Micro Business for Teens Course Review

I am seriously excited to be bringing Micro Business for Teens for review to all of you!  This is a book course perfect for homeschoolers or any teen in general who is interested in starting a  small (or micro) business.

We received the following in E-book format:

Starting a Micro Business - $9.95 book and $4.95 e-book
Running a Micro Business - $9.95 book and $4.95 e-book
Micro Business for Teens Workbook- $14.95 book and $9.95 e-book

Age Range:
It is suggested for ages 10-18.  I think this is a very good guideline.  I would add to it that your 10 year old might want to revisit the course again either for reference or just reinforcement unless they are very business-minded.  I would also like to add that I think this set would be great for college aged kids and would even extend that recommendation to age 21! 

About:

Carol Topp authored this set of books to help kids learn the ins and outs of running their own business.  They will cover topics like: picking a business, financing a business and legal issues. 

There are 4 books in the series (the three I received are listed above) and the forth is Money and Taxes in a Micro Business.  You can choose from ebook or regular soft bound books.


How we used this book:

We received the ebook so I printed out all three books.  Then I used a big binder and just put binder separators in between the individual text so we could flip though easily.  Since the course is in the binder it was very durable.

Next I started by reading the beginning of Starting a Micro Business.  I wanted to read along with my son so I would know exactly what he was learning.  Once I read chapter one (took me very little time).  I planned out a schedule for him.

It looked like this:

Week 1-
Day 1 (Tuesday):  Read pages 7-12
Day 2:  Workbook pages: 7-12
Day 3: add additional thoughts to workbook page 12


Then I handed over the binder to my 13 year old.  This is where things took off.  I honestly didn't have to make another schedule after week 2!  He flew through the material, devouring it.  He has always been business minded and I knew this would be a hit with him.  This course came at a perfect time for him.  At 13 he has been searching for ways he could earn extra money.  He found several ideas in the book.

So for this review we were not required to start a micro business.  However, he has! I think this course was just the jump start he needed.  I'm guessing that it all just clicked in his brain once given some straight information.  He is funding his business entirely with his own money (because he learned in this course not to go into debt.)  He will handle all the customer relations as well.  I believe he will grow tremendous knowledge during this time by having his first business - which is exactly what we read in Starting a Micro Business - that he would learn as he was growing his business!

One of the things that he was supposed to do with the course was to give a little pitch about his business and see what people's reactions/advice would be.  Now my 13 year old is not super comfortable with doing this kind of thing but he BLOSSOMED!!  He first called his grandmother who owns her own small business.  She gave him so tips that included making sure there was a market for the service.  Next he went to church and told several members about his idea.  It was very well received with some of the men saying they would buy the product!  What was really special was later when the adults told me how impressed they were with how he pitched his idea and presented himself.

So what is his little business?  It is marshmallow shooter!  It is a fun little gun that he can make almost entirely alone and sell  at craft shows.  He has his first table planned for the end of May!

My closing thoughts:

I personally loved this course.  To see my kid grow and be working on a project to achieve his personal goals was pretty awesome.  The books were written at a easy level that kids can relate to and learn from.  This is not a super tough hard core business course but your child will walk away with the skills necessary to start their own business.  I really liked that it was clear on how to fund the business, what kind of businesses were practical for teens and how to price product accordingly.

We are in the testing stage of my 13 year old's business.  This means we are making prototypes and next weekend we will make the full assembly for the craft show.  I'm excited to see how this micro business takes off.  I'm thrilled that friends have helped him along the way with constructive criticism,  supplies and encouragement!  This course might have been short but it left a big impact on my teen.  I have a strong feeling we will be in business mode for years to come just from this one course!