Here is a great young entrepreneur success story that will inspire you to get your own business going! Meet Artin Afsharjavan.

When Artin was 13 years old he received $100 as a birthday gift and decided to put it towards starting his first business. He used the money to get into the soft drink vending machine industry. $20 was used for his first month’s lease payment and $80 was used to buy the drinks.

The business took off and six years later the serial entrepreneur owns an investment company, a fine dining Persian restaurant, a limousine company, apartment buildings in Virginia, and gas stations in Florida.

He graduated from high school when he was 16 and was one of the first advertisers on Google Adwords. He has also started other companies, some of which he has sold including an online marketing company that he sold to a private investor in 2004.

Not resting on his laurels, Artin still finds the time to improve his education and is taking his degree in corporate finance from John Hopkins university.

Not bad for a 19 year old entrepreneur!

His next step is trying to buy Moby Dick’s House of Kabob, a quick service chain with 13 locations. He has offered $8 million in cash for the chain and has plans to expand it across the eastern United States.

‘‘Moby Dick’s current owners have done a good job, establishing a fantastic brand and growing the chain to its present size. With our capital resources and their management, we can expand rapidly.”

Moby Dick’s, meanwhile, has no intention of selling. According to owner Mike Daryoush: ‘‘We are doing great and plan to open our 14th restaurant [this] week. That one will be in Virginia. We also have an expansion plan in this area beyond that.”

Who knows if this deal will work out but I wouldn’t rule Artin out!