teaching Entrepreneur

Have them watch the behavior and success of other entrepreneurs, such as Oprah, Bill Gates and even explaining how artists are entrepreneurs helps. Seeing is believing and helps build their confidence that this can happen for them too!

Giving them these options aren’t saying they can’t or shouldn’t work for someone else (be an employee because they is definitely value in those opportunities as well). However, if they choose that route and it’s not for them, things don’t work out, they are equipped with the basic tools to have the confidence to go it on their own.

Check out these tips:

• Never let “I can’t” be an answer: This should be a resounding concept in your home, self-defeat is not an option, try, try and try again is the way. Asking for help when needed is strongly encouraged.

• Teach them responsible law abiding practices: A major part of successful business ownership is the ability to maintain accurate records and policies. Teach them about money management and how to attain the financial skills needed to run a business successfully.

• Get them involved in community activities: Getting in the graces of the community is an extra reward. Not only will this help them to feel involved, but they will learn service, which is an important part of entrepreneurship. Encourage them to volunteer and teach them about the importance of giving back.

• Emphasize education: Drill home the significance of education and training, whether formal or informal. Let them know that to be a successful entrepreneur, they will need a solid educational foundation.

So go and cheer, cheer, cheer for your teenpreneurs!!!

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Smooth Mooove – Senior Relocation Services

The first time I heard about Smooth Moove it was the AMI course offered by WEDA, a nonprofit that women business owners and those aspiring to be. Adrienne Simpson and her company was an example of how helpful the program could be. She defied the odds, after having to move her elderly mother from Georgia to Michigan, she realized there could be a need for a specific service to a specific market, The Elderly and has since built a $550K + a year company, from hard work, passion and the desire to be of service.

Adrienne feels since seniors have lived in their home for a lifetime their move situation is delicate and very different from any other move. “They’ve raised families and are surrounded by special memories, precious heirlooms, and family history. Suddenly the home they once loved is now overwhelming with responsibilities and difficult to live in. When a decision is made for a senior to relocate to a smaller home that’s right for them seniors need assistance and lot’s of it”. “When a senior moves, they downsize. They don’t take everything with them”.

The Smooth Mooove site is loaded with information from the services they offer to moving tips, also because of her hard work Adrienne and Smooth Mooove are always in the media. Here’s a clip of her below:

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There are only 24 hours in a day, seven days in a week, four weeks in a month, and 12 months in a year – how am I supposed to get everything done that I have to do? Work, play, children, significant others, friend, family and me – this is all too much. Constantly running from here to there – please help!

Time can manage you or you can manage your time! I fall into the trap of letting time manage me when I don’t make time to sit down and put things into perspective and prioritize the events of my day. There is so much that I want/need to accomplish and most times think I have to do it all today. Leaving me so overwhelmed and then it comes: The big melt down / shut down and I do nothing.

So, as a gentle reminder to me – I follow these tips daily! Of course I must have two different categories: some of the things that I practice already and some that I will incorporate.

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Credit is an important aspect of our economy, it’s used to determine how responsible you are financially. And the same is true for businesses, although used differently, business owners, purchase start-up items, pay employees and float the company through hard times, companies are still judged for credit worthiness by their credit score.

First things first, personal credit and business credit are not one in the same and to start building your business credit you must completely separate the two. Simple because if things don’t pan out with your business you will not be destroyed personally. And also the same with business, you want your business to be able to stand alone, so if your personal credit is altered in anyway you don’t want the efforts of your business to suffer.

To begin you must first be recognized by your state as a business by becoming incorporated or form an LLC. If you are a sole proprietor you can’t separate business and personal so your personal credit will always be used for your business.

After following the steps to starting your business, see E-Book, “Starting your Small Business the Right Way”, you should open a business credit file with all three business credit reporting agencies; Experian B.I.S., Dun & Bradstreet, and Equifax S.B.F.E.

Then, get five vendors and/or suppliers that will extend a small amount of credit to your business and report your payment histories to the agencies. There are various ways to obtain lines of credit, through banks, credit unions, retail stores and wholesalers.

