Louis Barnett is a 15 year old British entrepreneur making waves in the chocolate industry. He has a great story of turning negatives into positives and overcoming obstacles to achieving success.

When Louis was 11 years old he was diagnosed with dyslexia and dyspraxia. He dropped out of school and began making chocolates at home.

In four years he has turned his hobby into a business, hired his parents, and won lucrative contracts which have allowed him to move to his own factory.

“I’ve always been a very foody person and conscious of where my food comes from. I’ve been doing bits of baking and making cakes with my mum since I was about four or five and really it was just one of my passions.”

Louis’ first machine made 12 oz (340 gram) chocolates which he would create one at a time and sell to family and friends.

The business quickly took off and since August his company has supplied 36,000 boxes various delis and supermarkets. Louis has also recently been nominated for a young entrepreneur of the year award.

According to his mother, Mary Barnett: “Louis has been like this right from day one, he is a hard worker and is very enthusiastic about his product.”

Evan Carmichael

Phanta Media is a Markham, Ontario based, fully integrated video production company, who specializes in effective video based communications.

The company is run by Mark Drager, a 24 year old new entrepreneur who is married and has a one year old daughter. The company was founded in December 2006 and Mark has an ambitious goal of becoming a million dollar a year business within five years.

What’s his plan to get there? Help companies increase their staff motivation, generate more leads, and speed up the sales cycle by helping their customers improve their communications with prospects, clients, and internal staff.

Capturing the audience’s attention and communicating your message is the meat and potatoes, but the secret sauce is the ability to market yourself without hitting your audience over the head with it. They also give their clients the peace of mind of knowing that their video production is grounded firmly in business objectives.

I asked Mark what his advice would be for other young entrepreneurs who are trying to build a million dollar business:

“I was told once by a mentor to “do everything yourself until it kills you” and that has worked wonders – although it means working long hard hours, and wearing many hats, it meant that I was able to bring my first fiscal year profit margins up to 93% - it also meant Phanta was able to be fully profitable and debt-free within 9 months of launch.

• Keep in contact with everyone you have ever worked closely with - because one day they can easily become a client

• If you are struggling, ask for help – other entrepreneurs, managers and even CEO’s will most likely do what they can to help you out if you are sincere and reasonable in your requests.

• Get an outsider’s point of view (I hired a third party business development consultant and it was the best thing I ever did!) - 5 months into my business I realized I wasn’t on course with my original business plan, I brought in a business development coach (if you can’t afford to pay a consultant it can be anyone – as long as they are honest, hold you accountable and offer an outsider’s point of view). Since bringing them in my revenues tripled.

• Find a way to get outside of your comfort zone – for this my BD Coaches hold me accountable, but stepping out of my comfort zone is the most rewarding experience, as what used to terrify me, quickly becomes second nature and I can do the things that need to be done (like cold calling).

• Be hungry for success – when I launched my business everyone thought I was crazy because my wife was at home with a 3-month-old baby and I was the only source of income. But what that did was motivate me to succeed – I had to succeed otherwise my wife and child would have no roof over their head and no food on the table… pretty motivating.”

What is your million dollar plan?

Evan Carmichael

Ashley Qualls is a 17 year old entrepreneur behind Whateverlife.com. She runs the website from her basement in her Southgate, Michigan home and is closing in on 2.5 million visitors per month.

Last year, her business generated $1 million in revenues.

Earlier this month she had to petition to be declared an adult so she could legally sign the contracts she has with her advertisers and be able to manager her own money.

“I’m stubborn and I’m independent. I like the feeling that it’s my company, and I want to have the say-so in everything.”

She has hired her mother to be her business manager and has also employed three of her high school friends to work for her after school.

“I love it. You can create so many things. The possibilities are endless.”

The website was started in December 2004 when Ashley borrowed $8 from her mother to buy the Whateverlife.com domain listing. The initial intent was to showcase her graphics design skills and share her MySpace designs with her friends.

Without spending any money on advertising the site quickly took off as many MySpacers enjoyed her designs and used them to improve their own MySpace profiles.

