Magazine

#3 — Brad Ogden, 17, Virtual Webpages, Detroit, MI: Brad Ogden is no normal high-schooler. At 17, he owns and operates Virtual Webpages, a Web design company based in Detroit, MI, that has an annual income of $540,000.

While he enjoys an occasional Friday night football game and loves going to parties with friends, Brad spends most of his time in his home office or with one of his numerous clients.

Brad has designed pages for many types of businesses, including a tanning salon, a racecar driver, and a law firm. He has now become interested in networking as well, which allows him to offer another valuable service to his customers.

His pages tend to be heavy with graphics and photographs, but Brad says this will pay off in the long run, for most businesses and now home computer users are beginning to see the value in high-speed networks. Several examples of Brad’s work are available to view at www.virtualwebpages.com.

#5 — Christopher Short, 17, C.S. International, Inc., Cape Creek, AZ: Christopher publishes two community classified ad flyers, brokers print jobs for area businesses, and is worth nearly $200,000 after four years in his field.

The idea to publish an advertising flyer started when he and his younger sister wanted to advertise their Red Cross-certified babysitting skills. When their grandmother showed them a local flyer, Chris realized the potential in having other people pay him to advertise. In their first issue, Chris and Jennifer sold 11 ads at $9 each. Chris delivered the flyers on his rollerblades to over 1,000 homes in their community and, the second time around, their advertising and circulation doubled.

These days, The Rancho Review boasts 50-60 advertisers each month and an estimated 11,500 readers and Chris plans to invest in his own printing press.

#6 — Alex Rampell, 18, Rampell Software, Palm Beach, FL: Alex Rampell has a simple business philosophy: "If something annoys me, it probably annoys others too. If I can fix the problem, I can sell the solution."

That's the secret to the success of Rampell Software, a company Alex formed in 1998 to create and market software solutions for annoying business problems. In 1999, Rampell Software sold about $80,000 worth of these programs to businesses and home computer users.

Alex, 18, is a freshman at Harvard University who began creating his own games and programs by the fifth grade, selling a screen-saver he wrote as shareware. Now, his most popular product is AlwaysONline, a program that keeps America Online customers from being logged off due to inactivity.

Customers can get information and download all of Alex's products from his Website, www.rampell.com/software.

#12 — Brian Schnerr, 17, Schnerr Enterprises, Inc., Trenton, NJ: Four years ago, Brian was repairing a mower in his grandmother's backyard when a neighbor appeared with another broken lawnmower. After fixing them both, word quickly got around that Brian had a talent for repairing things. His business was born. 

It has now evolved to include small appliances and vacuum cleaner sales and repair. Brian averages about 35 repairs a week, and, in 1998, Schnerr Enterprises was New Jersey's largest volume sales dealer for Regina vacuum cleaners.

Schnerr Enterprises employs three other workers — two sales clerks and an additional repairman. The shop is located in the basement of Brian's grandmother's house, which has a separate entrance at ground level. With only a year left in high school, though, plans for the future have already begun and blueprints for a new building have been created.

#17 — Deanna & Jana Thies, 18 and 15, The Veggie Patch, Glasgow, MO: Deanna started her business in 1996 as part of an FFA business project. An avid gardener, she discovered an untapped business opportunity in her own community. Deanna found two local senior citizens with overgrown plots of land, then convinced them to let her grow a garden in exchange for upkeep and a portion of her crops. Several of her relatives also agreed to let her use some of their land.

Deanna eventually decided to grow 30-40 varieties of fruits and veggies to sell at nearby farmer’s markets. In her second year, she accidentally discovered a niche when she grew the Cucuzzi squash, which has gained a loyal following in her town’s ethnic communities.

Her sister, Jana, joined the enterprise last year, its fourth year, and business is thriving. They recently added a greenhouse and are planning to buy more land and a cooling unit.

#22 — Mallory Gollick, 14, Mallory Gollick’s Jungle Beans, Denver, CO: Upon visiting Costa Rica on a family vacation, Mallory struck a deal with a young coffee shop owner. Coffee would soon be on the way to Mallory’s hometown and Mallory Gollick’s Jungle Beans would become the local brew.

Soon, the Costa Rican coffee filled a room in Mallory’s house and she was in business. Flyers were made to advertise her new venture, word-of-mouth spread, and the business began to thrive. Mallory devotes about an hour each day working at her business in addition to school and sports.

Now that Jungle Beans has been operating for almost three years, Mallory sells an average of 40 kilos of coffee per week, but has stopped importing the beans from Costa Rica. Instead, she utilizes another local coffee house called Café Cartago, which helps her keep costs down. All profits from the business go to Mallory’s college savings account.