Also, you will need to get three business credit cards that are not connected to your personal credit history and that will also report to the business credit reporting agencies but it’s a must that you pay all your bills on time.

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Do you have a brilliant business idea and are wondering if now is the time and the right place to get your business started? A little research goes a along way, what’s the saying? “Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail”, it’s so true.

Location is everything, and according to Forbes some cities are better than others. After surveying the 200 largest metropolitan cities;key factors in composing the list where income growth, migration trends over the past five years, labor supply, quality of life, crime rates, colleges, cultural and recreational opportunities.

And for the last three years, Raleigh, NC is #1, partially due to their strong job growth. It seems the workforce there is highly educated and the cost of doing business is low.

Austin, TX, skyrocketed from 47th place last year to #8 this year with the fifth fastest projected annual job growth rate of 2.3%. Other southern cities to make the list is Nashville, TN coming in at 25th and my city, Atlanta just above that at 24th place

Some states have multiple cities that are small business friendly, North Carolina has 6 in the top 25, Colorado is mentioned four times and Texas three!

Based on other criterias, such as entrepreneurial spirit, faith, openness and energy, places such as Portland Oregon, Orlando, Florida, San Diego, California,Phoenix, Arizona, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Madison, Wisconsin and Youngstown, Ohio are listed too!

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When it comes to running a successful business, people often wonder how to find balance between personal time and the hustle and flow of 24-hour days it takes to run a business. Because of the sacrifice, commitment and dedication both require, being able to finesse the two can be tricky.

The early stages of business requires nurturing and involvement in every aspect of the operation, but having to decide business or pleasure isn’t easy or fair, and can be accomplished without a choice, check out couples making bank

It’s all about balance, communication, understanding and compromise from both parts.

Your partner should be fully supportive of what you are trying to accomplish and if not, you may have to re-evaluate whether or not this is the right relationship for you or the right time to start a business.

Establishing a schedule and going that extra mile to stick with it helps, singling out time for work and time for a personal life may seem odd, simply because most people don’t like structure (me included, why can’t someone just add more hours in the day? Huh? All these inventions popping up, can I get some more hours in the day, please?). Anywho, yes, emergencies will come, systems will crush and supplies will not always arrive as scheduled, but it’s important to physically and mentally be available, so your other half isn’t left feeling neglected and second to your business.

And of course communication is always important, communicate and than communicate more, keeping them informed of your schedule no matter how many times in change in a day will make them feel apart of you and what you are doing. And finally the key ingredient is The Art of Compromise, you know that give and take stuff people are always talking about.

Success is a state of mind and having it all is no fun if there’s no one to share it with. African American women are starting businesses more than any other group of people, one because we have too and two because we want too but we also want love, happiness and all that other ish….

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Nearly 3 million workers got a pay raise in July when the federal minimum wage in the United States rose from $6.55 to $7.25 an hour.

Now I know $.70 doesn’t sound like much, but if you’re a minimum wage worker in the United States, every penny counts. With food, gas and everything else under the sun going up in cost, the bump in pay came at a time when many people needed it the most.

On the flip side, the increase has some politicians and small businesses upset, they feel this could devastate employers and financially cripple businesses.

So the question is: Will it help or hurt?
That depends on whom you’re asking.

Clearly, it will help millions of Americans who are scraping by. Over the last two years, minimum wage workers have seen their paychecks increase three times as part of the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007. Yet, most still struggle on poverty level wages of $14,500 a year. And that’s factoring in the recent wage increase.

But from a business standpoint, if your sales are slow, cost are increasing you can’t afford to compensate your vendors and the extra income would also mean the business paying more in employers’ tax than the increase could mean laying off workers or even possibly closing your doors.
The extra money is expected to generate an economic boost — $5.5 billion in additional consumer spending, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C. think tank, this will be good for the economy and we need it.

One way this could benefit both is to support small businesses more, I personally have made a challenge to myself that I will spend a minimum of 10% of my purchases with small businesses. It may take a little more effort to find them but the reward will be great for the economy.

