Business as usual.

While many students worry about getting a job, they often look past the boss that knows them best: themselves.

Entrepreneurial businesses provide students with tools and management skills that allow them to succeed and work around their schedules.

Entrepreneurial businesses allow for students to dictate their own schedules, and to make and distribute their profit as they please. Students enable themselves to prepare for business opportunities later in life, and create connections for professional careers.

Junior Sophie Levine says that she started her jewelry business last June as a way to make extra money, and credits her interpersonal skills as an asset to her business.

“The biggest lesson I’ve learned from running a business is how much time is required to put into it,” Levine says. Levine works around her school and sports schedule, and says that she makes her jewelry whenever she has the time to do so.

Some students employ themselves in more practical seasonal jobs, such as lawn mowing or snow shoveling businesses. While not full time jobs, they often pay well due to the consistency at which they have to be managed.

Junior Will Peterson, who has operated a lawn mowing business since 6th grade, originally started his business to pay off debt from the use of his neighbor’s lawnmower.

“The biggest lesson is learning how to manage your time in a way that will make your customers happy”, Peterson says.

Students can model their businesses around their passions in order to create more enjoyment on the job. Applying personal interest into a business often makes the tasks seem less mundane, and creates more purpose.

Senior Diwani Greenwell, who co-runs a media site called The Teenage Conflict uses his passion for art and music to fuel his company.

“The biggest lesson I’ve learned from running a business is momentum,” Greenwell says. “You have to work off of different achievements to keep going and not stay idle.”

According to an article from Entrepreneur Magazine, students of all incomes can benefit from entrepreneurship because it inhibits both risk-taking and persistence. Students who experience the trials and tribulations of running a business are able to gain an upper hand on their career knowledge.

David Feeley, Business Management teacher, has been a mentor for young entrepreneurs, teaching them how to start and manage their own companies.

“In the end, all of that they hope will make them great wealth, but the thing that’s most important is that they feel comfortable in their lifestyle, and that they feel happy with what they’re doing,” Feeley explains.

To learn about entrepreneurial opportunities through the classroom, visit http://www.columbialinks.org/