In elementary school I bought candy at wholesale prices and sold it at a markup. I raised prices as the school day went on. When people wanted certain types of candy in which I had a short supply of often creating bidding wars between classmates. In middle school I noticed my mom’s co-workers complaining about yard work. Together we sat down and looked at the military pay scale and based our prices off of rank. In high school instead of buying me a car we brought a semi-truck and started a trucking company. After coming up with the idea for Business Empire Magazine in March of this year, I spent the entire summer building it with no experience and launched it in August. Doing better than expected the first month has caused me to start my search for professional guidance. But not to make myself seem spectacular by any means, I’ve had plenty of ideas that have been complete duds. It was my mom’s love of numbers and math that molded my understanding of managing finances (at 16 I completely managed the family’s budget).

I do not feel that I’m better than any other person or entrepreneur but my highly competitive nature has always made me want to be considered one of the best at whatever I do. Even with that being said it was having the courage to try different business ideas that has allowed me the opportunity to tell about my entrepreneurial endeavors. It takes courage to act on an opportunity. I found my courage when I was considered different than most kids my age (didn’t talk about my businesses because of this when I was younger) and to took my lunch money in elementary school and bought the candy knowing if it didn’t sell—I didn’t eat lunch that day. However, I had planned for weeks walking 20 minutes to a bus stop near a guy who sold candy before and after school, to see his prices (the bus stopped right in front of my house). I eventually worked a partnership deal with him but moved to Okinawa, Japan just a few weeks afterwards so it never really matured.

Courage may not be talked about much but it takes a great deal of it to be successful in business. One of the most daunting tasks is approaching a potential customer or investor and convincing them to support your product. Every customer is unique meaning that it’s not one of those things that will only happen once. Even the greatest idea is pointless if you are not willing to take the necessary steps to ensure its success. Courage comes when you have a true understanding of you chances of failing and accept them. It may be a spur of the moment decision or in most cases a well calculated risk. I took a job working in the Car audio section of Best Buy because I thought that car customization was a potential business I would like to have. My mom thought I was out of my mind and was completely against the idea, since I was a sophomore in college and already had the trucking company.

Without courage no business can take the necessary steps to grow. People often ask me how it feels to work for myself at a young age and I’ve always felt “I don’t work for myself, I work for my customers,” to provide them the best services that I am capable of. I compare being an entrepreneur to a roller coaster as it is one of the scariest yet thrilling things that I’ve done. Much like riding a roller coaster the adrenaline rush keeps some coming back and sends others heading for the hills. Do you have the courage necessary to grow your business?