English Original
Like a lot of college freshmen, Sean Belnick has a job. He works for a company that brings in more than $20 million a year. But Belnick is not just another employee; he is also the company's owner.
"We started off with a couple of orders a day and it just mushroomed from there," Belnick says.
Belnick's company sells office chairs online and maintains a huge warehouse of inventory. But it all started in his bedroom when he was 15 years old.
"I always had an entrepreneurial spirit," says Belnick.
In fact, more teens than ever are tapping into their entrepreneurial spirit. According to a new Junior Achievement survey of more than 1,400 teenagers, 71 percent said they would like to be self-employed one day.
What's more, experts say, kids have a huge advantage as entrepreneurs because they know the web and understand the workings of network sites such as Facebook and Myspace.
"[Teenagers] intuitively understand the power and potential of using web-based services for distribution, for marketing, for outreach -- for connections," says Andrea Hershatter of Emory University. "They are incredible networkers who have a very large number of human resources in terms of their peers at their disposal."
"That's the whole thing with the Internet really," says Belnick. "Anyone can put a website up, and it looks professional. But there's nothing saying that there's a 20-year-old kid behind it. Which is the biggest thing about the Internet ... you can create your own credibility."
Experts say parents should encourage entrepreneurship in their kids, whether it's mowing lawns or running an online business. They may not make millions, but they will learn a lot about managing a business and what it takes to turn a profit.
"I think they learn, they grow, they mature," says Hershatter. "If they are not enriched financially, then at least they will be enriched in terms of life experiences that will serve them forever."
中文翻译
和许多大学新生一样，肖恩·贝尔尼克有一份工作。他在一家年收入超过2000万美元的公司工作。但贝尔尼克不只是普通员工；他也是公司的所有者。
贝尔尼克说：“我们开始时每天只有几个订单，然后业务就从那里迅速增长起来。”
贝尔尼克的公司在线销售办公椅，并维护着一个庞大的库存仓库。但这一切都始于他15岁时，在他的卧室里。
“我一直都有创业精神，”贝尔尼克说。
事实上，比以往任何时候都多的青少年正在发掘他们的创业精神。根据一项针对1400多名青少年的新“青年成就”调查，71%的人表示他们希望有一天能自己创业。
此外，专家表示，孩子们作为创业者拥有巨大优势，因为他们了解网络，并且理解Facebook和Myspace等社交网站的运行方式。
埃默里大学的安德烈娅·赫沙特说：“[青少年]能直观地理解使用基于网络的服务进行分销、营销、拓展——建立联系的力量和潜力。他们是不可思议的社交网络构建者，拥有大量同龄人作为他们可以支配的人力资源。”
“这就是互联网的真正魅力所在，”贝尔尼克说。“任何人都可以建立一个网站，而且看起来很专业。但没人规定网站背后必须是一个20岁的年轻人。这就是互联网最了不起的地方……你可以建立自己的信誉。”
专家表示，父母应该鼓励孩子的创业精神，无论是修剪草坪还是经营在线业务。他们可能不会赚到数百万，但他们会学到很多关于企业管理以及如何盈利的知识。
“我认为他们学习、成长、成熟，”赫沙特说。“即使他们在经济上没有变得富有，至少他们会在生活经验上得到丰富，这些经验将使他们终身受益。”