Cody Chang and Jonathan Mohan didn’t even know what an entrepreneur was when they signed up for a class on business and entrepreneurship at their local YMCA.
But the two high schoolers did know they were intrigued by the free classes offered by FutureWorks to ninth and tenth graders interested in starting a business.
Mohan and Chang paired up to start their own fruit smoothie enterprise. Their brainchild, Deloozie’s, won them the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship regional business plan competition and secured them a mentor from Smith Barney as well as $1,200 in seed money.
Smoothies will be grouped, not by flavors, but by categories like “Oh, I forgot my breakfast!” and “Oh, I forgot my lunch!” And each frozen beverage will come with funny facts and prizes will be awarded to customers who can correctly answer trivia questions, Mohan says.
More and more high schools are getting into the start-up game with entrepreneurial classes for students interested in learning about launching their own businesses.
Photo by Kene Turner.
Len on October 24th, 2006 at 6:39 pm
Chang and Mohan are a good example of the creativity exhibited by younger people. Younger entrepreneurs often have fresh ideas and less fear. This can sometimes lead to a very successful outcome. More schools should have entrepreneur programs for their students - it could definitely give them a real kick start earlier on in life.