Category: Business 10

Many teenagers usually have the feeling of being invincible.  They feel as if nothing in the world can weigh them down or stop them from getting what they want.  This kind of mindset, with some realism mixed in, is perfect for starting a business.  But what kind of business can a teenager start?

As Mr. Emmons says in the Business II course: “the sky is the limit.”  Unlike what many teenagers may think, there are very few limits when it comes to starting a business as a high schooler.  Of course, you cannot sell alcohol or start a tattoo parlour, but there are plenty of other profitable and interesting ideas to explore.

Etsy

For those who do not want to have “formal” jobs, Etsy is a great place to go.  Many teenagers, and adults, started their own Etsy shop when quarantine began in 2020.  They would sell their hand-made products like plushies, quilts, clothes, etc.  This is a great way for teenagers to turn whatever hobby they may into a way to make money.  It is also a great option for those who enjoy working with their hands.

Tutoring

If you took Ron Paul’s ABC course (Academic Boot Camp), you may know the technique of “talking to the wall” as a way of absorbing material better.  The Ron Paul Curriculum also advertises their forums as a great place for students to absorb material by helping teach one of their peers.  Tutoring works the same way.

Not only are you helping your client understand and learn the material, you are helping yourself absorb and remember the material better.  As an added bonus: you are getting money while you are doing it!

Traditional and Classic Businesses

When I say traditional and classic, I mean businesses like babysitting and mowing lawns.  Maybe even shovelling snow depending on where you live.

Babysitting is usually one of the first ideas a high schooler considers when they want to start a business or find a way to make some money.  While it is not for everyone, it is a great opportunity to learn how to handle children while also making some money.  Many adults have said that babysitting jobs can teach a high schooler responsibility and give them a taste of what their own parents had to deal with when they were younger.

Mowing lawns is another traditional and classic business idea for a high schooler.  If you live in a neighbourhood where people have front or backyards, you are in the right place to generate some business.   When winter comes around, you can offer to shovel snow out of people’s driveways or walkways around their house.

Like babysitting, this type of business is not for everyone.  It can be very physically demanding and requires a lot of discipline and motivation.  However, if you are willing to put the time and effort into it, you can get quite a few customers.

Fiverr

The final business idea is a less traditional idea and is not something many high schoolers would think of doing.

A Fiverr business would be starting your own profile on Fiverr and offering your services to whoever may be interested.  For example, in this Business II course, Mr Emmons uses the example of offering the service of building websites on Fiverr.

However, there are many other different services you can offer based on your strengths and interests.  You could be a graphic designer and make covers for authors or offer your services as a ghost writer.

Conclusion

As you can see, the possibilities to what you can do as a high schooler who wants to start a business are endless!  You do not have to follow anyone’s set rules.  You can start a business on whatever your interests may be.  If you like to bake new recipes, you can start selling them in your town.  If you like photography, you can create a portfolio and advertise as a photographer.

The following essay/blog post, is what I intend to write (or something close to it) on my blog that is dedicated to my writing and e-books.  At the moment, the blog is still under construction and is yet to be released into the world.

Title: It’s Called Character Development

I know I can’t be the only writer out there that created trauma for my main character and justified it as character development.

Towards the end of 2021, around the time when my two best friends left Singapore, I started writing a book for the fun of it.  There was no plan, plot, or structure laid out when I jumped in and started typing my ideas out.

I shared the few chapters I had written with my two best friends, and both of them immediately demanded I start sharing more.

So I did.

We had hour long discussions about the story and where it could go in our group chat together, laughing at stupid ideas that didn’t make any sense.  While I was the only one writing the chapters, the two of them heavily inspired what I wrote.

They loved the story.  However, they never forgave me for killing off a bunch of kids at the beginning of the book.  Sure, they were close to the main character.  And yes, they were kids.  But the main character needed something to push her into her villain arc.

I still don’t understand why they were so upset over the death of characters they didn’t even know, but they were still mad.

Naturally, I had to bring the kids back to life because…why not?

The most common question they asked me while I was writing was: why did I kill off the kids?

My answer: because I can.

It’s safe to say I had the biggest power trip writing these chapters.

Sadly, the few chapters I wrote never amounted to an actual book.  I’m pretty sure I spent more time talking about the ideas I had than writing them out.  But I’m okay with that. 

I started writing the chapters for fun and so I could start discussions and debates with my friends.  Perhaps one day I’ll come back to the chapter and build something on them.

