Young Entrepreneur - Declan Galbraith

Declan Galbraith began busking at the age of seven, at the Rochester Dickens Festival near his home in Kent. He made over 200 pounds the first year, and with a little more organisation and structure, he made 500 pounds the following year - and attracted the attention of a manager.

He began to enter talent shows, winning fifteen competitions and more than a thousands of pounds in prize money within a year.

Success in the talent shows opened the door to a recording contract with EMI, which released his first full album, entitled "Declan".

Busking is a viable way for kids to make money - provided, of course, that they have some musical training or raw talent! My daughters were in a choir which performed every year at the Sydney Opera House, and they would stand on the promenade during breaks in rehearsals, just four of five of them, and perform whatever songs the choir was rehearsing. They usually collected enough money to pay for dinner, as well as gifts of merchandise from surrounding store owners.

If your singing voice isn't up to snuff, don't worry, you can always learn how to play a musical instrument.The simple wooden recorder (these days mostly made of plastic) is easy to play, quick to learn, and when you get three or four playing different parts, they sound lovely.

Of course, the younger and cuter you are when you start, the better your earning will be, so if you are short for your age, take full advantage of it! As a bunsker, you are an entertainer first and foremost, so don't get precious about playing to your audience. If they respond to cuteness, be cuter! You can be doubly sophisticated later when you are spending the proceeds on designer accessories.

Declan's first recording was a version of "Walking In The Air" for a Christmas album, which also featured Westlife, Elton John, Elvis Presley, and Barbra Streisand.

His first full album, "Declan", was released in September 2002, and charted in the UK and Ireland.

In December 2002, he participated in a Guinness Book of Records attempt, singing "Tell Me Why" live on stage, together with 10,000 in the audience and a further 80,000 UK school children, in an event known as Young Voices. It entered the record books as the world's largest choral sing.

If you are thinking of busking as a way to make money, remember that all money making ideas for kids need to be supervised by an adult.

Make sure someone knows where you are going, what you are doing, and that you are safe. Particularly if you are successful, you will have a lot of money to carry home with you - it's a good idea to arrange a parent or other adult to pick you up and bring you back home after a gig.

Not every busker lands a recording contract - as some of my professional musician friends can sadly attest, so don't expect instant fame and fortune.

However, if you enjoy being in the limelight, busking is a much more fun way to make a bit of extra cash than flipping burgers or washing dogs!

Being a musician is a business. Performers like Declan Galbraith don't just float around singing all day. Declan does promotional interviews, tours, free performances, and of course he needs to pay his manager a share of everything he makes.

If you are a good marketer, you stand a much better chance of making a decent living from a musical career. In fact, these days, it is hard to get a recording contract if you can't show that you will be doing at least as much to promote yourself as the record label does.

Puberty is a tricky time for boy singers, and in this video Declan's voice shows an uncharacteristic quaver here and there. Fortunately, by the time he sang "All Out Of Love" at the age of fifteen, his adult voice had arrived full force.

On March 29, 2003 Declan won 'Best Young International Performer' at the Twenty-Fourth Annual Young Artist Awards.

He appeared at the Queen's Jubilee at St Paul's Cathedral, where he sang ‘Amazing Grace' accompanied by the St Paul's choir, and at an Elton John concert where at least 22,000 listeners were present.

In 2006, he was signed to German record label Starwatch, distributed by Warner Bros, and under that label he has produced an album of cover songs called "Thank You". This album hit the German Top 40 in 2006 and went gold in 2007.

Declan's manager gave him a guitar and encouraged him to learn how to play. Now, at the age of sixteen, Declan is writing his own songs, and some of the songs on his new album are his original works.

The song "You and Me" in the video below is a song written by Declan, and it sounds as though he will be able to make the transition from singer to singer-songwriter without a hitch!

This is the title track of his new album, and Declan says that he is very pleased with his new album because it is more of the style of music he likes and listens to and would like to sing.

Whatever you to make money, it is a business. Whether you wash cars, perform music, babysit, or solve complicated technical problems, you are in business.

And in all businesses, you need to consider what product or service you will provide (so if you are busking, you are providing entertainment, for example), and what people expect and want from that product or service. Make sure you give people what they want, and you are bound to succeed.

Declan Galbraith is certainly very good at giving people what they want!