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Where it all Starts

Being a successful business owner starts with being a successful customer, or consumer. You know that the money Grandma gives you on birthdays won't buy everything you wanted, so you have to decide which things you want to buy and where you want to buy them. As a consumer, you've probably learned to look around at the options available to you. You know which stores have the styles you like, which have the best prices, and which restaurants give you free refills on Coke. 

These things all go into your mental files, which help you decide where you want to spend your (or Grandma's) money. Businesses are successful when they bring in more money than they spend providing their products. As a consumer, you have firsthand knowledge of what you like and don't like about the businesses you've come in contact with. That knowledge gives you a head start in becoming a successful entrepreneur, or 'trep. 

Be sure to check out the current and past issues of Y&E magazine, which gives you thousands of great ideas from teens just like you who have taken the first steps to becoming 'treps. If you've already got a successful biz, be sure to e-mail us and tell us about it and get a listing for your biz online at our Biz Pages. Who knows, maybe we'll see you in the pages of YoungBiz!