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1 Artical
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2 Notes on&nbs...
1 Have you ever dreamed of running your own business — even when you’re a kid? Lani Lazzari, age 18, and Aidan Sommers, age 11, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, have made their dreams come true.
2 "I started out selling handmade(手工制作的) hair scrunchies(发圈) in third grade," says Lani. Then, at age 11, she got serious. She created Simple Sugars. The company makes and sells all-natural, handmade body scrubs(磨砂洁肤膏). Lani’s scrubs are all sugar-based and contain a mixture(混合物) of all-natural oils. Each scrub also has the actual botanical(植物的), fruit, or nut ingredient that gives the scent its unique flavor(味道).
3 Lani researched her idea for nine months before she made her first scrub. “At first, I made the scrubs one at a time in my kitchen,” says Lani. But her business has grown. Now she works out of her offices. “Today, it takes only 30 minutes to make a batch of 50 scrubs,” she says.
4 "If you’re going to start a business, you have to be excited! Simple Sugars was right for me because I’m passionate about it," Lani says.
5 Being the owner of a business when you’re young is tough. “Sometimes I’d tell my friends ‘I can’t go to the mall or the movies.’ I had to stay home and make Sugar Scrubs.” During high school, she balanced classes, homework, sports practice, and making and shipping her Sugar Scrubs. But Lani knows that her hard work was worth it.
6 "I love owning my own company. When I have an idea, I can make it happen. Other kids ask how I got started, and I tell them to ask for help. No one expects you to be totally (完全地) independent," Lani explains. She learned that it’s okay to not do everything right at first and that growing a business takes time.
7 Aidan Sommers came up with his business idea at age 7 and also got help from his parents.
8 "I was playing around with checkers(西洋跳棋) and thought of putting them into the shapes of rock, paper, and scissors(剪刀)," Aidan explains. His game, called RoX, is available at the App Store(苹果应用商店).
9 Aidan and his dad did a lot of research. They discovered different ways people play rock, paper, scissors and played their version(版本) of the game more than 1,000 times to learn it inside and out(彻底地).
10 "I’m the RoX Master," says Aidan.
11 Aidan is donating the proceeds(收益) from RoX to the charity Hearts with Haiti. When he’s not busy with sixth grade schoolwork and swim team, he and his dad are creating updates to RoX.
12 Building a game and a business hasn’t been easy for Aidan. The first programmer promised to have the app(应用程序) done in a few weeks but couldn’t do the project. So Aidan gave up his allowance in return for his parents’ help in paying to get the project done.
13 "It was hard," Aidan remembers. “But I tell all kids with an idea ‘Don’t stop.’ There are going to be problems, but you need to keep on working.”
14 Instead of scissors, Aidan used crossed swords(剑) in his game. He and friends never seem to tire of playing RoX. So far, the game has been downloaded(下载) in six different countries.
