低下你的头听好了：8个身家百万的儿童创业者教你怎么成功
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本文为与《创业者》杂志的合作内容。原文最初发表于Entrepreneur.com网站。 如今，成为百万富翁不存在年龄的限制，许多青少年在获得投票权之前便已经创造了大笔财富。他们是小公司的老板、发明家和创业者。我也在大约11岁的时候开始创业——经营一个糖果摊，后来扩张到了四个！不过，与这些孩子们相比，我的经历根本不值一提！ 同样，所谓学无先后，达者为师。这些孩子很早就从自己的失败中汲取教训，但依旧决定坚持下去，让自己在下一次做得更好。如果你还没有赚得第一桶金，或许隔壁邻居家的小朋友能够教你两手。 下文介绍的八位小孩已经赚得百万身家，看看他们的创业之路能够带给你什么启迪。 1. EvanTube频道的埃文 在老爸的帮助下，年仅8岁的埃文推出了自己的YouTube频道——EvanTube，每年能够赚得大约130万美元的收入。他在这个频道评论玩具，谈论同龄小孩关注的话题，已经培养了一群将与他一起成长的小观众。YouTube上有许多百万富翁。所以，如果你也拥有足够吸引眼球的超凡魅力，这里可以提供一个免费的场所，让你创建自己的品牌。不幸的是，很少有创业者能像埃文那么萌。 2. 克里斯蒂安•欧文斯 受史蒂夫•乔布斯的启发，欧文斯在16岁时就赚到了他的第一个100万。他在少年时期就有了自己的PC机（很快又换成了一台Mac电脑），上中学时自学了网页设计。14岁时，他成立了自己的设计公司。作为Mac Bundle Box的创始人，他与开发者和制造商谈判，为客户提供简单的优惠套餐。要问他的经验是什么，那就是追随你的兴趣，结交良师益友，找出方法以更低的价格满足人们的需求。 3. 亚当•海德里希 海德里希在14岁的时候便与朋友们一起创建了社交网站Dubit。这个网站在英国非常受欢迎，到16岁生日的时候，他的银行账户上已经有370万美元。他后来又创办了一家软件公司Crisp，旨在保护孩子们免受网络掠夺者的伤害。追随潮流没有错，但如果你希望继续成功，最好找到拓展业务的方式，并进行创新。 4. 卡梅隆•约翰逊 在约翰逊11岁的时候，他的父母要求他为一次邻居派对设计邀请卡。客人们都很喜欢他的邀请卡，并开始付钱请他设计卡片。他在14岁时成立了“Cheers and Tears”，后来又投身在线广告业和软件开发。他在高中时的月收入已经达到40万美元。他带给我们的经验就是：把每一件事都做好，不要害怕尝试新事物（或新行业）。 5. 杰夫、戴维和凯瑟琳•库克 这三位充满活力的兄妹，就是目前仍然极具人气的社交媒体网站“MyYearbook”的创办者，该网站立足于美国的校园。兄妹三人当时刚刚来到新的学校，希望认识新朋友，而在线年鉴似乎是寻找新朋友最合适的地方。当时，Facebook尚未变成家喻户晓的品牌。他们带给我们的经验就是：裙带关系有时候是有效的，只要你能找到市场中的差异，你就有望成为那个填补这个缝隙，并从中获利的人。 6. 法勒哈德•埃希德瓦拉 16岁的埃希德瓦拉是印度孟买的一名学生，同时也是Rockstah Media的创始人。该公司是一家综合性市场营销机构，在全世界约有20名员工。埃希德瓦拉说道：“我的团队便是公司的骨干。”经验？每个人每天都拥有同样多的时间，既然受到各种限制的人（比如孩子）可以经营好一家公司，你肯定也可以。 7. 埃米尔•摩迪卡 埃米尔•摩迪卡在9岁时成立了一家草坪修剪公司，等到他18岁的时候，这家公司变成了Motycka Enterprises。为了跟上对一位青少年的所有要求，他经常会熬夜工作。摩迪卡说：“我平均每晚睡四个小时”。当然，如此少的睡眠或许并不值得鼓励，但坚持不懈的毅力，以及为了完成工作不惜付出一切的决心，肯定能帮你达到他的高度。 8. 卖狗粮的莱恩 参加过《创智赢家》的孩子屈指可数，莱恩便是其中之一。上小学时，他出售了自己公司25%的股份，赚了25,000美元。现年12岁的莱恩是一位年轻的创业者，也是一个狗粮品牌Barkery的创始人。他所处的是一个能够抵御经济衰退的行业（宠物用品）。他的经验？寻找你自己的细分市场。它就在那里，正等着你去发现。 读到这里，你是否觉得自己已经过了成为百万富翁的年纪？不妨再想想。经验和成熟自有其优势。（财富中文网） 译者：刘进龙/汪皓 审校：任文科 |
This post is in partnership with Entrepreneur. The article was originally published at Entrepreneur.com. There’s no age limit when it comes to being a millionaire these days, and a handful of kids have struck it rich well before they can legally vote. They’re small business owners, inventors and entrepreneurs. I started as an entrepreneur when I was around 11 years old with my first candy stand, which grew to four candy stands, but that was nothing compared to some of these kids! There’s is no age limit, either, when it comes to learning from others. These impressive kids learned from their own failures early in life but determined to keep going and to do it better the next time around. If you haven’t made your first million yet, the teen next door might actually be able to teach you something. Check out these eight kids who made a million, or more, and what you can learn from their success: 1. Evan of EvanTube With the help of his dad, this 8-year-old launched his own YouTube channel, titled EvanTube, and rakes in about $1.3 million each year. He reviews toys, talks about things that other kids his age are into, and he’s secured an audience that will grow with him. There are quite a few YouTube millionaires, so if you have the charisma to pull it off, it’s a free avenue for creating your own brand. Unfortunately, few entrepreneurs have the cuteness factor of Evan on their side. 2. Christian Owens His motivator was Steve Jobs, and that’s