The website, which gets more hits that Oprah.com, had an offer to buy for $5 million but Ashley turned it down.

Evan Carmichael

On February 8, 2007, millions of viewers tuned in to The Oprah Winfrey Show to learn about applying The Secret and the Law of Attraction. According to Oprah.com, “The concept says that the energy you put into the world—both good and bad—is exactly what comes back to you. This means you create the circumstances of your life with the choices you make every day.

According to James (one of The Secret teachers), there is scientific evidence to back up the spiritual practices and laws defined in The Secret. “Science tells us that everything is energy, and so your thoughts are energy. Your body, your cash, your car—everything you think is solid, if you put it under a high-powered microscope, it’s just a field of energy and a rate of vibration,” he says. “And so are we. So if you think you’re this meat suit running around, you have to think again.”

One way to describe this energy is by comparing it radio waves, “The frequency you give out through your thoughts and your emotions is what you have a tendency to manifest in your life,” Michael says. “Whether those thoughts and emotions are conscious or unconscious, it doesn’t matter.”

This means that if you are sending out the same negative energy over an over—whether thoughts or feelings—you will attract like energy back to you. James says that when bad things happen people might ask, “Oh, God, why me?” “Because it is you,” he says.”

I’ve recently seen a number of startups now trying to capitalize on the success of The Secret and helping people apply it to their daily lives.

One such company is Chartering Success.

The people at Chartering Success believe that success is achieved with three powerful principles:

1. Desire to create success…you already have a strong desire
2. The willingness to change and become successful… you’ve already taken the first step
3. The right tools to help you achieve the results you desire

They’ve also created 150 programs to help people apply The Secret and the Law of Attraction to everyday life. The programs range from Body Image to Financial Abundance, to Fear of Automobiles. You can either purchase one program or a subscription to the site and get access to all the programs.

Personally, I have not had much exposure to The Secret and am amazed at the tremendous popularity and growth surrounding the new industry that has been created as a result from the exposure on Oprah and other popular t.v. shows.

I would love to hear your experiences with The Secret - Have you heard of it? Has it worked for you? Would you use a service like Chartering Success?

Evan Carmichael

Here is a truly unique company run by a couple of young entrepreneurs: Happy Worker.

As co-creators and co-founders of Happy Worker and The Toy Agency, Shirley Yee and Kris Schantz create fun for big kids… and try their hardest to turn all working stiffs into happy workers.

The duo first came up with the idea for a geek action figure in early 2002 while working in the IT industry after the dotcom collapse. Shirley was working as a web developer, and Kris was creating products and managing marketing for entrepreneurial Internet companies. Through some persistence and an abundance of nerdy love, the pair joined forces with other toy-minded people and turned a little napkin drawing into a real live toy – the GeekMan Action Figure hit retail shelves and office cubicles in mid 2004. (More about the making of GeekMan at http://www.happyworker.com/geekman/makingof.html)

Since their firstborn toy Happy Worker has added other original action figures, including BossMan – mighty manager, SuperMom – mini mommy heroine, and MoneyMan – your friendly neighborhood financial hero. Happy Worker’s toys are now available in 6 countries and have made over 250 media appearances.

“We had to try our hand at inventing toys… we had all these crazy toy ideas burning holes in our heads, and we needed to let them out. But like most things, with toys coming up with crazy ideas is the easy part. Turning them into reality… takes real passion and business sanity.”

One of the challenges they faced was that neither had any real experience in the toy industry. They invested all the free time they could find on evenings and weekends towards researching the toy business… first via books and online, then by attending Toy Fair in New York, and finally by making contacts in the industry. “The learning process was a lot of fun… and a lot of homework. But after about a year of research we’d learned as much as we could about the industry without actually making a toy.”

After seeing their retail toys, in early 2005 Yahoo! asked Happy Worker for creative toy ideas to add excitement to their upcoming marketing campaigns. Together they launched a line of exclusive HR related action figures for Yahoo!’s HotJobs division. “The action figures were introduced at the world’s largest HR trade show, and Yahoo!’s booth was crazy busy with people clamoring for the toys. Before the show was over they’d run out of action figures, and more importantly recorded a huge increase in booth traffic and show sales over previous years.” The companies have worked together for the last 3 years.

