When school kids turn entrepreneurs

At the tender age of 17, Bill Gates had laid the foundation of what would become the most storied technology firm ever. But the man behind Microsoft got a late start compared with some entrepreneurial sprouts.

These days, precocious youngsters have a handle on the laws of supply and demand - not to mention other concepts, like inventory and marketing - by the time they crack double digits. Their cherubic appeal comes in handy, too.

It's a beautiful thing when you have a child who understands entrepreneurship and markets," says Steve J. Mariotti, founder of the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship, a nonprofit organization that aims to educate kids from low-income communities. "They should be recognized and congratulated."

We're not just talking paper routes and lemonade stands - many of today's grade-school entrepreneurs are all about the Web. "This is the first time in human history when children are an authority to many of us on something really important," says Don Tapscott, author of Grown Up Digital.

Leanna Archer, 13, of Central Islip, N.Y., is well on her entrepreneurial way. Archer sells natural hair care products, from shampoo to detangling hair mist. She moves most of the merchandise online--about 350 orders per week. The most popular product from her comany, Leanna's Inc., is homemade pomade made from avocado oil, hibiscus oil, almond oil and quinine (the recipe came from Leanna's Haitian grandmother). Four ounces goes for $15; an 8-ounce jar fetches $25.

"The kitchen at my house turns into an assembly line," says Archer. "It's kind of funny."

Archer has some serious vision for a 13-year-old. She socks away half her earnings for college- Harvard for undergrad and law school, natch. "I don't look at this only as a business," she says, "it's also a learning experience."

Nonsense, says 10-year-old Samantha Senechal of Ocala, Fla., who makes and sells Sammy's Dog Treats. Her favorite part about running a business: "The cash - I like making money," she avers. "Real money."

Senechal found a book on how to make dog treats at the library. She tried her early creations on Lucky, her Boston terrier. After a little tweaking of the recipe, she now moves 200 to 300 4-ounce bags, each containing 20 treats and retailing for $5, every month. (She also offers an 4-ounce bag for $9, and a one-pounder for $13.)

For now, Senechal makes the treats in her parents' kitchen. But Stephanie and Robert Senechal are doubling down on their daughter's enterprise: They're building a structure behind their new home that will house a giant batter mixer ($12,000), a machine that will shape the treats ($47,000) and two giant ovens ($29,000 apiece) to cook them. Asked where she sees all of this leading, Samantha offers one word: "Wal-Mart."

Haley Schmidt, 9, of Charleston, S.C., turned her flair for design into a thriving T-shirt business. It all started one morning in 2007 at breakfast when Haley's mother, Aimee, saw her daughter doodle "a funky set of roses" on the back of the paper menu. Soon after, the family registered the Web address shophaleybop.com and posted a shirt with that design for sale. Things hit critical mass in November 2008, when Haley landed on Ryan Seacrest's syndicated radio show.

This is high-margin work. Schmidt orders plain shirts from American Apparel's wholesale branch for $3 each; printing the designs costs another $5 or so, depending on the size of the order. Schmidt now sells around 75 shirts a month (her monthly record is 124), ranging from $28 to $32 apiece.

"It's gotten way bigger than I expected," she gushes. "I had no idea it would be this exciting." Watch out, Nicole Miller!