According to CBNC news, almost 60 percent of high schoolers want to start a business, however, they do not know how or where to start.
“It gets difficult to start at a young age with age restrictions,” business teacher Bret Robert said.. “It depends on what kind of business. There are a lot of really successful business owners that are super young.”
Many entrepreneurs began their journey by accident, including business owner Shane Scott, who owns the Sugar Shanes restaurant in downtown Augusta.
“I got to Wichita one day and said, ‘why do we have to go to Wichita to get a decent place to eat?’” Scott said. “And, my daughter said, ‘Are you part of the problem or are you part of the solution?’
Scott said he wanted to be part of the solution, and he had never owned a restaurant before, but he decided to give it a try.
For Robert, the mental part of starting a business is one of the biggest problems.
“I grew up in a town where there are a lot of people who aren’t doing very well financially, and I hate that because that gets you into the mentality of, since Mom and Dad didn’t have much I won’t either,” Robert said.
Business teacher Ryan Hull tells his students the first step to starting a business.
“You want to make sure you have the capital, which is money, and you need a solid business plan,” Hull said. “You can make a solid business plan by taking one of the entrepreneurial courses.”
Another important step is making the business into a legal entity. Scott created a limited liability company, which is a form of business structure. The four types of business structures are sole proprietorships, corporations, general partnerships, and limited liability companies.
“I went and got an LLC because it has more protection in the event of a lawsuit, ” Scott said. “Any other business structure could go after my personal assets if I was sued.”
In Scott’s experience, having a passion for the business is important.
“Do your due diligence. Make sure it is what you want to do,” said Scott. “Be very passionate about it and be so strongly committed that when adversity hits you, you know beforehand that you are going to go through it no matter what.”