Three Breton High School students spent last summer starting and running their own business.
The Young Entrepreneurs Training Initiative describes itself as a “how-to business initiative for independent teens” and offers training and support for teens looking to start a business.
YETI is offered through Community Futures Wild Rose and is aimed at helping students develop the skills needed to start a business. Three applicants from Breton High School were selected last June to take part in the program.
Dylan Sheaves, grade 11, Zoey Bryanton, grade 12, and Nathan Savard, grade 12, all received a crash course in starting and running a business as well as $500 in start-up capital to get their businesses off the ground and running.
Bryanton, who chose a business of selling broke ponies, says it was a lot of work running a business, especially since she also held a full-time job.
Those selected for the program not only had to take a course, but they also had to attend weekly meetings. Bryanton says it was a challenge to balance her job and her business, but she did learn a lot from the program.
She says she has been breaking horses since she was little and felt that turning it into a business could work for her. Rather than horses, though, she purchased ponies and spent time training them before selling them.
While Bryanton ended up losing money on her ponies in the end, she did learn valuable lessons about how she could approach it differently. She says if she had to do it again, she wouldn’t focus on ponies, but rather stick with horses.
Sheaves also focused on a business that she was already familiar with for the YETI program.
Growing up, Sheaves spent a lot of time with her grandpa and her dad around show cars. She remembers her dad using and storing a lot of products for the car shows and for his own personal vehicle.
“About three years ago, I kind of started doing it with my dad,” she says. “After that, my dad was like, ‘Now you know what to do, so you can do it.’”
Sheaves also has a sister who took part in the YETI program before her. When her sister went through the program, Sheaves began thinking about possibly starting a car detailing business.
“They taught us everything from marketing, to how to set our prices, to help us make our logos, to pretty much everything you could think of,” says Sheaves. “They really just gave us a jumpstart on how to start our business.”
She says she found the weekly meetings helpful and supportive.
“It honestly just made it so much easier, because when you’re younger and thinking of a great business idea, you don’t know the steps of how to get it running,” says Sheaves.
Both Sheaves and Bryanton say they would recommend the program to others.
“They have programs for people who are older than us, younger than us,” says Sheaves. “They also have programs for YETI alumni. They have so many different programs that they offer. It’s amazing.”
Those looking for more information about the YETI program can visit https://wildrose.albertacf.com/wildrose-programs/yeti or email wildroseinfo@albertacf.com.