Since then Happy Worker has completed a number of successful custom toy projects for other brands, and created a separate division, “The Toy Agency by Happy Worker”, focused on designing and producing tailor-made toys and gifts from scratch for companies and marketing agencies.

Evan Carmichael

When Louis Trahan decided he wanted to transition from employee to entrepreneur he wanted to make sure that he ended up with more than just another job.   With that in mind he took three ideas he had,  wrote mini ‘business briefs’ and cash flow projections for each.  Then using these briefs he compared them to a list of criteria he felt was important in a business and made a decision to start Last Minute Training.

Surprisingly enough, most of the criteria had nothing to do with business but rather with the lifestyle he wanted.   

“I didn’t believe that owning my own business had to preclude having a family and social life.  I wanted to make sure that the business I started wouldn’t take all my time away from my family and friends,” says Louis.  Very often entrepreneurs end up working incredible hours and end up finding themselves in their own little bubble.   Taking steps early to prevent that from happening is important.  “You need to be able to rely on your friends and family to help you along the way, sometimes simply as a distraction for an evening, other times for more significant help.”Lifestyle issues were not the only criteria Louis used to make his decision.  He also looked at factors such as scalability, the ability to be active in an international market, innovation and market size.  “It was important for me that whatever business I started wasn’t going to rely on a single economy,  the ability to grow internationally was a necessity.  Second to that was that I knew I wanted a technology based business.”  

And Last Minute Training is all that and more.   Based on the popular “last minute” travel discount model Louis’ company has applied that same last minute discount concept to the world of public training seminars.   Using his service, people and companies can purchase seats in popular training seminars for up to 50% off regular prices.  This is great news for small companies and entrepreneurs who often find it difficult to invest in the training they need to succeed.

The company, originally launched selling training in Toronto, Canada has grown to include training in 6 different markets and is expecting to launch into the USA before the end of this year.

Louis has this to say to young and aspiring entrepreneurs, “Of course there are sacrifices you’ll have to make, and you’ll be working longer hours than most of your friends.  But don’t let your new business take over your life,  instead make it a part of your life and keep it in balance. Business success shouldn’t come at the cost of being able to curl up on the couch with the person you love and watch a movie together.”

Evan Carmichael

Here is a great story about a young entrepreneur out of Scotland named Fraser Doherty. Fraser is an 18 year old student at Strathclyde University and his company, SuperJams, is already a million dollar business. With his recent success, Fraser is looking to make his studies a part time endeavor while he focuses on building his company. “It’s done a lot better than I expected. It’s growing really fast. The difficult thing is producing enough.”

Fraser sells jams and preserves that target a new, younger audience. They stay true to his grandmother’s original recipe but attract more health-conscious consumers. For example, instead of using sweetener like the other, big name jams, Fraser uses grape juice. He also focuses on the “superfoods” like blackcurrants, blueberries and ginger which are attracting buyers looking for a healthier diet. “I think people are looking for something a bit healthier, and it’s more fun and modern. It appeals to people who might not normally buy jam.”

Despite the growing revenues, Fraser has not taken any money out of the company, preferring to pump it back into the business. “For me, it’s not really about making lots of money. You have to create something you enjoy and have a passion for. I genuinely do love jam. When I read that sales had been falling for a couple of decades, I was horrified by the idea of it becoming extinct.”

Fraser started the company four years ago at the age of 14, selling his jam door to door as a way to earn extra spending money. He expanded by setting up shop at a local farmer’s market and soon found that he could not keep up with the demand for his jams. “I think I’ve still got a lot to learn. It’s not easy to set up a business and you have to really believe in it. There were points when I thought it would never be ready to go on the shelves.”

With his recent success, Fraser is about to release a book that discusses his story called “How to be a Teenage Millionaire.” It just goes to show that if you have enough passion for your business and a product that is in genuine demand, you can create a real business no matter how old you are.