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For people that believe in the power of the stars, they can draw inspiration from their astrological sign regarding business practices. In fact, it’s a little known fact that several of the signs are actually more geared towards entrepreneurial pursuits than others.

For example, Sagittarius have great business personalities, as they are confident and highly assertive. In fact, according to a recent poll, around 45% of Sagittarius start-up business owners say they will become millionaires in the next five years. Yes, I am a Sag but I promise I didn’t make this stuff up, lol. But it does explain why I get so focus on my business.

In addition to Sagittarius, Capricorns also have great entrepreneurial personalities, as they are realistic about their goals and are more pragmatic, generally speaking. Aquarians start businesses early and Virgos have the patience needed to be successful in business.

Taurus are great managers, as they tend to be more stubborn and bullish, translating into the ability to fight for their staff.

However, all business personalities could learn something from the sign of Sagittarius.

According to Tina Thompson, of the Association of Professional Astrologers, ““If life vindicates our beliefs, we might all benefit from embodying more Sagittarius faith and optimism. While we’re clearly governed by our astrological traits, I also believe the horoscope of the business itself will have an equally critical influence on its success or failure.”

So, what’s your sign? And what does it say about you? Check it out

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It’s never too early to begin teaching your children valuable money lessons.

In fact, teaching your kids how to manage their money is probably one of the greatest lessons that a parent can teach a child. Money management skills aren’t taught at most schools. That means it’s up to parents to equip our children with the tools they need to manage their money the right way – with saving, investing, giving back and learning how to make smart purchases.

When to Begin?
As soon as they are able to comprehend spending they should be taught management. My four year old, a toy fanatic, knows that if he helps mom in the office, emptying the trash and arranging the waiting room chairs he can get $5. But of that $5 he must put $2 in his piggy bank. It took some getting use too because of course he wants the most expensive toy in the store.

It’s Good To Earn
Money doesn’t grow magically from Mom and Dad’s ATM card; it is earned, especially when it is given as an allowance for chores jobs outside of a child’s daily work. Requiring that they save a percentage of what they earn instill good saving habits early.

Make It A Game
Saving doesn’t have to be boring or some stressful event that they see as depriving them of fun. Get your child their very own bank account. Make how much they save a “game” that rewards them with a match – your special rewards to them for saving at the end of each month. Teach them to appreciate the power of a growing savings account early.

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I’m so happy to see that the US of A is running our country very similar to that of successful small businesses that are sustaining it. As you all know I love my president, his has so much swag it’s ridiculous but my first presidential love will be somewhat eternal for Former Pres. Bill Clinton, I was so for Hillary when the presidential race began a couple years ago, simply to get Bill back in the White House.

So to see Former Pres. Clinton on CNN, to say I was elated would be an understatement, hadn’t saw him in a while and he looked great. My joy rose to the 10th power when the freed journalist stated among the leaders of the rescue process was the one and only Pres. Obama is was amazing. That is until the reporter on CNN had to have Rev. Jess Jackson, chime in, and as always he subtly tried to cast an unified cloud over the situation. Can somebody please tell Mr. Jackson to stop speaking for us, please. Is it me? or Does anybody else not understand what the world he be saying? I just can’t make out his speech… but anywho.

Laura Ling, a 32-year-old California native, is the younger sister of Lisa Ling, a correspondent for CNN, “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and “National Geographic Explorer.” and another journalist Euna Lee, 36, a South Korean-born U.S. citizen, were arrested near the North Korean-Chinese border in March while on a reporting trip for Current TV and quickly sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Pres. Clinton met with communist leader Kim Jong Il on Tuesday to secure the women’s release, he went as an unofficial representative and was able to gain such a position because he was the only recent president who had considered visiting North Korea while in office, and had actually sent his secretary of state, Madeleine Albright. They respect him and he had contacts.

Several things that made that situation possible was the USA ability to form a team with a strong reputation and exceptional ability to communicate. There was no one person that required the glorification and the most important fact or all is the ability to have contacts that can make a phone call or two because if you can’t get your foot in the door, you can’t let your star shine.

So network, network, network! Your network is your networth, as I’ve been told numerous times by my mentors.

And that my friends is Small Business 101.

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