Teen Wants Parents to Back His Summer Business

Cherie Bennett
Thu, 28 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700
Lifestyle

Hey, Cherie!

I'm a guy in 10th grade, and I don't have to tell you that it's still almost impossible to find a summer job. I have started to go around and put in my applications at all the usual places, such as fast-food restaurants and the mall. I get applications given to me, but you can just tell that the boss thinks it's a joke when I fill it out and pass it in.

I have not had a single call back from all the applications I have put in, and I am a good student with great personal references.
Updated: Wed Apr 27, 2011

Hey, Cherie!

I'm a guy in 10th grade, and I don't have to tell you that it's still almost impossible to find a summer job. I have started to go around and put in my applications at all the usual places, such as fast-food restaurants and the mall. I get applications given to me, but you can just tell that the boss thinks it's a joke when I fill it out and pass it in.

I have not had a single call back from all the applications I have put in, and I am a good student with great personal references.

Cherie, I really need to make some money this summer. I want to get a car when I get my license, but I don't want my parents to get it for me. I want to go on a snowboard trip next Christmas and need a new snowboard for it. There are certain clothes that I want to get for myself. And I want to be able to pay for the music that I download.

If I can't get a job, I would like to start a business of my own. I'm not sure what that business would be, but I think the best thing that wouldn't cost too much would be a T-shirt business, where I could make transfers that would get ironed on T-shirts. There could be cool sayings, cool quotes or maybe even just cool artwork.

I have a good artist friend who has agreed to help me. The problem is, a business like this takes money to start it up. I would like to borrow about $2,000 from my mom and dad to do this business. I know they can afford it. I would make them silent partners in the business or pay it back with interest — however they like.

Do you think this is a reasonable thing to ask them? How can I get them to say yes?

— Ready for Business

Hey, Ready!

I don't know if you can get them to say yes, but you can make a heck of a good argument. After that, your parents are like any investors. They'll have to make a business decision on whether to invest in your company.

I like to encourage teens to bet on themselves, and I encourage you to do the same thing. The best way to get your parents to be your investors, or your silent partners, is to put together a business plan for them to view and assess. There are all kinds of Internet sources for how to write a business plan, and it's better to be more specific.

Talk about what your first few T-shirts would say. Discuss where you'd sell them. Talk about how you'd sell them. Discuss how much time you will be putting into your own business and who your partner would be.

Wow them. I know you can do it. Even if they say no, you will have learned a ton in the process.

Hey, Cherie!

What should be the shortest period of time between meeting a boy and kissing that boy? I have a friend who met a boy at a party and kissed him 20 minutes later. To me, that just sounds gross.

— No Rush Please

Hey, No Rush!

I suppose the shortest possible time is a split second, but I wouldn't want to be the girl. Look. Rushing to kiss a boy is nothing to brag about or even do. Kissing is not sex, by any means, but it's still a pretty intimate act that in my book should be reserved for someone you care about. And it's pretty tough to really care about someone after 20 minutes. Or even 20 hours.