Since the beginning of the decade, the rate of independent businesses has boomed over 15%; and these businesses make up a large portion of American economy today. However, just recently, teenagers have become active businessmen and strive to be entrepreneurs themselves. Many critics believe that the number of student entrepreneurs is extremely low due to the condition of the economy today. Contrary to popular belief, teenagers are in fact more willing to start a career to get money, rather that asking an adult, such as their mother or father.

   Students who run their own business benefit in a variety of ways. Besides learning the basic fundamentals of how a business should be run, student entrepreneurs benefit as it will teach them valuable life lessons and help throughout their entire adult lives.

   These motivated teens are on the rise as more and more adolescents seek functional independence. Akshay Rupani (11) is the owner of his company, Akshoes, an online shoe store which specializes in basketball sneakers. From Jordan’s, to Kobe’s, to LeBron’s, Akshoes displays a wide variety of sneakers not seen in your ordinary Nike store.

   Ever since the sixth grade Rupani has surrounded himself with what he calls the “sneaker culture” and mentions how throughout middle school he sold and traded sneakers through auctioning websites like eBay and Amazon. Rupani discusses that the secret to his business is that he sells products that he loves. He mentions that the key to being successful is that, “it’s all about the people you know.”

   Even though his website has not reached “full potential,” Rupani, like your average entrepreneur, has high hopes for the future. With more time and effort, Rupani believes that his website will satisfy the needs of his customers, and even create options to pay directly instead of using PayPal or other forms of paying websites.