Brothers who mean business: twins De'On and De'Juan Collins view entrepreneurial pursuits as key to building wealth.

DE'JUAN AND DE'ON COLLINS ARE amazed at the money you can make when you tap into the right market. The Lubbock, Texas, natives graduated from Texas Tech in December 2006 with degrees in finance and stewardship of their 2-year-old real estate investment-company. While at Texas Tech, the two created an entertainment promotions company that organized parties for students, grossing from $1,700 to $2,000 per event. By 2005, their enterprise produced nearly $75,000 in gross revenues.

The brothers ended the promotions venture, selling two binding contracts to another collegiate promotions firm and pocketing $10,000. They used their proceeds for a down payment on a housing unit they had been eyeing. "Our thought was not to buy property under our own name," says De'On. "We were advised not to do that.

In January 2005, their junior year, the brothers formed a limited partnership, Collins Capital Investments. Collins Capital grossed more than $109,000 its first year. Most of that money came from property sales; about 16% came from rental income, notes De'Juan. "When you're first going into a deal," says De'On, "you make your money in how you buy the property." The brothers look for distressed properties to which they can add value. In their area, the average value of a low- to moderate-income residential home is $120,000. "The last property we bought [at $200,000] was a little more expensive than we normally deal with," De'Juan says. After $10,000 worth of renovations, the brothers sold the property for $250,000.

"We've been taking it day by day; looking at different properties to find the return requirements we're set up for," explains De'Juan, and, "working with different contractors to handle foundation issues, floor plan changes, and outdated amenities in older homes."

The 21-year-old identical twins always knew they wanted to work for themselves. "You would never build wealth working for somebody else," De'On believes. "You would only do as well as the guy on top wanted you to."

Their entrepreneurial attitude was born and nurtured out of necessity, according to the twins' mother, LaJuanda Jones. When Jones found herself a divorced mother of four small children, she went back to college and later opened a daycare center.

"Entrepreneurship was my way of showing them they don't have to settle for where they are," Jones says. "It takes a lot of sacrifice. But I tried to teach them not. to let their circumstances dictate what they can or cannot do."

The importance of encouraging entrepreneurial interests among youth--within families, neighborhoods, and larger communities--strikes at the heart of BLACK ENTERPRISE Declaration of Financial Empowerment Principle No. 7: to provide access to programs that will educate my children about business and finance. There are plenty of resources available for parents that will help their children learn about business and finance including camps, economics programs, clubs, and associations.

You can never start too early learning about the right way to grow your money, says Randal Pinkett, chairman and CEO of BCT Partners and author of the book, Campus CEO: The Student Entrepreneur's Guide to Launching a Multimillion Dollar Business. "There [are] a lot of things that can come up, a lot of things that can discourage you, but just be persistent," says the 2006 winner from The Apprentice television show. Pinkett also notes that colleges often offer a wealth of resources, including guidance from business and law professors and services through free legal clinics on campus.

Declaration Of Financial Empowerment

From this day forward, I declare my vigilant and lifelong commitment to financial empowerment. I pledge the following:

1] To use homeownership to build wealth

2] To save and invest 10% to 15% of my after-tax income

3] To commit to a program of retirement planning and investing

4] To engage in sound budget, credit, and tax management practices

5] To measure my personal wealth by net worth, not income

6] To be proactive and knowledgeable about investing, money management, and consumer issues

7] To provide access to programs that will educate my children about business and finance

8] To support the creation and growth of profitable, competitive black-owned enterprises

9] To use a portion of my wealth to strengthen my community

10] To ensure that my wealth is passed on to future generations

PRINCIPLE 7

To provide access to programs that will educate my children about business and finance

Tools for teaching entrepreneurship and money management are readily handy. The Collins brothers and business experts share the following lessons:

* Attend money camps and programs. There are roughly 40 camps around the country that teach youth how to invest or start a business They include The Black Enterprise Kidpreneurs Conference (800-209-7229), The Bull and Bear Investment Camp (800-761-0274), YoungBiz Better Investing and YoungBiz 'Trep Camps (888-543-7929; www.youngbiz.com), The Enterprise Center Youth Entrepreneurship Boot Camp (215-895-4000), Stock Market Game (212-618-0519; www.stockmartketgame.org), Camp Start-Up and Summer Stock (805-965-0457), and the NAACP Reginald F. Lewis Youth Entrepreneurial institute (410-580-5745, www.naacp.org).

* Seek out advisers. "Real estate investing is not just something you can jump into, throw some money at it, and work part-time," says De'Juan. "My brother and I definitely talk to people in the field." The twins also interned for a local real estate company, Stellar Development and Management. "That really helped in terms of the sophistication of our underwriting; how to manage our properties," adds De'Juan.

* Become a private investor. For young entrepreneurs like the Collins brothers, Pinkett says the next step might include private equity. "Obviously it's a higher risk; it's also a potentially higher reward if you get in at the right level at the right time with an emerging venture," he says. Members of the Angel Capital Association (www.angelcapitalassociation.org; 913-523-5543) range from novices to experts. "That would be a great community to begin networking in, not only to learn more about investing but also to be a conduit to finding prospective deals."