TEEN MILLIONAIRE
Thirteen-year-old entrepreneur expected to make £1.5m profit THIS YEAR with ‘healthy’ sweet business
Alina Morse started her "healthy" lollipops business when she was seven-years-old - now she's a millionaire
WHEN you're seven-years-old you're supposed to be playing with toys and getting muddy in the park, but not for Alina Morse.
She started a "healthy" lollipop business when she was seven, and six years on it's expected to make £1.5MILLION profits in a year.
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The "teentrepeneur" from Michigan in the United States, now aged 13, started the project with her dad back in 2012 after she asked him why there wasn't any candy out there that was also good for her teeth.
They kick started the idea with her $7,500 (£5,656) savings which she'd been given by family over the years for her birthdays.
Now, she splits her time between going to school, doing her homework and developing her "Zollipops" business.
"I go to school full-time and school comes first, but after school I split my time into thirds," she told Maria Bartiromo on Mornings with Maria.
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"One third is for doing homework, one third is for dancer, because I'm a dancer, and one third for working on the business."
The Zollipops - which were named by her little sister who couldn't pronounce them properly - are made with xylitol and erythritol, which she says are all-natural sugar-free sweeteners.
She says they also raise the pH in your mouth and strengthen your tooth enamel, something she developed after researching with her dentist and hygienist.
It took two years to get it right and it wasn't until 2014 that she started selling them.
Now, you can buy a bag of the sweets from Walmart, Kroger, Whole Foods and Amazon for around $4 which is about £3.
She's also expanded and started making boiled sweets called Zolli Drops and Zaffi Taffy which is an America sweet similar to toffee.
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Ten per cent of Zollipops profits go towards supporting oral health benefits in schools through the company's One Million Smiles Initiative.
And just because she's a millionaire, it doesn't mean she wants to skip college - the higher education system in America where students go to when they're 18, like university.
She added: "Well, I definitely want to go to college and finish my education because although I'm earning a lot right now owning a company, I still don't know everything.
"I want to make sure that I do know everything so that... when I'm older I maybe able to start other companies."
Are you feeling inspired? Just because you're not a teenager any more doesn't mean that it's too late to kick start your own venture.
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How to get a start-up business loan
IF you need financial support in setting up your business, you can get loans of up to £25,000 to help along the way.
- Vrigin StartUP offers government-backed loans from £500 to £25,000 to help entrepreneurs launching or growing a business that’s under two-years-old in England or Scotland. It has a rate of 6 per cent interest.
- The Start-Up Loans Company, which lends government subsidised loans up to £25,000 at a rate of 6 per cent.
- The Princes Trust also offers loans, up to £5,000, at a rate of 6.2 per cent.
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