For now, they’ll sit in my phone along with the other poems and random story ideas from my quarantine days.

Sorry book.

For Lesson 145, Mr. Emmons gave a worksheet to fill out based on what kind of website we want to create/own for our chosen business. My business is self-publishing my fictional novels on Amazon Kindle.

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For Lesson 140, Mr. Emmons gave a worksheet/table to fill out with milestones for our chosen business. My business is self-publishing my fictional novels on Amazon Kindle.

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For Lesson 123, Mr. Emmons gave a worksheet with questions to answer about our chosen business. My chosen business is to self-publish my fictional novels on Amazon Kindle.

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• Value Proposition

[I write Young Adult romance books for teens/young adults.]

• Market Need

[My goal is for my book(s) to be a stress reliever, for those who need a break from reality. Or a source of entertainment for those who want a break from electronics.]

• The Competition

[Well known authors charge $9.99-$12.99 for their books. Less known authors charge $8.99 and lower, but charge $9.99 for books that are more popular. My books will be from the range of $4.99-$7.99.]

• Target Market

[Teenagers (aged 13-18), preferably female or those who can relate to a female mindset.]

• Financials: Budgeting & Forecasting

[Each book will be priced at $4.99, but I will only get $1.50. For the first year, I want to sell 100 books in the first year. When I finish a series, I will expand into physical books and sell them in a set. Each physical book will be $15.00, I will get $12.75. I will sell a three book set for $30.00, and I will get $25.50 from each set bought.]

• Marketing Activities

[I will use Tiktok as a way to get my book known and get people interested.]

• Sales Channels

[I will regularly post excerpts, scenarios, and aesthetics on Tiktok.]

• Milestones

[Start writing novel by the beginning of 2023. Have Amazon account set up by June 2023 and Tiktok account active and set up by September 2023.]

• Your Team

[I am the author of the book, therefore I am the best person to start the marketing procedures for the first few months. A book cover designer will be hired in month 9 or 10. A marketer will be hired in month 13 or 14.]

• Funding Needs and Use of Funds

[$100 to cover book designer and marketer with some to spare.]

I have been with the Ron Paul Curriculum since 5^th Grade and I have taken almost every subject that they offered for whatever grade I was in, including 8^th Grade Personal Finance, 9^th Grade Business I, and this year’s Business course.  Throughout these grades, I have learned many business skills that are so much better than knowing how to flip a burger at the back of a fast food restaurant.  In this essay, I am going to elaborate on why knowing basic business skills are more valuable than knowing how to flip a burger.

If you are reading this essay, you are probably an RPC student and have listened to all of Mr. North’s speeches about why starting your own business or having business skills are more rewarding than burger flipping or some other kind of dull and boring job.  At this point, I am sure you are pretty sick of this spiel, and I cannot blame you.  But give this essay a chance.  After all, I’m not Mr. North.  I’m your fellow student.

Having business skills are invaluable, even if you do not plan to start a business of your own.  Business skills can be important to have during real life problems.  For example, a business skill that you can use in business and in real life is planning.  If you are working and have a certain project or presentation you have to write, you will be able to smoothly plan it like you would with a business.  Another business skill that is useful is knowing how to write a good “elevator pitch.”  Almost every line of work requires you to know how to write and present a compelling elevator pitch.

I am sure you can think of other business skills that can help in the real world.

Even if you do not want to start your business, the skills you can learn in these courses are invaluable.  They are good skills to have if you want to have a successful career in whatever industry you choose.

Thanks for reading!

For week twelve of the Business II course, I only did one lesson: Lesson 56 on app development.  In this essay, I am going to talk about this business idea and if it would suit me.

App development is simply creating your own app that solves or makes the lives of others easier.  Like the business ideas from week eight, this business allows me to get customers from all over the world and I can offer my services on freelance websites.

The only downside to the business is that it requires me to know how to code.  I am always open to learning to new things, but I have already attempted to learn how to code a few years ago and I have concluded that it is not an interest of mine.  As Mr. Emmons says at the end of every lesson, if the particular idea is not part of your interests, do not choose it.  Forcing yourself into a business you know you will not like is setting yourself up for failure.

App development is a super cool idea, and for those that enjoy coding and are good at it, this would be a fun business to run.  However, coding is not my forte and it is not something I enjoy (or am good at).  This business idea is not for me.

Thanks for reading!

