Promoting a promising future: youth programs train the next generation of black entrepreneurs to run their businesses.

Youth programs train the next generation of black entrepreneurs to run their businesses

You don't have to be an adult to understand how to run a business. In fact, every year hundreds of high school, middle school and even elementary school students operate businesses in their spare time - either individually or as part of a group.

Some of these young entrepreneurs provide services such as baby-sitting, pet-sitting, lawn care or running errands for their customers. Others sell candy, household products, greeting cards and other items they buy or make themselves. In addition to helping young people earn money, these ventures reinforce strong math, reading, writing and communications skills.

To help young people learn more about how businesses work, how products and services are sold, and how business owners make money, you can enroll them in a business or entrepreneurship training program offered by local schools, or by youth or business organizations in your community. These programs can be as simple as a two-hour seminar in which young people learn basic business concepts, or as elaborate as a year-round program that actually helps teens start and operate a real business.

For example, Emmanuel Modu, founder of the Center for Teen Entrepreneurs and author of The Lemonade Stand: A Guide to Encouraging the Entrepreneur in Your Child, launched the first Teen Business Camp this summer in Newark, N.J. Twenty-three teens, ages 14 to 17, participated in skills-building workshops, developed business plans, learned to manage an investment portfolio and listened to lectures by established business experts and entrepreneurs.

At the end of this year's camp, the students began work to launch their own business, Basket Bonanza, which will manufacture and market gift baskets. Modu, a senior treasury analyst at Merrill Lynch in New York, has approached the National Black M.B.A. Association about establishing Teen Business Camps nationally.

One of the goals of any good program should be to encourage business ownership as a legitimate career option. "If you can't find a job, you can make your own," explains Sharon L. Williams, a reading resource teacher who helped establish an entrepreneurship class at Washington High School in Milwaukee.

"And even if you don't start your own business, entrepreneurship training can help you develop the kinds of skills employers need - the ability to think on your feet, make plans and service customers," Williams continues.

Last year, Williams' entrepreneurship students started a business selling milk shakes at the high school. The class made $4,500. After subtracting expenses, including the cost to rent a milk-shake machine, the students earned a profit of $1,200, which they split among themselves. In the process of running the business, the students saw how the subjects they were studying in the classroom helped them in the business. To develop a business plan, they needed strong reading and writing skills. To keep track of the money they earned, the students needed good math skills.

Experts say the best kid entrepreneur programs should feature:

* Instructors who have owned and operated a business and/or business owners from the community who work as mentors with students.

* A solid curriculum that explains business concepts in a cohesive manner and in a way children can relate to.

* Funding that includes money to finance start-ups so that young people can legitimately own and operate a business.

* An active, knowledgeable, committed program administrator and board of directors.

If you're interested in introducing young people to business ownership, you'll find a listing of several teen entrepreneurship programs in the "FYI" column in this month's Enterprise section.