Teens keep the Spirit of Entrepreneurship alive and well in Urban America

Whoever said "youth is wasted on the young" never met a growing number of ambitious, industrious teenagers who are self-made millionaires. 

A recent story in the Wall Street Journal highlights several not-yet-legal adolescents who are forging their way to riches as business owners. 

While most of the students profiled in the article live in the tech-rich Silicon Valley area of the country, it's important to know that -- among the youth, in particular -- the spirit of entrepreneurship is alive and well throughout every nook and cranny of America. In fact, teens and young adults are increasingly learning how to successfully mix their academic studies with their business pursuits, regardless of their age.
That's why colleges large and small, from coast to coast, now offer majors in entrepreneurship; many colleges without a full-fledged entrepreneurship major offer numerous entrepreneurship-oriented classes, such as creating start-ups, writing business plans or test-marketing new products and services. 

Entrepreneur magazine has a list of some of the leading U.S. colleges offering entrepreneurship classes and majors. If you know a budding teen entrepreneur, turn him or her on to groups like CEO, the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization orSIFE, Students in Free Enterprise. 

Also, a good book on this topic is 'Campus CEO: The Student Entrepreneur's Guide to Launching a Multi-Million Dollar Business,' by Randal Pinkett, winner of 'The Apprentice' with Donald Trump. Pinkett -- who was an outstanding A-student during his college days -- often credits his interest in business and his early passion for entrepreneurship as one of the foundations for his success today as a business owner.