Sharpen Your Skills at a Youth Entrepreneur Camp Opportunities abound for young entrepreneurs to learn the ins and outs of starting a business at entrepreneurial camps.

Q: I'm interested in starting a business, but I don't know what to do first--or second or third, for that matter. What's a good way for me to jump-start my way into entrepreneurship?

A: When I first declared myself an entrepreneur about three years ago, I knew that the path I was going down could be lonely and that if I wasn't prepared to self-teach myself all I needed to know, I may not be able to make it. Fortunately, that has changed significantly. If you have read some of my previous columns, you know there's an abundance of resources available for the aspiring teenage entrepreneur. Luckily, if you're not the self-teaching type, there is another option: entrepreneurial camps.

I recently had the pleasure of speaking to a group of students who attended Enterprise for High School Students, or EHSS. The San Francisco-based organization puts on a camp for 13- to 19-year-olds who are interested in starting a business. In the past, I have generally shrugged off supposed "entrepreneur" camps and other such classes as ones that teach kids how to put up a lemonade stand, not how to start a bona fide corporation. This camp, however, had a different, and indeed impressive, curriculum. For three days a week, students at EHSS gather to learn fundamental business skills, including finances, business plans, communications and leadership. In addition to classroom learning, students venture out in the local business community to hear CEOs like me speak.