Business

Teenage Mutant Millionaires Superjam!

“Many people dream of becoming a millionaire while they are still young enough to enjoy the fruits of their labor. With approximately .13% of the world’s population attaining a net worth of $1 million, the odds are certainly against reaching millionaire status.

So how did these young people reach that goal? Four out of five amassed their fortunes on the internet, and one enterprising young man earned his money the old fashioned way.

Cameron Johnson, Ashley Qualls, Catherine Cook, Adam Hildreth and Fraser Doherty all built million-dollar businesses before reaching age 20.”

“17-year-old Ashley Qualls launched Whateverlife.com as a personal portfolio of pictures and graphics in 2004, at age 14. She then began offering free MySpace layouts and tutorials for teens who want to learn to do their own graphics designs.

Last year, the media marketing company Valueclick contacted Ashley about advertising on her site. With 7 million individual viewers and over 60 million page views per month, Ashley has taken in over $1 million in advertising revenue.

In less than two years since launching Whateverlife, Ashley has dropped out of school, bought a house and helped launch artists such as Lily Allen.

In March of 2006, Qualls received an offer for Whateverlife of $1.5 million dollars, plus the car of her choice, which she turned down.”

“In 2002, at the age of 14, Fraser Doherty began making jams from his grandmother’s recipes and selling them door-to-door in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Tweaking the recipes and coming up with a name for his product, Doherty quit school at age 16 to work on Superjam full time.

Quickly outgrowing the kitchen in his parents’ home, Fraser began renting a factory a few days a month. In 2007, Waitrose, a high end supermarket in the U.K., approached him about selling Superjam in their stores.

Borrowing $9000 from a bank, he began producing three flavors, Blueberry & Blackcurrant, Rhubarb & Ginger, and Cranberry & Raspberry. Tesco followed, adding Superjam to 300 stores across the U.K. Doherty is on track to make $1-$2 million in 2008.”