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You Go-Getter, You Today's teens aren't waiting for a degree to start a business. Ain't America beautiful?

By Karen E. Spaeder

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

When I was a kid, I did a whole lot of riding bikes, listeningto music and passing notes during class. Now, I'm guessingyou've done your fair share of those things, too. Butthere's something that makes you very different from me, alongwith many of my peers: You haven't even hit your twenties yet,and you're already in business, or at least thinking aboutstarting one.

This fascinates me. In fact, it fascinates all of us atEntrepreneur.com. We read these stories about 15-year-olds makingtheir first million in sales or 17-year-olds hitting up their bankfor a loan--and getting it--and we have to wonder what it is thatdrives these young entrepreneurs.

I suppose it's the same thing that drives any entrepreneur:the desire for freedom. When I was growing up, it didn't reallyoccur to me to become an entrepreneur. It just wasn't somethingthat was presented as an option while I was in high school. I findthat unfortunate. But I'm glad that times have changed. Youhave within your hands the power to control your future--how muchmoney you will make, how you will make it, when you will do it. Andyou are the boss of you. How awesome to be able to say that in yourteens.

So it goes without saying that we want to help foster thisspirit of entrepreneurship among today's youth by presentingyou with our new TeenStartUps.com superchannel. Folded into thepages of Entrepreneur.com, TeenStartUps is a collaborative effortbetween Entrepreneur.com and YoungBiz. (If you haven't already checkedout their site, you should spend some time there as well.)We'll cover everything from getting a business idea to findingstart-up capital to promoting your business. And we'll provideways for you to interact with your peers. In short, we'll helpyou realize your dream.

Take advantage of the resources available to you, because theyare plentiful. There truly is no better time to be an entrepreneur.And it'll only get better from here.

Karen E. Spaeder is a freelance business writer in Southern California.

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