Nineteen young francophones from the West Prince, Evangeline and Charlottetown areas have formed 14 small businesses thanks to the Young Millionaires program.
The new entrepreneurs will be selling a wide variety of products this summer.
The Young Millionaires program is designed to promote entrepreneurship among youth aged eight to 16 years old, with the opportunity to earn some money.
“This year, we’ve welcomed a number of new young entrepreneurs, but some of our participants are back for a second, third or even fourth time,” says Stéphane Blanchard, youth economic development officer with RDÉE P.E.I.
“One of our former participants, who had been in a partnership business for a few years, even sold the shares of his business to his partner’s sister. And then this year, the company has expanded its product selection.”
This summer participants are selling treats and food, handcrafts clothing, jewelry, laundry soap and skin-care products.
At the start of summer participating youth attended workshops to learn the basics of entrepreneurship. This includes business plans, market studies, customer service, quality control, budgets and other related topics.
They then had to present their business plan to program leaders during an individual interview.
Each participant then received a grant – up to $100 for individuals and $150 for partnerships – to help establish his or her business and to purchase production materials.
In late June and early July, participants began producing and selling their products, sometimes with the help of their parents.
For the program, the co-ordination team prepared a list of activities, events and festivals where participants could sell their products.
In addition, participants also identified sales locations often in their own home, neighbourhood or community.
“We are wishing great luck to all of our Young Millionaires,” said Blanchard.
FACTBOX:
Young Millionaires 2018 participants:
West Prince:
– Kendra Martin and Abby Green, Pop with Us: “slime,” pop, bottles of water, chips and candies
Evangeline Region
– Taylor Hardy and Lydia Arsenault, Summer Girl: Decorative frames
– Brady Arsenault, Candy’s R Us: various treats
– Ella Jane Adams, La Vie Plus Facile (An Easier Life): Laundry soap and painted rocks
– Colby Arsenault, Blox Bots: Wooden, painted robots
Charlottetown Region
– Claire Victor, Victory Slime: Slime
– Ellen and Elliot Fraser, Simply Sno-Cones/Simply Squeez’d: flavoured snow cones and lemonade
– Delphine Corney, I ©crafts / J’© bricoler: Craft-making kits
– Blanche and Gabrielle Etkin-Blake, Light My Fire: sea glass jewelry, frames and campfire starters
– Harmony Needham, Harmony’s Magic Touch: skin care and lip balm
– Will MacLean, Cantine à Will (Will’s Canteen): Sale of hotdogs and iced tea
– Kayce Midgley, P.E.I. Beachbum: decorative frames, dream catchers
– Rémi Stevula, Les Petits trésors de la mer (Little Treasures from the Sea): keychains and magnets
– Chloe Willis and Sarah-Jane Acet, Fashion Frenzy: tie-dyed clothing, hats and bracelets.