how Owens made his first million at the age of 16. He got his own PC computer as an adolescent (soon followed by a Mac) and taught himself web design in middle school. By the age of 14, he’d started his own design company. Founder of Mac Bundle Box, he negotiated with developers and manufacturers to offer simple, discounted packages for his customers. The lesson? Follow your passions, claim your mentors and find a way to give people what they want for less. 3. Adam Hildreth When he was just 14, Hildreth got together with friends to create Dubit—a social networking site. It was wildly popular in the UK and by his sixteenth birthday he had nearly $3.7 million in the bank. He then moved on to developing Crisp, which is a software company that helps protects kids from online predators. There’s nothing wrong with jumping on a trending bandwagon, but if you want continued success then find a way to branch out from it and innovate. 4. Cameron Johnson Johnson was asked by his parents to develop invitation cards for a neighborhood party when he was 11. The guests adored the cards and started paying him to craft their own personal use cards. He founded “Cheers and Tears” by 14, then Cameron moved on to online advertising and software development. By high school, his monthly income was around $400,000. The lesson? Do everything well and don’t be afraid to try new things (or industries). 5. Geoff, Dave, and Catherine Cook These dynamic siblings are behind, “MyYearbook,” a (still) popular social media site that’s based on where you went to school. These kids had just moved to a new school and wanted to make new friends, so an online yearbook seemed like the perfect place to start. This was before Facebook was a household name. The lesson? Sometimes nepotism works, and if you find a disparity in the market, you can be the one to fill it. 6. Farrhad Acidwalla In between attending school in Mumbai, India, this 16-year-old is the founder of Rockstah Media. It’s a comprehensive marketing agency boasting 20 employees around the world. “My team is the backbone of my company,” says Acidwalla. The lesson? Everyone has the same hours in the day, so if even those with limitations (like being a kid) can grow a company like this, so can you. 7. Emil Motycka What started as a lawn mowing business when he was nine turned into Motycka Enterprises by the time he was 18. In order to keep up with all the demands of a teenager, he works the graveyard shift and says, “I sleep four hours a night on average” and call it sleep for the week. That amount of sleep might not be the best advice, but perseverance, and being willing to do what it takes to get the work done, can certainly get you to his level. 8. Ryan of “Ryan’s Barkery” One of the handful of kids featured on “Shark Tank,” as an elementary school kid, Ryan raked in $25,000 for 25 percent of his business. Now Ryan is 12 years old, and is the young entrepreneur and founder of a dog treat bakery. He is building his business in an industry (pet pampering) that’s recession-proof. The lesson? Find your own niche, it’s there waiting for you. Think you’re beyond the age limit to make a million? Think again. Experience and maturity come with their own benefits. |
转：http://www.fortunechina.com/business/c/2015-01/19/content_234847.htm?source=yd