Evan Carmichael

Here’s a great success story about a young Torontonian entrepreneur.  Sharon Galor, President of Toronto Dance Salsa, is the owner of Canada’s largest salsa dance school.  With over 3,000 students attending salsa classes at her school annually, this young entrepreneur is busy with her thriving business.

What is interesting to note is that Sharon gets all of her business through two main avenues:  referrals and online leads.  She has brought in 3,000 students and has spent a grand total of $0 on marketing. How does she do it?

“Really the secret is Search Engine Optimization.  Create a website that fully markets the key words you are looking to rank for and focus on obtaining quality links for the website and quality content.”

Sharon has also worked on creating an online community through an active discussion forum and two blogs.  This increases the popularity of the website as well creates additional content for the search engines to find.

In just a little over a year, her website has gone from ranking 20th-40^th for Toronto salsa lessons and Toronto salsa classes to being in the top 1-3 spots.  This increase translates to hundreds of additional leads and students and has doubled her student base in a short period.

The moral of the story?  Invest time and energy in creating a high ranking website and reap the benefits of an increased online presence. It goes to show that you do not have to have a product or sell ad space to make money online. An effective online campaign can help support and promote your existing services that are delivered offline.

Evan Carmichael

I learned about 23 year old Lindsay Terry from JuneauEmpire. In October of last year Lindsay thought about creating his own company to haul away the recyclables of the local businesses in his area. There were other companies that took trash away but not one that focused only on recyclables.

“I didn’t think much of it. (My wife) came up with the idea of starting a recycle pickup service. I didn’t think there was much money in recycling.”

Like any smart entrepreneur he did his market research before getting started. He made a flier promoting his idea and handed it out to local business owners. 15 clients expressed an interest in using his services and Lindsay was in business! He got so busy that he quit his job and brought on a friend to join him as a partner in the company.

“It is growing and growing. The interest and support from the community is phenomenal. We are signing on more customers every week. It is growing faster than I ever thought it would have.”

Lindsay’s success just goes to show you that if you do your market research and listen to your customer base you can succeed. Lindsay did not even believe in the idea himself before talking with potential clients. It was their enthusiasm that got the business off the ground.

Instead of starting with an idea that you think will work, talk with people who will actually pay for your product or service. See what their challenges are and make sure you are solving a real need.

Building around a customer who will pay you is the smartest way to start a business and make sure you can get through the early, often cash-strapped days of your company.

Evan Carmichael

I learned about Sylvester Chisom and Arthur Shivers from the Northwest County Journal. Friends since grade seven they came up with the idea for Showroom Shine Express Detailing while working together at a car wash company. “We noticed that people wanted more quality, more detail, more customer service.”

As with many young entrepreneurs, they started small and built their company slowly.  They first started out while in high school as a way to make extra money. “We washed our first car in the back of Sylvester’s mom’s salon. We took the car, washed it and vacuumed it.”

They slowly grew as word got around about their new service. “One day someone at the salon asked if we could come to their house and wash their car because they would not be coming to the salon. So we said, ‘Why not?’ That’s where the idea of a mobile car wash service came from.”

They continued washing cars as a part time job while they attended college. “In between going to school, we noticed every year that our clients were broken up about us going back to school.”

When they both graduated they looked at their options and decided to give the car washing business a try full time. “We were young. We had time. We knew if this didn’t work, we still had time to do something else. I originally wanted to work for the FBI, and Sylvester wanted to be a dentist. A lot of people didn’t see the vision. They questioned us and would ask when we were going to get ‘real’ jobs. They said we couldn’t wash cars forever.”

The company has since grown with the help of their mentors and loyal clients. They have two vans, a ten person staff and are looking at expansion opportunities. “We want Showroom Shine to become a household name. Maybe we can open a Showroom Shine self-service car wash. When people think of hamburgers, they think of McDonald’s. We want people to think of us when they think of car washes.”

It just goes to show you that when you start small, follow your passion, and listen to your customers, you can build a profitable company and have fun in the process.

Evan Carmichael