Teen Entrepreneurs

USA Today has a couple of articles on teenage entrepreneurs in today's issue.

Many entrepreneurial kids will use their businesses to scrape together summer spending money, but the fledgling firms can blossom into something much bigger.

As a teenager, Tommy Hilfiger sold customized clothes in his Elmira, N.Y., hometown. Microsoft maven Bill Gates co-founded a data business that focused on traffic counts, Traf-O-Data, when he was in high school.

Besides that article they have a side article on tips from teens on starting a business. For example:

"Allow your business to grow, and then grow your equipment into your business," says Rice, echoing advice he was given by others. He invested in his first riding mower at age 12 (bought at a yard sale with savings from a newspaper route) and as his customer base grew, he conservatively bought more equipment.

Many dot-com businesses should have followed the same advice!