At the age of 9, Cameron Johnson launched his first entrepreneurial endeavor when he created invitations for his parents’ holiday party in Virginia. After only 2 years, Cameron had saved up several thousand dollars through this business which he creatively titled, “Cheers and Tears”. Johnson’s creativity continued when he offered his sister a total of $100 for her collection of 30 Ty Beanie Babies. Cameron then took those Beanie Babies and sold them on eBay – making ten times the amount on eBay. Realizing the potential profit in the Beanie Baby business, he contacted Ty and began purchasing the animals at wholesale with the intention of selling them on eBay and his “Cheers and Tears” website making a very large profit. Less than a year after this adventure, Johnsonn saved up $50,000 for yet another entrepreneurial idea which he titled “EZ Mail” – a program that forwards e-mails to a particular account without revealing the recipient’s personal information.
As a teenager, Johnson combined forces with two others to create an ad company which they titled “Surfing Prizes”. This website provided scrolling advertisements across the top of any web browser. In order to generate a significant profit, Johnson and the others teamed up with other agencies that could sell the ads for them. Under this program, the one selling the ad would receive 30% of the ad revenue and the three teens would split the remaining 70%.
At the age of 15, Johnson had been receiving monthly checks of $300,000-400,000. Before graduating from high school, Johnson reported that his combined assets were worth more than $1 million. Now, at age 24, Johnson continues to make multiple appearances on television speaking about entrepreneurship. Johnson encourages young people to “put yourself out there” and “not be afraid of rejection”.
I believe that stories like Cameron Johnson’s are living proof that it is not a single idea that makes a company great in today’s business world. It takes an exceptional mind as well as a vast amount of ides and hard work to make success happen. I’m inspired by the success and perseverance of this young entrepreneur. Fantastic Post!