For Week Eight of the Business II course, I only did two lessons: lesson 36 and lesson 39.  Both of these lessons gave two very interesting small business ideas that I can start as a high-schooler.  In this essay, I am going to compare the two ideas and decide which one would be better for me.

In lesson 36, Mr. Emmons talked about search engine optimization (SEO).  It sounds pretty intimidating, but from what I understand, there is nothing complicated about it.  When you Google a service and you see advertisements at the top of all the responses to your search, this is SEO.  For example, if you Google “movers in Singapore”, there will be advertisements at the top of the page from businesses that have invested the time to work on their SEO.

In lesson 39, Mr. Emmons talked about copywriting, which is writing advertisements for businesses to help them get customers.

Both marketing strategies have similar advantages.  They both can be done online, allowing me to get customers from around the world.  For both strategies, I can offer my services on online platforms like Fiverr or Upwork.

I cannot think of any disadvantages for copywriting, but I can think of one for SEO marketing.  I am not familiar with how SEO works or what is required for me to be successful.  While I am not opposed to learning, this will obviously take a lot of time and energy, and as Mr. Emmons and Mr. North always says, time is precious.

As you can see, both strategies are very practical for a high-schooler to do.  I will admit, neither of the ideas seem overly exciting, but it never hurts to go outside of your comfort zone to try something new.  If I have to pick between these two strategies, I would choose copywriting since I know that I am good at writing and it is something that I enjoy.

Thanks for reading!

This week in class, I read Accounting Made Simple by Mike Piper.  In Chapter Nine, the topic of cash accounting versus accrual accounting was discussed.  For a person who wants to start a business, big or small, this is a very important topic to think about.  In this essay, I am going to compare cash and accrual accounting and decide which one is better.

Cash Accounting

Cash accounting is extremely simple, and if you are a teenager who lives with their parents and have no bills to worry about, you probably use this way of accounting.  When using the cash accounting method, revenue is only recorded when cash is received and expenses are only recorded when cash is paid.  This method is great for small, cash based businesses that carry little to no inventory.  It is also very easy to manage, meaning you can take care of it on your own and will not have to spend money on outsourcing the task of bookkeeping.  However, this method does not always show the full picture and open payments will often be forgotten.

Accrual Accounting

Accrual accounting is a little more complicated than cash accounting, but it is still effective.  Revenue is recorded when earned not when cash is received, and expenses are recorded when incurred, not when cash is paid out.  This method does not track cash flow, but it does track open payments, unlike cash accounting.

Example

To make this clearer, imagine you have a lemonade stand and you use the cash accounting method.  You bring 20 glasses to the stand every day and sell each glass for $1.  One day, your friend comes to the stand and asks for 10 glasses of lemonade, but cannot pay you the $10 today.  Your friend promises to pay you back tomorrow, and you agree to sell the lemonade to them.  The day continues and you sell the last ten glasses before going back home.  When you count the money, you see that you made $10 even though you sold $20 worth of lemonade.  Since you have not received the $10 from your friend yet, it does not get accounted for. 

I am sure you can understand how this is not a good accounting method for bigger businesses that deal with more money and inventory.  It is never good to have ‘missing money.’

However, if you used accrual accounting on this situation, you would account for the open payment (the ten lemonade glasses) and your statement would show that you did make $20 for the 20 glasses.

Conclusion

As you can see, both methods have their benefits and their shortcomings.  Personally, I think both methods are good.  If you plan on having a small business and not deal with open payments, the cash accounting method will meet all your needs.  But for bigger businesses that use open payments, it is in their best interests that they use accrual accounting.

Thanks for reading!

This week in class, I learned about product and service based businesses and their meanings.  In this essay I am going to talk about my favourite product based business.

Before I begin, I am going to briefly explain what product and service businesses are.  Product based businesses are businesses that sell tangible products to their customers (e.g. bookstores, stationary stores, clothing stores, etc.…).  Service based businesses are those that offer services to their customers (e.g. lawnmowers, pet groomers, electricians, etc.…).  There are also businesses that are product and service based.  The most common example I can think of are restaurants.

When it comes to shopping, I am not very picky.  However, my favourite and most frequented product based business is Kinokuniya.  For those that may not know, Kinokuniya is a Japanese bookstore chain that is spread across Asia.  There are also a few stores in the USA, but the majority of the physical locations are in Asia.

As you can see, product and service based businesses are everywhere.  Next time you go to the mall, try to see if you can find a service based business.  Odds are there are only one or two.

Thanks for reading!