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Contributed by: Erin Feese/YourHub.com on 12/10/2007

Local kids participate in event designed to foster entrepreneurship skills

Forget paper routes and babysitting jobs: Two local middle school students are earning money by making and selling their own products and learning financial skills along the way.

Lakewood seventh-graders Ian Appelgate, 13, and his cousin, Julia Pierce, 13, teamed up to organize a hot dog and food booth at the Young Entrepreneurs Marketplace held Dec. 8. The marketplace is just for young people ages 6 to 21 to display and sell their products.

The annual event is organized by Young Americans Center for Financial Education, an organization that helps kids start their own businesses and become financially savvy. There were 44 booths at the 2007 event, held at the Young Americans Belmar facility at 401 S. Pierce St.

This is the third year that Ian and Julia have participated in the marketplace. For the past two years, Ian sold signs with holiday messages and Julia sold kitchen angels made from towels and hot pads. This year, the pair decided to try something different and determined a food booth was a good idea, since there wasn't enough food for hungry shoppers at the marketplace last year.

Ian and Julia figured hot dogs would be their best entrée option, since hamburgers would be difficult to cook without a grill. Hot dogs, on the other hand, are easily kept in a crock pot.

"And a lot of people like hot dogs," Ian said.

To get ready for the marketplace, Ian and Julia visited Costco and grocery stores to determine where they would get the best prices and drafted a budget. Marketplace participants have to pay to rent their booth and for supplies, and anything after that is theirs to keep.

Even after all their careful planning, Ian and Julia didn't sell as many hot dogs as they hoped.

"I think the price was a really big deal," Ian said. The dogs were priced at $2. "We considering lowering the prices toward the end of the day, but we knew if we lowered the price, we wouldn't make any profit."

He said they made about $90 in sales from their selection of hot dogs, water, pop, chips, muffins and coffee. The bottled water was the biggest seller, he said.

"It was a lot of work trying to get the hot dogs cooked, but I enjoyed it mostly," Ian said.

After the initial investment of about $100 for supplies, the pair made a profit of about $60, since their parents helped out by buying back some of the food that didn't sell, Ian said.

"We aren't sure if we're going to do food again next year," Ian said. "We might go back to crafts."

Ian's parents, Bob and Cheryl Appelgate, said participating in the marketplace helps kids understand what it takes to run a business and all the planning involved.

"All the planning they had to do, it took a long time," Bob Appelgate said. "They had to think about how many people would show up, how many would actually buy hot dogs - really think it through."

Julia Pierce's mom, Debbie Pierce, said, "It's really hands-on. They learn the ups and downs that go along with running a business."

Julia has attended summer camps sponsored by Young Americans, and Ian learned about the organization through a course that was offered through his school. Both use the Young Americans' "kid-friendly" bank, which is specifically designed for young people.

To prepare kids for the marketplace, Young Americans offers the young businessmen and women advice on selling their products.

"They give you good lines to use and tell you how to sell, like don't be too pushy," Ian said.

Julia said she keeps in mind tips such as maintain eye contact with your customers and shake hands firmly.

"It's good advice to remember when you're out there doing business," she said.

A kids-only place to learn about money

Young Americans Center for Financial Education is a nonprofit organization committed to developing the financial literacy of young people, 21 and younger, through hands- on programs and real-life experiences that complement and reinforce each other to build life skills, work skills and financial self-sufficiency. The four programmatic areas of Young Americans are banking and personal finance, free enterprise, global economics and entrepreneurship.

The Young American Center began with the Young Americans Bank in 1987. This is the world's only state-chartered, FDIC-insured bank specifically designed for young people. It educates customers in the proper use of bank services and teaches personal financial responsibility through experience with actual banking products and services.

Young Entrepreneurs offers numerous opportunities for entrepreneurial youth, such as:

Celebration for Young Entrepreneurs - a business competition for youth

Young Entrepreneurs Tool Kit - a series of eight classes teaching kids how to start and run their own business

Get ahead for business - a curriculum- based high school program that ends with students running their own business

Young Entrepreneurs Marketplace - an annual event that provides a vibrant setting for young entrepreneurs to display and sell their products or services

In addition, the center also offers summer programs and Saturday classes for youth of all ages. To learn how your child or child's school can get involved, visit www.yacenter.org.

-- Rebecca Czarnecki
Communications assistant
Young Americans

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