B. J. Pinchbeck, known to his friends as "Beege," is a typical 14-year-old. His hobbies include rollerblading, playing laser tag with his dad and surfing the net. But, unlike most 14-year-olds, B. J. has been seen on Good Morning America and Oprah, been interviewed by the New York Times and the Boston Globe, and is the webmaster of his own site called:

B.J. Pinchbeck's Homework Helper

Responding to a calling to "help kids get their homework done easier," in April, l996, B. J. enlisted the help of his dad, Bruce, to develop a web page. Beege wanted kids to be able to meet their homework needs in one place and "not have to surf all over the web to find real good educational links." His site contains 625 links to educational sites which cover such topics as English, History, Math and Current Events, and every one has been thoroughly researched by B. J. himself.

The outcome of his vision has been phenomenal. BJPinchbeck.com gets 5,000 to 6,000 hits every day and 20 to 40 email messages to which Beege and his dad personally respond.

In an interview with B.J. and his dad, I asked Bruce how parents can encourage their child to become an entrepreneur. He told me he believes his secret is that he never really treated his son and daughter like kids. By that he means he "made them feel they could do anything they wanted to." He also did his best to "catch them when they were receptive and recognized the times when it seemed best to back off."

My Own Story

Growing up in the 50's with my grandparents in a small town in Missouri I dreamed of being Brenda Star, and I decided to "publish" a neighborhood newspaper. Luckily, my grandparents seemed to know exactly what to do to encourage a budding entrepreneur.
My grandfather provided the basics: some typing paper, an ink pen and a jar of paste. A corner of the kitchen table became my desk, and for the rest of the summer we ate at one end of the table only so my "office" remained undisturbed. My grandmother came up with the idea for my first article. When I asked, "What should I write about?" she said, "How about the size of the tomatoes in Mr. Miller's garden? They're just about the biggest ones I've ever seen."

The very next day I was delivering the "Neighborhood News" door to door selling them for a penny apiece with the headline, "Mr. Miller's Tomatoes Biggest Ever!"
By the time I was 16 I had my first job as society editor of my hometown newspaper, the Moberly Monitor Index. By age 35 I had sold my first book manuscript. I credit my grandparents with nurturing both my writing and salesmanship abilities.

How Parents Can Help

Research shows that entrepreneurs have certain traits not found in the general population. They're independent thinkers, creative, self-reflective, and tend to be risk takers. You can help develop these same traits in your children by the ways you interact with them. Here are some suggestions:

• Support your child's hobbies and interests, while allowing him or her to lose interest without feeling guilty. Remember that learning what you don't like to do is as important as learning what you do like.
• Encourage some risk taking. When your daughter expresses an interest in learning to play the guitar but has all the signs of being tone deaf, suggest she give it a try anyway.
• Make sure your son or daughter has plenty of alone time to daydream. Provide a journal for keeping track of thoughts, feelings, and ideas.
• Provide your child with biographies to read of famous entrepreneurs and inventors like Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Bill Gates.
• Take care to speak positive words to your child. Hearing affirmations like, "You're full of good ideas," and "I know you can figure out how to do that," boost self-esteem.
• Encourage him or her to express opinions about current events even if you may not agree with them.
• Show your child how to research topics at the library and online.
• Suggest a summer art class in pottery or drawing to stimulate creativity.
• Attend a craft show together to see first hand how a creative idea can be developed and presented.

It's probably no surprise that young entrepreneur B. J. Pinchbeck is still dreaming. As a grownup he'd like to run a hotel where every room has a computer. This way his guests can stay in personal touch with the concierge, and their every need can be met.
B. J. shared with me some carefully researched insider information. What are his favorite search engines? Metacrawler, Savy Search, Dog Pile.