Young Entrepreneurs - Ashley Qualls

Ashley Qualls is different from many of the young entrepreneurs who have made millions in the internet in recent years. She didn't have an entrepreneurial parent or older sibling to help her get going, nor did she tap in to Silicon Valley capital and contacts.

Instead, Ashley started her business in 2004 with an $8 domain name and an old computer, working in the kitchen of her suburban Detroit home, at the age of just fourteen. She didn't know she was starting a business at the time - she thought she was just creating an easy way to share her cool MySpace background designs with her friends.

It did take adult involvement for that site to start earning money. In 2006, Ashley's Whateverlife.com site attracted the attention of Ian Moray, manager of media development for ValueClick Media, an online advertising broking firm. Moray had no idea that he was dealing with a teenager - he negotiated with Ashley via email and phone, and she had all the knowledge and poise he would expect from a seasoned internet professional.

It wasn't until almost a year later, when Fast Company magazine contacted him for a quote to use in an article they were writing about Ashley and her business, that Moray discovered her real age. By then, she was earning over $70,000 per month, and ValueClick were very happy with her site, thank you very much!

Ashley has turned down several offers to buy her business for ever-increasing numbers of millions. She likes what she does, and she wants to keep doing it.

It hasn't been all rosy and happy, though. Ashley has faced several challenges, particularly the challenges of being too young to have legal control over the money she was earning. At one point, a court-appointed conservator was placed in charge of Ashley's assets, after a nasty family dispute.

She has had to learn how to manage employees and contractors, complicated by the fact that her employees included her mother and several friends, and her contractors have included software developers based in India.

Ashley has dropped out of high school and engaged an executive coach to give her a crash course in how to run her business, expand into new products and markets, and grow profitably. She doesn't have time to wait until the formal education system catches up with her learning needs!

Follow your passion - do something you love to do.

Become an expert at what you do.

Recognise opportunities to turn your passion into profit, and follow through on them.

Talk to adults in business as equals, and expect to be treated with respect.

Choose good advisors, and take their advice.

Be yourself.