Today’s guest blogger is Zach Haney, the 18-year-old owner of Kansas Carnival Supply.
I was eleven years old when I started my first business. Some of my earliest ventures were just stepping stones towards a better business. By seventeen I was running one of the fastest growing party rental companies in Northeast Kansas, managing an online ecommerce store with thousands of customers, the founder of an organization and the editor in chief for YSEMagazine.com.
The opportunities I’ve found today were totally different from when I first started my first business. At age eleven I had my eye set on selling candy in the hallways and never realized my potential in planning events or running a magazine. While children my age were playing video games I was interested in learning about companies and how they were stared. I would read books about Walt Disney and Sam Walton, intrigued by their desire to create something new and spectacular. That’s why I decided early on that I would be in charge of my future and set my own hours.
Being an entrepreneur isn’t something that happens overnight. One must decide what they are truly passionate about and determine how they can see it becoming a business. All successful business owners have some sort of plan, they can see into the future and know that the work they are doing will eventually pay off. If a hobby is something you can turn into a business that might be okay for now, but can it actually grow into a demand. Being original and staying professional are some of the greatest things I can tell a young entrepreneur. My parents aren’t business owners so I had to create my success on my own, which is how it should be. Finding the right people and designing the right business plan will be setting yourself up for success.
Today I am 18 years old and continue to run my company www.CarnivalGuy.com. Most of my other ventures are still active or have been sold. If you have any questions or would like more information on my businesses and please visit www.zachhaney.com.