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The CEO Manual 4 Kids
- 1. The CEO Manual4 Kids Powerful, dynamic CEOs aren't born that way; they are carefully nurtured and sculpted. Even the Jack Welches and Bill Gates' of the world were once just motivated kids looking for the tools they needed to fulfill their dreams and turn their ideas into reality. Too often, adults dismiss the natural skills and "out-of-the-box" business ideas of youth, simply because of the entrepreneur's age. America needs to stop and take note of these up-and-coming business titans and give them the encouragement and training they need to rise to their full potential. In 1976, 16-year-old Steve Jobs, along with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, founded Apple Computer in Jobs' parents' garage. That collaboration would eventually launch the Macintosh computer, iTunes, the iPod, the iPad and other devices that have become all, but essential to the way we live. In 2005, "People" magazine called Jobs the "Father of the Digital Age." More recently, Mark Zuckerberg was just 19 years old when he launched what would become Facebook in his Harvard University dorm room in 2003. By age 23, Zuckerberg was a billionaire and named by "Time" magazine as one of the wealthiest and most influential men in the world. His creation now helps more than one billion individuals and businesses interact with one another and has changed the way the world communicates. Jobs and Zuckerberg aren't isolated examples. In 2010, "Inc." magazine profiled 10 teenagers whose ideas and leadership have earned them at least $1 million. These included a 17-year-old who sold his mobile news app to Yahoo! for $30 million and a teen whose online furniture business, started in his bedroom when he was just 14 years old, is now reported to be worth more than $40 million. Fastupfront.com talks about other teen entrepreneurs, like a 14-year-old Brit with a passion for fruit jam, who started a company that now grosses more than 1.2 million in annual sales, and a teen from the south side of Chicago, who became the world's youngest self-made millionaire (outside of the entertainment industry) at age 14 and is now a motivational speaker and author. The role of entrepreneurs in the United States According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the more than 25 million small businesses in the United States provide more than half of the private sector jobs in the U.S., generate more than half of the country's gross national product and are the prime source for new jobs in America. The role of small businesses and the entrepreneurs who run them cannot be overstated. Why cultivating young entrepreneurs is important A 2005 U.S. Department of Labor study found that more than two-thirds of American teenagers want to become entrepreneurs. Despite this desire, there are few training courses available in schools about entrepreneurship as a career path. Yet, young entrepreneurship is on the rise. According to a study by the Kaufman Foundation, 29 percent of new entrepreneurial activity in 2011 was by individuals between 20 and 34 years of age. However, young business leaders face a host of challenges their older competitors don't have to deal with, such as not being taken seriously by financial backers and even customers
- 2. and potential employees. PrincetonCorporate Solutions